When the Pawn...

When the Pawn...
Studio album by Fiona Apple
Released	November 9, 1999 (U.S.)
Recorded	1998-1999 Andora Studio; Chateau Brion Studio; Nrg; Ocean Way Studio; One On One South; Preasence Studio Westport; Woodwinds
Genre	Alternative rock baroque pop jazz fusion
Length	42:39
Label	Clean Slate / Epic
Producer	Jon Brion
Fiona Apple chronology
Tidal (1996) When the Pawn... (1999) Extraordinary Machine (2005)
Singles from When the Pawn…
"Fast as You Can" Released: November 20, 1999 "Limp" Released: 2000 "Paper Bag" Released: November 21, 2000

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
CNN	Favorable[2]
Entertainment Weekly	A[3]
Heat	[4]
Los Angeles Times	[5]
Mademoiselle	[6]
MTV	Favorable[7]
Newsweek	Favorable[8]
Pitchfork Media	[9]
PopMatters	Favorable[10]
Q	[11]
Robert Christgau	A-[12]
Rolling Stone	[13]
Spin	[14]
TIME	Favorable[15]
Time Out	Favorable[16]
Uncut	[17]

When the Pawn... is the second album by American singer-songwriter Fiona Apple, released by Epic Records in the United States on November 9, 1999.^[18] In 2010, Spin magazine named the album the 106th greatest of the last 25 years.^[19] A year later, Slant Magazine named it the 79th best album of the 1990s.^[20]

The title When the Pawn... is a commonly shortened version of the full album title, which was actually a poem written by Fiona Apple, containing over 400 characters of text: When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight and He'll Win the Whole Thing 'fore He Enters the Ring There's No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might so When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand and Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights and If You Know Where You Stand, Then You Know Where to Land and If You Fall It Won't Matter, Cuz You'll Know That You're Right.

Background

The album title is a poem Apple wrote on tour after reading the readers' negative letters about her in the December 1997 issue of Spin magazine.^[21]

The album's long title has become a source of trivia, and when it was released held the world record for longest album title (previously held by one of the volumes in The Best... Album in the World...Ever!). Rolling Stone magazine made fun of the title/poem, calling it, "When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks Oh the Hell With It".^[13] However, in October 2007 Soulwax released their remix album Most of the Remixes, which has 100 characters more in its title. This was later surpassed in 2008 by the Chumbawamba album The Boy Bands Have Won..., with its full title containing 865 characters of text.

The first single, "Fast as You Can", was fairly popular and received moderate radio and video airplay. It reached the top 20 on the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and became Apple's first top 40 hit on the UK Singles Chart. The follow-up singles, "Limp" and especially "Paper Bag", which was nominated for a Grammy Award, were less successful. Apple's boyfriend at the time, filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, directed videos for all three singles.

Track listing

All songs written by Fiona Apple

1. "On the Bound" – 5:23
2. "To Your Love" – 3:40
3. "Limp" – 3:31
4. "Love Ridden" – 3:22
5. "Paper Bag" – 3:40
6. "A Mistake" – 4:58
7. "Fast as You Can" – 4:40
8. "The Way Things Are" – 4:18
9. "Get Gone" – 4:10
10. "I Know" – 4:57

Japanese edition bonus tracks

11. "Across the Universe" (Lennon–McCartney)
12. "Never is a Promise" [live]

Personnel

Production

• Producer: Jon Brion
• Engineer: Rich Costey
• Assistant engineers: Tom Banghart, Rob Brill, Greg Collins, Bryan Jackson, Steve Mixdorf, John Tyree
• Mixing: Jon Brion, Rich Costey
• Mastering: Eddy Scheyer
• Production coordination: Valerie Pack
• Programming: Rich Costey
• Arranger: John Bainbridge
• Design: Fiona Apple
• Cover art concept: Fiona Apple

Charts

References

External links

• When the Pawn... at MusicBrainz
• When the Pawn... at Metacritic