The Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda Files: Fiona Apple Gets A Little “Sick In The Head”

noah | December 26, 2006 12:49 pm
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Time for yet another installment of the Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda Files, where we blow the dust off of a forgotten favorite and give its lack of chart success a once-over.

Artist: Fiona Apple Album: “Tymps (The Sick In The Head Song),” 2005 What happened: After lengthy delays, total makeovers, apples-to-the-corporate-office campaigns, and a Yankee Hotel Foxtrot-esque Internet leak, Fiona Apple’s third album, Extraordinary Machine, came out in October 2005. Despite the waves of advance publicity thanks to its backstory–not to mention critical raves from a wide swath of music writers–Machine stiffed in the stores, and none of the four singles Apple’s label, Epic, released hit the radio charts. Why it should have been a hit: “Tymps” wasn’t one of the four Epic-selected singles, but it’s hard not to think that it would have been a better introduction to Machine than the label’s picks; its plonking keyboard line and Apple’s hypersyllabic lyrics are accompanied by handclaps at one point, for crying out loud. That playfulness probably would have endeared potential listeners to Machine‘s charms more than the downtempo “Parting Gift” and “O’ Sailor,” which Epic chose to lead off the album’s promotion with instead.

Fiona Apple – Tymps (The Sick In The Head Song) [MP3, link expired]

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