"Fast as You Can" is a song written by

Fiona Apple Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. She has released five albums from 1996 to 2020, which have all reached the top 20 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Apple has received numerous awards an ...

, and produced by

Jon Brion Jon Brion is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and the Grays before becoming an established producer and film score composer. Brion has ...

for her second album, '' When the Pawn...''. It was released as the album's

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

in the United States on October 5, 1999, and in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2000. It became one of Apple's most successful singles in both countries, and its music video, directed by

Paul Thomas Anderson Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. He made his feature-film debut with ''Hard Eight (film), Hard Eight'' (1996). He found critical and commercial success with ''Boogie Nights'' ( ...

, was well received. The video and track were popular on

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly as MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV, a 24-hour music and entertainment TV channel that began broadcasting on August 1, 1987, as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initially, MTV serve ...

's US Top 20, resulting in some popularity for Apple across Europe.

Background and style

Apple said that with the song, she wanted to explore different moods and the "ups and downs" of a relationship. "When you get to the middle

f the song F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...

that spell of confusion takes you out of the element for a minute, which is, of course, what happens emotionally. But the beat never changes."Moon, Tom
"Fiona Apple has a new album to promote - and an image she'd like to change"
''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

''. November 8, 1999. Retrieved December 15, 2006. Apple said the song is "really just thoughts that were running through my head that were in that rhythm". Jon Brion said he knew "exactly" what he wanted the song to sound like. "I knew I wanted it to be

Matt Chamberlain Matthew Chamberlain (born April 17, 1967) is an American session musician, drummer, producer and songwriter. Biography Life and career Chamberlain was born in San Pedro, California on April 17, 1967. He began learning how to play the drums ...

on drums", he said. "He can play all this beautiful machine-influenced stuff, but with human feel." Brion played a "very busy

bass line Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, dub and electronic, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played (in jazz and some f ...

idea" for Apple on a

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

in his kitchen, combining the line with a "groove" in the style of Chamberlain's work. Apple became excited and said, "That's great! That feels exactly like it!" Brion and Apple stressed in interviews that it was Apple, and not Brion, who created the time-changes and structure in the song were already present when he worked on it. "All I did was to heighten pre-existing things", Brion said. "In terms of the color changes, I am coordinating all of those, but the rhythms are absolutely Fiona's."Zollo, Paul
"Producer's Corner - Jon Brion"
''Performing Songwriter''. July/August 2000. Retrieved December 15, 2006. ''

'' described the song as "slightly off-kilter, perpetually destabilized ... an intricate suite of shifting moods that starts as a '60s

soul-jazz Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including ten ...

stomp, then is connected by a rueful

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

interlude to a sauntering triple-meter chorus." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote that it "signals its mood swings — love me, fight me, don't go, get out while you can — with

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

changes and unlikely interludes, from a blunt hip-hop drumbeat to lute-like' Strawberry Fields' keyboards." ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' characterized the song as "galloping" and "syncopated",Giles, Jeff
"Happily Ever Apple"
''

''. November 8, 1999. Retrieved December 15, 2006. and ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' magazine called it "skittery".Light, Alan
"Girl On A Wire"
''

''. February 2000. Retrieved December 15, 2006. The cover of the promo CD for the single in the US was drawn by Apple.

Chart performance

The single debuted on the US ''Billboard''

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart in late October, receiving minimal radio airplay until ''When the Pawn'' made a strong debut on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart. It subsequently rose to number twenty on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in mid-December, remaining on the chart for twelve weeks. On the

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

chart, on which it debuted in early December, "Fast as You Can" peaked at number twenty-nine and stayed on the chart until early February 2000. It failed to appear on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 but became Apple's first—and, currently, only—single to reach the top forty in the United Kingdom, where it was released on February 14 and peaked at number 33. In Ireland, the song reached number 49. "Fast as You Can" also reached number 62 in Australia's annual

Triple J Hottest 100 The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music listener poll hosted by the publicly-funded, national Australian youth radio station, Triple J. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Australian and alternative music of the ...

poll."Hottest 100 2000."
.

