Track of the Week

 This week’s track of the week was sparked by the article I wrote last week about angry girl music because there is one song which I can’t believe I haven’t written about on here already. ‘Oh Well’ is definitely my favourite Fiona Apple track and up there with my favourite songs of all time. From her second album, ‘Extraordinary Machine’, it’s a dramatic ballad about coming back from abuse detailing issues with self image and confidence. 

Musically, the track follows a lot of the conventions of this album, piano based with the addition of orchestra for drama but also to create a level of softness. This, I think, is one of my favourite things about Fiona, the way she can incorporate softer sounds into even songs like this which are anything but soft, and also the way they don’t detract at all from the message she’s trying to send. In fact, she finds power in softer instruments as well as her signature chromatic piano parts which create a sense of unease. The drums too, are relaxed and yet powerful with a heavy kick starting off each bar, keeping the music moving. 

In terms of Fiona’s vocals, she has one of the most powerful voices I’ve ever heard. The way she expresses emotion in her voice is something I’ve never heard the likes of, somehow putting across exactly what she wants to say while still sounding exactly like herself. Lyrically, the song is an incredible work, with Fiona telling her own story in an accessible way through lines like ‘What you did to me made me see myself something awful / A voice once stentorian is now again meek and muffled’. In the song though, her voice is anything but. And that, I think, is the underlying message of this one, it’s her finding her voice after that disorienting experience. 

My favourite moment of all has to be the very last line, which is also the title of the song. After all of her eloquent storytelling, she chooses to sign off simply with ‘Oh well’. And that’s just it, life goes on, and in that statement she takes away all the power that the abuse has had over her life. So, if you want to feel powerful, Fiona Apple is a great way to go, if you feel powerless she’s also a great way to go because her music certainly inspires.