Fast as You Can

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

"Fast as You Can" is a song written by Fiona Apple, and produced by Jon Brion for her second album, When the Pawn.... It was released as the album's lead single in the United States on October 5, 1999, and in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2000. It became one of Apple's most successful singles in both countries, and its music video, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, was well received.

Background and style

Fiona Apple said that with the song, she wanted to explore different moods and the "ups and downs" of a relationship. "When you get to the middle [of the song], that spell of confusion takes you out of the element for a minute, which is, of course, what happens emotionally. But the beat never changes."[1] Apple said the song is "really just thoughts that were running through my head that were in that rhythm".[2]

Jon Brion said he knew "exactly" what he wanted the song to sound like. "I knew I wanted it to be Matt Chamberlain on drums", he said. "He can play all this beautiful machine-influenced stuff, but with human feel." Brion played a "very busy bass line idea" for Apple on a keyboard in his kitchen, combining the line with a "groove" in the style of Chamberlain's work. Apple became excited and said, "That's great! That feels exactly like it!" Brion and Apple stressed in interviews that it was Apple, and not Brion, who created the time-changes and structure in the song were already present when he worked on it.[3] "All I did was to heighten pre-existing things", Brion said. "In terms of the color changes, I am coordinating all of those, but the rhythms are absolutely Fiona's."[4]

The Philadelphia Inquirer described the song as "slightly off-kilter, perpetually destabilized ... an intricate suite of shifting moods that starts as a '60s soul-jazz stomp, then is connected by a rueful ballad interlude to a sauntering triple-meter chorus."[1] The New York Times wrote that it "signals its mood swings — love me, fight me, don't go, get out while you can — with tempo changes and unlikely interludes, from a blunt hip-hop drumbeat to [flute-like] 'Strawberry Fields' keyboards."[5] Newsweek characterized the song as "galloping" and "syncopated",[6] and Spin magazine called it "skittery".[7]

The cover of the promo CD for the single in the US was drawn by Apple.[8]

Chart performance

The single debuted on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in late October, receiving minimal radio airplay until When the Pawn... made a strong debut on the Billboard 200 albums chart.[7] It subsequently rose to number 20 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in mid-December, remaining on the chart for 12 weeks.[9] On the Adult Top 40 chart, on which it debuted in early December, "Fast as You Can" peaked at number 29 and stayed on the chart until early February 2000.[10] The song became a top-10 hit on the Triple-A chart, peaking at number eight in January 2000.[11] It failed to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 but became Apple's first—and, currently, only—single to reach the top 40 on the United Kingdom Singles Chart, where it was released on February 14 and peaked at number 33.[12] In Ireland, the song reached number 49.[13] "Fast as You Can" also reached number 62 in Australia's annual Triple J Hottest 100 poll.[14]

Music video

The single's music video was directed by Apple's then-boyfriend, film director Paul Thomas Anderson, who directed the video for Apple's previous single, "Across the Universe" (1998). Anderson shot the video in Pasadena, California[15] with the crew he uses during the production of his films. "[I]t's all really fun", Apple said of the video. "I don't have to wear any makeup or anybody else's clothes — no negligees!"[16] The video was photographed by Robert Elswit and edited by Dylan Tichenor, and it premiered on MTV and VH1 the week ending on September 19, 1999.[17][18] In the video Apple is seen singing the song in and around a house, inside a garage, at a subway station and on a subway train. The video was filmed with a vintage hand-cranked camera, which is why Apple's mouth does not match the lyrics she sings. Throughout the video there are changes from black-and-white to colour and from fullscreen aspect ratio to widescreen. It was nominated for a 2000 Billboard Music Award for "Best Pop Clip of the Year",[19] with media sources describing it as "quirky",[20] "simple, improvised",[7] "playful and inventive".[6]

Track listings

<templatestyles src="Col-begin/styles.css"/>

Personnel

<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

Charts

<templatestyles src="Col-begin/styles.css"/>

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United States October 5, 1999 Alternative radio Template:Hlist [28]
October 26, 1999 Contemporary hit radio [29]
Japan November 20, 1999 CD Template:Hlist [30]
United Kingdom February 14, 2000 Template:Hlist Columbia [31]

References

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

  1. ↑ a b Moon, Tom. "Fiona Apple has a new album to promote - and an image she'd like to change". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 8, 1999. Retrieved December 15, 2006.
  2. ↑ "Fiona Apple Has A Lot Of Explaining To Do". VH1 Online. October 30, 1999. Retrieved December 15, 2006.
  3. ↑ Graff, Gary. "Sound Off - Fiona Apple". Wall of Sound. November 1999. Retrieved December 15, 2006.
  4. ↑ Zollo, Paul. "Producer's Corner - Jon Brion". Performing Songwriter. July/August 2000. Retrieved December 15, 2006.
  5. ↑ Pareles, Jon. "Fiona Apple's Angst, Bravado and 90-Word Title". The New York Times. November 7, 1999. Retrieved December 15, 2006.
  6. ↑ a b Giles, Jeff. "Happily Ever Apple". Newsweek. November 8, 1999. Retrieved December 15, 2006.
  7. ↑ a b c Light, Alan. "Girl On A Wire". Spin. February 2000. Retrieved December 15, 2006.
  8. ↑ Unknown (1999). In "Fast as You Can" [promo CD liner notes]. United States: Clean Slate Records/Epic Records. ESK46302.
  9. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  10. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  11. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  12. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  13. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  14. ↑ "Hottest 100 2000." Template:Webarchive. Triple J. Retrieved March 31, 2008.
  15. ↑ Corrigan, Susan. "Golden Delicious". i-D. March 2000. Retrieved December 15, 2006.
  16. ↑ Harrington, Richard. "Fiona Apple: The Time Is Ripe". The Washington Post. November 28, 1999. Retrieved December 15, 2006.
  17. ↑ "Fiona Apple - Fast as you can" Template:Webarchive. mvdbase.com. Retrieved December 15, 2006.
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Vineyard, Jennifer. "D'Angelo, Billy Gilman Top Billboard Music Video Awards Nominees"Script error: No such module "Unsubst".Template:Cbignore. Rolling Stone. November 1, 2000. Retrieved December 15, 2006.
  20. ↑ Gardner, Elysa. "Fiona's fresh spin on life, love and 'the business'". USA Today. November 30, 1999. Retrieved December 15, 2006.
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  30. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". <templatestyles src="Refbegin/styles.css" />

  • Billboard. Issues dated from November 6, 1999 to February 12, 2000.
  • Unknown (1999). In When the Pawn [CD liner notes]. United States: Clean Slate Records/Epic Records.
  • AllMusic (2/5) [[[:Template:Allmusic]] link]

Script error: No such module "Navbox". Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=Fast_as_You_Can&oldid=3935629"