Criminal

Criminal

Fiona Apple

“Criminal” is the fourth track on Fiona Apple’s debut album, Tidal. It was released as the third single in September 1997 and is her biggest hit. The song won the Grammy Award for “Best Female Rock Vocal Performance” at the 40th Grammy Awards and was also nominated for “Best Rock Song”.

Apple describes the song as “a description of feeling bad for getting something so easily by using your sexuality.” About the writing, Fiona told Pitchfork:

One of my friends said to me, “Oh yeah, of course you aren’t writing.” So I was like, “The next time you see me, I’m gonna have a new song.” I wrote “Criminal” in 45 minutes when everyone else went to lunch because I had to have a hit. I can force myself to do the work, but only if someone is right up behind me.

The music video was directed by Mark Romanek and it spurred quite a controversy as it shows an emaciated Fiona Apple, surrounded by what appears to be tranquilized models, undresses as she croons lyrics like “I’ve been a bad, bad girl.” Her appearance, as described by the New Yorker as being similar to that of an “underfed Calvin Klein model”, spurred accusations that the video promoted “heroin chic” and had “overtones of child porn.”

Fiona was unhappy about the video, saying, during a 1999 Washington Post interview: “I thought that it was cheesy. I didn’t look like myself. It’s kind of ruined the song for me.”

She eventually made a statement about trying to look like someone you’re not as she accepted her MTV Video Music Award for “Best New Artist” later that year, specifically “go with yourself.”