LIFE LESSONS

Life Lessons From Fiona Apple

Fiona Apple

Fiona Apple by Sebastian Kim.

Welcome to Life Lessons! This week, we’re revisiting some highlights from two interviews with our one and only, Fiona Apple. We had our first conversation with the angsty ’90s siren, then just 19, in November 1997, shortly after she took home the award for Best New Artist at the MTV Music Awards—and again June 2012, before she released her fourth studio album, The Idler Wheel… Below, the self-described “poster child of cool angst” reflects on radical vulnerability, living without regret, and the struggle to be taken seriously at a young age. So take a seat and grab the nearest box of tissues—you just might learn a thing or two. 

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“My whole life people have been saying, ‘Why are you so angry?’ I do kind of come off a bit intense… But I think it’s good if I appear a bit angry. People are so complacent.”  

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“I have absolutely no regrets.” 

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“I really don’t think anything I do is a mistake. It could be if I didn’t learn from it. But in the long run, no matter what I do for the rest of my life, I’’l know I did something wonderful by saying what I felt.” 

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“It’s my duty not to crumble and close off. I’ve gotten this far because of my willingness to make myself vulnerable.” 

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“I almost feel like it’s my duty to make an ass out of myself in public. Just to prove that you can take risks–that you can’t fuck up. No matter what I do, everything is going to work out.”

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Fiona Apple

Fiona Apple by Sebastian Barry.

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“That’s what’s really fucked up. If women want to be appreciated for what they are saying, we’ve got to wear turtlenecks and long pants.” 

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“Through the media, we’ve established this standard of what every human being should look up to: somebody who always looks right; who always has the right to light on their face; never has bags under their eyes; never says anything inappropriate… I want to change things, I want to be like the patron saint of reality.”

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“The age thing really bugs me. Do people have more of a right to not like what I say because I’m 19?”

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“There are lots of poster children for angst. But there aren’t many poster children for cool angst. Everybody thinks it’s cool if you’re the bad girl. But what about the people who are really not feeling that great?

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“I resent limitations.”

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“Well, the worst has happened and I’m fine. Now I feel like whatever I can do, no one can hurt me. I cannot be violated, I cannot be humiliated, I cannot be disregarded. I cannot be disrespected. I respect myself and believe in what I’m doing, no one can touch me. “

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“I always start with tragedy because if somebody’s going to hurt me, then I want to have gotten there first.”

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“Most of the time you need something to fight against. If something is bothering me, then the only way to get past it is to work through it.” 

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“I’m not lazy, but I don’t have that spur in my ass that most people have, like ‘Oh god. I have to get something out or else my career will be over!’ I don’t really care if my career is over.” 

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Fiona Apple

“If I did have kids, I could either teach them how to stay out of trouble, or how to get out of trouble, which I think is more important.”

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“No matter how well prepared you are in life, you’re gonna fall down a hole. And if you can fix the frayed ends of things, then you’re better off.”

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“I had lots of experience with people telling me that they didn’t want to be friends with me because I was just too sad, which is just the worst thing.” 

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