A Review of Extraordinary Machine: By Casy Blanton

Fiona Apple’s 2005 release of Extraordinary Machine comes on the wings of several years of being in contractual limbo with her record label. Due to the eccentricities of Apple’s musical style, and her eclectic approach to song writing, record executives held this album from release for nearly two years. At the heels of the “Free Fiona” campaign online and in response to some fifty thousand petitioners, her label finally allowed the release of this album. Apple stayed true to her non-conventional roots in this latest recording, while still writing both music and lyrics that are broadly appealing.

Musically, Apple explores deeper into the realm of highly syncopated, symphonic driven songs with vastly varying vocal movements. This music defies genre, and stylistic descriptions. Apple does what she wants, and achieves a sound at times reminiscent of twenties flapper music, and at others along the lines of the same dark, heavy tunes that brought her to prominence in the first place. The music on this album is best summed up in one word: indescribable. I suggest if you are curious about Apple’s sound that you pick up the album because that is the only way to truly understand the music.

All of that to say that this album is musically excellent. Apple has created an album that showcases her musical talent to be head and shoulders above almost everyone in the realm of popular music today. Because the music is so eclectic, it may not fit the taste of many, but there is no denying the quality and talent which has gone in to each and every song on this album.

There is the feeling of true craftsmanship when listening to this album, and a true feeling of personality. This album could not be performed by anyone else with the same quality and effect. Fiona Apple is truly a musical talent, and her ability to create is beyond comprehension. The lyrical quality of the album is no less impressive. Apple presents simple ideas and mundane situations with eloquence and creativity. In a time of “I ain’t no holla back girl” (Gwen Stefani) and “My Humps” (Black Eyed Peas), Apple rolls out lines like “What you did made me see myself something awful, a voice once stentorian is now again meek and muffled.” Whereas the prose of the songs may not be worthy of immortalizing on my tombstone, it certainly exceeds industry standards for quality. Apple works through her broken heartedness and anger in light of a breakup, and says things that have been said before, but rarely with as much thought or eloquence. Apple offers her listeners a gift of uncompromising quality, and unique originality. Once again, it may not be to everyone’s taste, but I doubt that there would be many who would dispute that this album is a well-done piece of art.

The commentary must begin to turn slightly toward concern as the lyrical content is evaluated in light of a Christian worldview. The content of Apple’s lyrics is not much different than many other “breakup songs” that frequently shoot to the top and then the bottom of the charts. The quality and artistic value sets this album apart, but Apple takes a very existential view on the events, and at times borders on a nihilistic view of her life altogether. I doubt that some Christians would even realize the error in her reasoning, but we as Christians would do well to avoid Apple’s view of love and the meaning of life.

The album opens with the resolution of the discussion so it will serve us better to discuss the album out of sequence. Throughout the album, several themes are developed, and leave the listener with little to hold on to as far as their own life is concerned. The scenario developed throughout the album is that of a lover leaving the heroine of the story. I do not know if this story is from Apple’s life or not, but either way, the theme is fairly obvious. There are hints throughout the album that the relationship may have ended because of its troubled nature (fighting between the characters) as evidenced in “Not About Love, ” or because of infidelity as evidenced in “Window,” or also possibly because the man just used her and left as evidenced in “O’sailor.” It is entirely possible that the album speaks of failed relationships in general, and it is not particularly important why the relationship broke, but only that the man is primarily at fault, and his selfishness is the reason of hurt in the life of the woman. I am not terribly interested in this facet of the story, but rather the heroine’s response to the situation.

The song that stands alone for the most part is “Get Him Back.” This song is focused on the disappointment that the heroine faces. She seemed to really fall in love with the man, and committed herself to him. She placed her happiness and fulfillment in him, and thus faced extreme disappointment when he left. This stirs her to anger and in turn, revenge. She vows to “Get Him Back.” Her words in this song are malicious and angry toward the man who left her. This view is clearly not acceptable for a believer because, although we do experience anger and disappointment, there should be an overarching contentment in the Lord that is beyond any human relationship. If all fulfillment comes from a relationship other than the Lord, then when disappointment comes, there is nothing left to hope for. This becomes evident in the other themes of the song. Also, there is no place for continuing spite and anger in the life of a believer, especially to the point of rageful revenge.

