Extraordinary machine

I certainly haven't been shopping for any new shoes
-And-
I certainly haven't been spreading myself around
I still only travel by foot and by foot, it's a slow climb,
But I'm good at being uncomfortable, so
I can't stop changing all the time

I notice that my opponent is always on the go
-And-
Won't go slow, so's not to focus, and I notice
He'll hitch a ride with any guide, as long as
They go fast from whence he came
- But he's no good at being uncomfortable, so
He can't stop staying exactly the same

If there was a better way to go then it would find me
I can't help it, the road just rolls out behind me
Be kind to me, or treat me mean
I'll make the most of it, I'm an extraordinary machine

I seem to you to seek a new disaster every day
You deem me due to clean my view and be at peace and lay
I mean to prove I mean to move in my own way, and say,
I've been getting along for long before you came into the play

I am the baby of the family, it happens, so
- Everybody cares and wears the sheeps' clothes
While they chaperone
Curious, you looking down your nose at me, while you appease
- Courteous, to try and help - but let me set your
Mind at ease

(Chorus)

-Do I so worry you, you need to hurry to my side?
-It's very kind
But it's to no avail; I don't want the bail
I promise you, everything will be just fine

If there was a better way to go then it would find me
I can't help it, the road just rolls out behind me
Be kind to me, or treat me mean
I'll make the most of it, I'm an extraordinary machine

Fiona Apple

I haven't been so excited about discovering someone's words and music, and particularly words, since Leonard Cohen. "Discovery" makes it sound like a chance encounter, you know universe sends something along, that kind of thing. I'm not sure that's the case, I think it's more the case of opening yourself to something once you get to a point where you can understand it. It's like pregnant women seeing the other pregnant women on the street. (She's a fellow Virgo, if that explains anything!)

I listened to several interviews with her, and she said that most songs are like pep talks with herself, usually she's not as strong as she claims to be in a song until a few months after it's written. And Extraordinary Machine is like a letter to those who care about her, to make sure they listen to her when she tells them that they don't need to be concerned. She shelved the first version of the album because the songs didn't feel right. When Sony didn't give her full support to rework the songs, she stopped working with them until they withdrew their conditions. (In the meantime the first versions of the songs got leaked to the Internet and more trouble ensued, fans organized campaigns for the album's official release.) The album was released in 2005, two years after the initial date of release, but she was happy with it.

I'd whole-heartedly recommend you get to know her.