Fiona Apple’s 90-word album famously shortened to When the Pawn—turned 25 on the 9th of November this year.
The album, released in 1999, aroused the fervour of raw emotion among the listener. The title of When the Pawn itself is a reflection of Apple’s brilliance. Coming from a 90-word poem Apple had written, Fiona says that she feels silly naming albums because each song felt like its own little world to her. “ ..when you have ten you make an album. I thought that just using When The Pawn sounded kind of cool.”
Naturally, naming the album
“When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows
When He Goes to the Fight and He’ll Win the Whole Thing ‘Fore He Enters the Ring There’s No
Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo,
You Hold Your Own Hand and Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights and If You Know Where You Stand,
Then You Know Where to Land and If You Fall It Won’t Matter, Cuz You’ll Know That You’re Right”
would come with its cons. 
It stole the thunder of the actual album at first with comments calling her pretentious and an attention seeker. To which she responded “I don’t care about what anybody says because the coolest thing is that I’m in the Guinness book of world records.”
The album opens with “On the Bound,” a title that alludes to the concept of being a rebound.
While “on the bound” is not a recognised phrase, “on (the) rebound” is, and Fiona suggests that she had always predicted what was about to happen soon. Chorus of this song sings ‘You are all I Need’ itself is a cliche but she ends the chorus with the brutal lyric of ‘And maybe some faith would do me good’ referencing the verse ‘say that everything’s gonna be alright, I believe that it isn’t’.
As the album progresses with tracks such as ‘To your love’ and ‘Limp’, it explores the sentiment of feeling as though one’s partner is unable to cope with their emotional depth. It encapsulates the feeling of being too much but never enough. Apple is warning her lover of herself and her self-sabotaging tendencies, giving us iconic lines,
“I would’ve warned you, but really, what’s the point?
Caution could but rarely ever helps.”
Track 4 ‘Love ridden’ is a haunting piano ballad about a relationship moving towards its end. As the song slowly progresses towards the end it paints a story of an old love gone cold. Next comes the song ‘Paper Bag’ , a fan-favourite track and mine too. The song is much more literal than you’d think. .The lines
“I thought it was a bird, but it was just a paper bag”
talks about the time when Fiona was driving and she mistook a plastic bag for a dove. I suppose a “Paper” bag sounded better. This album shows her growth from her debut album “Tidal” which she wrote when she was 17. Released in 1996, the album Tidal captured the unfiltered teenage angst, display of grief, rage, and self-discovery beautifully and got her her first MTV VMA for Best New Artist for the track “Sleep to Dream”.