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

. Retrieved March 31, 2008.

Music video

The single's music video was directed by Apple's then-boyfriend, film director

, who directed the video for Apple's previous single, "

Across the Universe "Across the Universe" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. It was written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song first appeared on the 1969 various artists' charity compilation album ''No One's Gonna Change Our W ...

" (1998). Anderson shot the video in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

with the crew he uses during the production of his films. " 's all really fun", Apple said of the video. "I don't have to wear any makeup or anybody else's clothes — no negligees!" The video was photographed by Robert Elswit and edited by Dylan Tichenor, and it premiered in September 1999. In the video Apple is seen singing the song in and around a house, inside a garage, at a subway station and on a subway train. The video was filmed with a vintage hand-cranked camera, which is why Apple's mouth does not match the lyrics she sings. Throughout the video there are changes from

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

to colour and from fullscreen aspect ratio to

widescreen Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...

. It was nominated for a 2000

Billboard Music Award The ''Billboard'' Music Awards are honors given out annually by '' Billboard'', a publication covering the music business and a music popularity chart. The ''Billboard'' Music Awards show has been held annually since 1990, with the exception of ...

for "Best Pop Clip of the Year", with media sources describing it as "quirky",Gardner, Elysa
"Fiona's fresh spin on life, love and 'the business'"
''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

''. November 30, 1999. Retrieved December 15, 2006. "simple, improvised", "playful and inventive".

Track listings and formats

UK CD1 # "Fast as You Can" (radio edit) – 3:48 # "Never Is a Promise" (live from Sessions at W.54th) # "

" – 5:06 UK CD2 # "Fast as You Can" (radio edit) – 3:48 # "Sleep to Dream" (album version) (from ''

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * Tidal (album), ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * ...

'') – 4:08 # "I Know" (album version) (from ''When the Pawn'') – 4:57 UK CD re-mix # "Fast as You Can" (radio edit) # "Across the Universe" (remix) – 3:48 # "Never Is a Promise" (live) UK promo CD # "Fast as You Can" (radio edit) – 3:48 US and Mexican promo CD # "Fast as You Can" (radio edit) – 3:48 # "Fast as You Can" (album version) - 4:40 Japanese CD single # "Fast as You Can" (radio edit) – 3:48 # "Limp" (album version) (from ''When the Pawn'') – 3:31 # "Fast as You Can" (album version) – 4:40

Personnel

* Produced by

* Recorded by

Rich Costey Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling ** Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated commun ...

Mix Mix, mixes or mixing may refer to: Persons & places * Mix (surname) ** Tom Mix (1880-1940), American film star * nickname of Mix Diskerud (born Mikkel, 1990), Norwegian-American soccer player * Mix camp, an informal settlement in Namibia * Mix ...

ed by Rich Costey and Jon Brion * Programming by Rich Costey * Vocals and piano by

* All other instruments by Jon Brion * Drums and percussion by

* Woodwinds by Michael Breaux *

Chamberlin The Chamberlin is an electro-mechanical keyboard instrument that was a precursor to the Mellotron. It was developed and patented by the American inventor Harry Chamberlin from 1949 to 1956, when the first model was introduced. There are severa ...

and

wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

by Patrick Warren

Charts

Release history

References

*''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''. Issues dated from November 6, 1999 to February 12, 2000. *Unknown (1999). In ''When the Pawn''

D liner notes D, or d, is the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''dee'' (pronounced ), plural ''dees''. History The ...

United States: Clean Slate Records/

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

. *

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

(2/5) link {{Authority control 1999 singles 1999 songs 2000 singles 550 Music singles Columbia Records singles Epic Records singles Fiona Apple songs Music videos directed by Paul Thomas Anderson Song recordings produced by Jon Brion Songs written by Fiona Apple