Paper Bag (song) explained

Paper Bag
Cover:Paper-Bag-Fiona-Apple.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Fiona Apple
Album:When the Pawn...
Released:June 2000 (U.S.)[1]
Recorded:1999
Length:3:40
Label:Epic
Prev Title:Fast as You Can
Prev Year:1999
Next Title:O' Sailor
Next Year:2005

"Paper Bag" is a song by American singer-songwriter Fiona Apple, released as the third single from her second studio album, When the Pawn... (1999).[2] [3] The song earned Apple a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for the 43rd Grammy Awards (2001).

Background and composition

Apple wrote "Paper Bag" following an experience in which she mistook a plastic bag for a dove. The event took place in Los Angeles following recording sessions for her previous studio album, Tidal (1996); Apple, reportedly upset at the time, was a passenger in a car being driven by her father.[4] Apple's lyrics are what she calls "extensions of her journal", many of which draw experiences from a rape and subsequent mental health problems, including disordered eating, obsessive–compulsive disorder, and complex post-traumatic stress disorder.[5] [6] [7] The lyrics in "Paper Bag" are about minimizing different types of pain, something that is reflective of the feminine experience, and resonated with girls and women in online conversations associated heavily with trauma and eating disorders, particularly anorexia nervosa, a different disorder than Apple's own. "Hunger hurts, but starving works" became a common, relatable slogan in disordered eating communities.[8] [9] [10]

AllMusic's Matthew Greenwald described "Paper Bag" as having a "loose, almost ragtime" melody and rhythm pattern, with an "up and down" chord pattern creating a "funky, looping feel".[3] The Record noted the "infectious" song includes "Beatlesesque horns".[11] The Boston Globe classified it as a "piano ditty" that "owes equally to Kurt Weill and Paul McCartney,"[12] while The Buffalo News noted that it "provides a more contemporary hip hop sound" than other songs on her album.[13]

Music video

Paul Thomas Anderson directed the music video for "Paper Bag", which features a blue-and-red palette.[14] Anderson and Apple were in a romantic relationship at the time.[15] [16] The video was filmed at Los Angeles's Union Station, specifically the Fred Harvey restaurant portion of the terminal.[17]

Usage in media

"Paper Bag" was featured in the 2006 film The Last Kiss[18] and the 2011 film Bridesmaids.[19]

Reception

Matthew Greenwald of AllMusic wrote that "Paper Bag" was one of the more accessible, "inspiring" tracks from the album. Greenwald appreciated Don Sweeney's horn arrangement, which he called "joyous". In 2012, Bob Gendron of the Chicago Tribune opined, "A midst a backdrop of gently brushed drums, 'Paper Bag' highlighted an ugly tempestuousness at odds with its breezy cabaret melody."[20] In the "Rolling Stone Special Nineties Edition," the song was ranked as the 29th.[21] Rolling Stone Magazine ranked it as the 382nd greatest song of all time in 2021.

The song is considered a "fan favorite".[22] [23] It earned Apple a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for the 43rd Grammy Awards (2001).[24]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Billboard . 17 June 2000 .
  2. Web site: When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks Like a King.... January 30, 2013. Stephen Thomas. Erlewine. Stephen Thomas Erlewine. AllMusic.
  3. Web site: Paper Bag. April 30, 2013. AllMusic. Matthew. Greenwald.
  4. Web site: 'I Just Want to Feel Everything': Hiding Out with Fiona Apple, Musical Hermit . June 17, 2012. January 30, 2013. Dan P.. Lee. Vulture.
  5. Web site: Rudulph . Heather Wood . July 9, 2015 . The Secret History Behind Fiona Apple's "Criminal" . 2022-03-26 . . en.
  6. Web site: Handler . Rachel . 2020-04-17 . Allow Fiona Apple to Reintroduce Herself . 2022-03-26 . . en-us.
  7. Web site: Kornhaber . Spencer . 2013-10-09 . Reminder: Fiona Apple Is Not Insane (and Neither Is Kanye West) . 2022-03-26 . . en.
  8. Web site: Meeson . Fiona . 2020-06-20 . Extraordinary Machine: Fiona Apple and Female Pain. 2022-03-26 . . en-US.
  9. Orsini . Gisella . 2017 . "Hunger Hurts, but Starving Works". The Moral Conversion to Eating Disorders . Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry . 41 . 1 . 111–141 . 10.1007/s11013-016-9507-6 . 1573-076X . 27761691. 21190344 .
  10. Whitehead . Krista . 2010 . "Hunger Hurts but Starving Works": A Case Study of Gendered Practices in the Online Pro-eating-disorder Community . The Canadian Journal of Sociology . 35 . 4 . 595–626 . 10.29173/cjs7976 . 142904875 . 0318-6431. free .
  11. Web site: Apple Sounds Alarm to Potential Lovers . https://archive.today/20130216061513/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-24683250.html . dead. February 16, 2013 . . Bob . Ivry . November 9, 1999 . February 1, 2013.
  12. Web site: Apple Wraps Intimacy, Agony in Lush Sound . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304124559/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8575450.html . dead. March 4, 2016 . . Joan . Anderman . November 9, 1999 . February 1, 2013.
  13. Web site: Discs . https://web.archive.org/web/20160328023219/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-23146387.html . dead. March 28, 2016 . . Stanford Lipsey . Anthony . Violanti . November 19, 1999 . February 1, 2013.
  14. The Minor Works of Paul Thomas Anderson. January 30, 2013. September 13, 2012. Forrest. Wickman. Slate.
  15. On a Wire. 64. Alan. Light. February 2000. 16. 2. 0886-3032. Spin. SPIN Media LLC. January 30, 2013.
  16. Web site: The Master vs. Resident Evil: A Short Guide on How to Tell Paul Thomas Anderson and Paul W.S. Anderson Apart. Gilbert. Cruz. Bilge. Ebiri. January 30, 2013. September 15, 2012. Vulture.
  17. https://laist.com/news/food/there-are-plans-to-open-a-new-gastr
  18. Web site: The Last Kiss (2006) Soundtrack . . February 1, 2013.
  19. Web site: 'Bridesmaids' Soundtrack Features Fiona Apple, Inara George, Hole, Blondie & Wilson Phillips . . . Edward . Davis . April 15, 2011 . February 1, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120813141050/http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/bridesmaids_soundtrack_features_fiona_apple_inara_george_hole_and_more . August 13, 2012 . dead .
  20. Web site: Gendron . Bob . March 20, 2012 . Fiona Apple's intense comeback show riveting at Lincoln Hall . February 1, 2013 . Chicago Tribune.
  21. Book: Rolling Stone The Nineties Special Edition . The Rolling Stone . 86–95.
  22. Web site: August 22, 2005 . For The Record: Quick News On Fiona Apple And Jon Brion, Sean Paul, Brooke Valentine, Incubus, Tommy Lee & More . https://web.archive.org/web/20120209094921/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1508096/fiona-apple-joins-jon-brion-onstage-la.jhtml . dead . February 9, 2012 . February 1, 2013 . MTV.
  23. Fiona Apple Receives Best Pop Vocal Album Grammy Nomination . . December 8, 2005 . February 1, 2013.
  24. Reese . Lori . January 24, 2001 . Em Again: The staid Recording Academy courts controversy for their 43rd annual awards . https://web.archive.org/web/20131202230327/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20332882_93539,00.html . dead . December 2, 2013 . . 1049-0434 . 21114137 . January 30, 2013.

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