Paper Bag by Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple is one of those artists that once you hear, you can’t get enough of! (excuse the grammatical errors… done on purpose to express my enthusiasm). 
I have been waiting… no hunting for the right words and tones and emotion to write about this song. It is one of my top 100 most important songs that any mortal must listen to! All songs of Fiona’s album, When the Pawn, are great, but Paper Bag in particular is the best.
A song about disappointment, she captures what all of us feel in one point in life. She starts her poetry by painting the scene of her gazing into the sky to wish on a star for gentleman. Her gaze entrances her and forms an unattainable illusion of a guy, but it just turns out to be none other than the infamous ordinary paper bag. The story unfolds some more as she sighs out her lyrics. From what I gather, she’s not asking for much in a man. She just wants someone who’ll put up with her, that’s all. (Heck, I’ll marry her in a heartbeat!) But she reiterates the point of her frustration and sings in her patented distressed tones “And I went crazy again today, looking for a strand to climb, Looking for a little hope. Baby said he couldn’t stay, wouldn’t put his lips to mine, And a fail to kiss is a fail to cope”.
The zinger lines, are repeated throughout and end the song. “I got to fold cuz these hands are too shaky to hold -hunger hurts, but starving works, when it costs too much to love.” Fiona pounds that fact that there’s always a price to pay for something that doesn’t come to one naturally. She is wise beyond her age to preach the truth, even though she doesn’t want to hear it herself!
Oh well. I hope you do find what you’re looking for, Fiona. Whether it be a man, a realized dream, or a bucket of chicken.
Please read the lyrics below. You must complement your reading with the actual song and melody. The melody has strong drum tempo accompanied by her meandering piano. The piano is subtle and is perfect… I like to think it was done on purpose to represent her emotions. There’s quickening at times when she’s hunting, and there’s a slowdown and trickling piano effect when the lyrics explore dejection.
“I was staring at the sky, just looking for a star
To pray on, or wish on, or something like that
I was having a sweet fix of a daydream of a boy
Whose reality I knew, was a hopeless to be had
But then the dove of hope began its downward slope
And I believed for a moment that my chances
Were approaching to be grabbed
But as it came down near, so did a weary tear
I thought it was a bird, but it was just a paper bag
Hunger hurts, and I want him so bad, oh it kills
‘Cause I know I’m a mess he don’t wanna clean up
I got to fold ’cause these hands are too shaky to hold
Hunger hurts, but starving works, when it costs too much to love
And I went crazy again today, looking for a strand to climb
Looking for a little hope
Baby said he couldn’t stay, wouldn’t put his lips to mine,
And a fail to kiss is a fail to cope
I said, ‘Honey, I don’t feel so good, don’t feel justified
Come on put a little love here in my void,’ he said
‘It’s all in your head,’ and I said, ‘So’s everything’
But he didn’t get it I thought he was a man
But he was just a little boy
Hunger hurts, and I want him so bad, oh it kills
‘Cause I know I’m a mess he don’t wanna clean up
I got to fold ’cause these hands are too shaky to hold
Hunger hurts, but starving works, when it costs too much to love
Hunger hurts, and I want him so bad, oh it kills
‘Cause I know I’m a mess he don’t wanna clean up
I got to fold ’cause these hands are too shaky to hold
Hunger hurts, but starving works, when it costs too much to love”
As you can tell from the video above, the setting is creative, having Fiona in a red dress, swarmed by a sea of young boys. It is an elaborate and wonderful choreography, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The young boys just dancing around her — not giving her the time of day as she tromps around in the 30′s dining lounge. This is one of the most interesting videos I’ve seen in a long time.
Other noteworthy songs in the When the Pawn album are As Fast As You Can and Get Gone, and Limp. They are hard-hitting and show off her piano prowess. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the sheet music for Paper Bag, probably because the piano is more background and not the main instrument. Oh well. Please enjoy the following sheet music from her song Criminal and from her album Tidal. Again, very excellent works which I’ll write about very soon!
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Tidal By Fiona Apple. Songbook for voice, piano and guitar chords. 64 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. Average customer rating:  |
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Criminal By Fiona Apple. Single for voice, piano and guitar chords. 9 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. Average customer rating:  |
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