The theme of disappointment in light of misplaced hopes is a theme that permeates several songs throughout the album. In “O’sailor,” the heroine sleeps with the sailor, and he leaves her disappointed, although she seemed to know that it would probably happen anyway. “Window” deals with her skewed view of her relationship, and the fact that she had placed hope in the man and it was better for her to break the view than to be destroyed by the results of the relationship. “Red Red Red” is probably the climax of her angry response to the breakup. In this song she becomes consumed by anger, and is unable to see any relationship of value. The frustration seems to collect onto herself, and she points out that she is at fault for ever having hope in the goodness of the man or the relationship. This state seems to elicit two responses. The first of which is almost total nihilism. “Oh well,” is a song that contemplates why she showed love to the man in the first place, and why she allowed him to use her. The idea of her being used also is prominent through the album. “Oh well” comes to resolution as all of the hurt and wasted love is answered with an “oh well." This seems to point to the fact that there is no meaning more than temporary pleasure in the relationship. The heroine talks about the fact that she denies that she ever was in love, and hopes that perhaps that can offer her some solace. She seems to say that she can’t believe that she allowed herself to be hurt, and that she longs for love but cannot seem to find it in “Not About Love.” She does however value what they were able to enjoy together and though she seems to think of it as a pass time (“Parting Gift”), she “love(s) what we started.” In this song she begins to turn to existentialism in that even though she does not value the circumstances, she finds pleasure in what she can. In “Tymps,” she regrets the relationship and having allowed him to use her, but she hopes at least that she did it for love. In “Please Please Please” she begs for life to have meaning, and desires for things to give her steadiness. She realizes that apologies, melodies and maladies can give her no peace, but she longs to have peace. She does not realize that it is entirely possible, so she learns to cope with difficulty and create meaning in her life. In “Waltz”, she says that it is okay not to have purpose in life as long as you are kind, and can give to others. She devalues love, and says that the best thing that she can do is learn to cope and be “good at being uncomfortable.” She resolves to keep going no matter what, and says that no matter what is handed to her she will cope because she is an “extraordinary machine.” Essentially her message is that people should learn to cope with disappointment and not expect much more, and just be happy regardless of circumstances.

As Christians, we must carefully critique this entire scenario. We must first realize that part of the problem is, as we discussed earlier, that outside a relationship with Christ there is no true and complete fulfillment and purpose in life. There will be anger and disappointment, and sadness in life, but he offers the steadiness and meaning desired in “Please Please Please.” Part of the problem in this scenario is that there was a sexual relationship outside of marriage. When two people invest in each other in a sexual manner, and then withdraw complete companionship, this is against the natural law, and thus has severe emotional consequences. In light of the fact that Fiona Apple is (as far as I know) not a believer, I do not think her response is inappropriate.

It seems to be in line with Ecclesiastes in that outside a relationship with the redeeming creator, there is no true and whole satisfaction. This does not mean that unbelievers cannot enjoy the benefits of a relationship, but rather that that relationship will never be able to provide for all of the needs and desires of their hearts. Often those relationships will end in disappointment because the partner is expected to fill the place of God in their lives, and thus they will never be able to live up to expectations. Apple is correct in the fact that outside a relationship with the Almighty, there is no real purpose other than what you yourself ascribe, and no meaning other than feeling satisfied in one’s self.

I think that as a whole, this album gives insight to a significant part of the human existence–that is relationships. As believers, we should be able to help people to understand the truth of relationships as God intended them to be, and on larger scale their lives as God intended them to be lived. Christians could benefit from listening to this album, both in artistic elements, as well as apprehending truth and applying God’s word to the situations presented. This is an excellent album, and Christians would do well to use it to spread the truth of the Kingdom of God.