Paper Bag

Inspiration for this song came when Apple was in Los Angeles with her father, who was driving her back home from a recording session for her first album, Tidal. Looking out the window, she saw what she thought was a dove, and immediately started assigning meaning to it because that's how her mind works: she sees symbolism all around her. The Tidal sessions were miserable for Fiona - she was used to working on music by herself, and now she had to deal with a team under the strictures of professional recording. When she saw the bird, it lifted her spirits because she thought it was a sign that everything was going to be OK. But then the "dove" started falling... it was just a plastic bag. The image stuck in her head, and when she started writing for her When the Pawn... album, she used it as a metaphor for how so often in her life, something seems promising but ends up disappointing her - often a man. The plastic bag became a paper bag because it sings better.

Apple is filled with desire on this song: I want him so bad, oh it kills But knows very well how she's perceived: I know I'm a mess he don't wanna clean up In the end, she decides it's not worth it: Hunger hurts but starvin' works When it costs too much to love The guy in the song isn't at her level - he's just a little boy who doesn't get her jokes. This could apply to many of her past relationships, but at the time the song was released, she was in a long-term relationship with the director Paul Thomas Anderson, an intellectual and artistic equal seven years older. They split up in 2002. Anderson ended up having four kids with the actress Maya Rudolph; he worked with Apple again when he directed her 2012 video for "Hot Knife."

This was the third single from Apple's When the Pawn... album, following "Fast As You Can" and "Limp." By this time, it was clear Apple was not a pop star, and she was rarely heard on Top 40 radio. After burning out while promoting Tidal, she set boundaries for When the Pawn..., doing limited press and fewer concerts. This constrained her audience, but endeared her to fans.