My first random selection this weekend is the title track from Fiona Apple’s third (and most recent) album, Extraordinary Machine.
It’s been seven years since this album was released and Apple’s fans are still waiting on new material. This woman certainly can’t be accused of flooding the marketplace. According to a recent tweet by Epic Records CEO L.A. Reid, a new Fiona Apple album is due sometime this year. But I’ll believe that when I see it.
Ratcheting up the suspense, Apple’s Facebook page recently posted a date and time, which set the table for the announcement that she’d be playing a series of live shows in the northeast next month. Not the single or album release news fans were hoping for, but another indication that new music might be coming.
Back to today’s song…
An early version of Extraordinary Machine was leaked a year before its official release, with almost all of the songs drastically reworked from one version to the next. Today’s track is technically the unreleased version, though this was one of two songs that made it on to the final album unchanged.
It’s funny to see at least one commenter on YouTube say “this version is SO much better than the official one” when the tracks are identical. There is a strong urge to prefer what you weren’t supposed to have, I guess. I do like some of the unreleased versions better than their official counterparts, but I feel others were improved for the final release.
This track is a favorite. The spare instrumentation is lovely, as is Apple’s vocal performance and the lyrical sentiment.
And I certainly haven’t been spreading myself around
I still only travel by foot and by foot, it’s a slow climb,
But I’m good at being uncomfortable, so
I can’t stop changing all the time
I notice that my opponent is always on the go
And won’t go slow, so’s not to focus, and I notice
He’ll hitch a ride with any guide, as long as
They go fast from whence he came
But he’s no good at being uncomfortable, so
He can’t stop staying exactly the same
If there was a better way to go then it would find me
I can’t help it, the road just rolls out behind me
Be kind to me, or treat me mean
I’ll make the most of it, I’m an extraordinary machine
I seem to you to seek a new disaster every day
You deem me due to clean my view and be at peace and lay
I mean to prove I mean to move in my own way, and say,
I’ve been getting along for long before you came into the play
I am the baby of the family, it happens, so
Everybody cares and wears the sheep’s clothes
While they chaperone
Curious, you looking down your nose at me, while you appease
Courteous, to try and help – but let me set your
Mind at ease
If there was a better way to go then it would find me
I can’t help it, the road just rolls out behind me
Be kind to me, or treat me mean
I’ll make the most of it, I’m an extraordinary machine
Do I so worry you, you need to hurry to my side?
It’s very kind
But it’s to no avail; I don’t want the bail
I promise you, everything will be just fine
If there was a better way to go then it would find me
I can’t help it, the road just rolls out behind me
Be kind to me, or treat me mean
I’ll make the most of it, I’m an extraordinary machine
Meet Me In Montauk 
I like the unreleased version better:)