Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 2005
Not About Love
Buy Not About Love now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Not About Love
| cover = Not about Love DVD-R single.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Fiona Apple
| album = Extraordinary Machine
| released = January 2006 (U.S.)
| format =
| recorded = Phantom Studios, LA and Stanley Recordings, Venice, CA
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
| length = 4:21
| label = Epic
| writer = Fiona Apple
| producer = Mike Elizondo, Brian Kehew
| prev_title = O' Sailor
| prev_year = 2005
| next_title = Get Him Back
| next_year = 2006
}}
"'Not About Love'" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Fiona Apple and produced by Mike Elizondo and Brian Kehew for her third album 'Extraordinary Machine' (2005). It was released as the album's third single in January 2006.
History
"Not About Love" was the first song from 'Extraordinary Machine' that Apple performed in public; she debuted it at a live concert with Jon Brion in February 2002.[http://www.thewaythingsare.hpg.ig.com.br/index2in.htm News"] . 'The Way Things Are'. March 23, 2002. Retrieved May 31, 2006. In 2003 the album, which was originally produced by Brion, was submitted to Sony Music executives, who were reportedly unenthusiastic about the finished product and shelved it. On February 26, 2005 radio DJ Andrew Harms at 107.7 The End in Seattle began playing previously unheard tracks from a bootleg copy of 'Extraordinary Machine', and before long, poor quality copies of "Not About Love", "Get Him Back" and "Used to Love Him" were circulating on the internet.Lane. [http://www.fionaapple.org/2005/02/seattle-radio-playing-new-fiona-tracks.html "Seattle radio playing new Fiona tracks"] . 'FionaApple.org'. February 26, 2005. Retrieved September 4, 2005.Perez, Rodrigo. [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1497617/20050301/apple_fiona.jhtml?headlines=true "Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Songs Leaked On The Radio"]. MTV News. March 1, 2005. Retrieved September 1, 2005. Soon after, CD-quality versions of all the tracks were released through the BitTorrent website TorrentBox.
'Slant' magazine described the leaked version of "Not About Love" as "defiant, a poetic, regret-filled account of the morning after secrets were spilled".Cinquemani, Sal. [http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=561 "Fiona Apple: 'Extraordinary Machine (Original Version)'"] . 'Slant'. Retrieved May 31, 2006. The 'Akron Beacon Journal' speculated the song was "the big turnoff for the bean counters [at Sony] ... [it] has a rolling circular piano line and no beat aside from the sawing of the lush, swelling string arrangement",Abram, Malcolm X. [http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/living/11294147.htm "Fiona Apple's latest album her best yet"]. 'Akron Beacon Journal'. April 13, 2005. Retrieved May 31, 2006. and a review in Okayplayer called it "brilliant. It sounds like a portion of a ballet movement with a very dramatic ending".KP. [http://www.okayplayer.com/reviews/index.php/weblog/more/extraordinary_machine/ "Fiona Apple: 'Extraordinary Machine'"] . Okayplayer. Retrieved May 31, 2006.
An extensively reworked version of 'Extraordinary Machine', co-produced by Mike Elizondo and Brian Kehew, was released in October 2005. A critic for 'Seattle Weekly' expressed his preference for the new version of "Not About Love": "Brion's busy cello keeps hounding Apple, getting in your ear while you're trying to figure out what the poor girl's trying to say ... Elizondo, in contrast, merely pairs the piano with light-handed percussion, which creates drama — not melodrama, as per Brion".Schindler, Neal. [http://www.seattleweekly.com/music/0546/051116_music_fiona.php "Better Than Fine"]. 'Seattle Weekly'. November 16, 2005. Retrieved May 31, 2006. In comparison, Pitchfork Media wrote "On "Not About Love" and "O' Sailor", Brion scored Apple's compositions no less extravagantly than his soundtracking work for the indie-film elite, applying dollops of lush orchestration ... [but] Elizondo hacks away Brion's embellishments upon "Not About Love" and "Window" in his efforts to keep the spotlight fixed solely on [Apple]".Mitchum, Rob. [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/15004/Fiona_Apple_Extraordinary_Machine_Jon_Brion_version_Extrao "Fiona Apple: 'Extraordinary Machine' (Jon Brion version) / 'Extraordinary Machine'"] . Pitchfork Media. October 5, 2005. Retrieved February 10, 2007.
Video
in the "Not About Love" music video.
The single's video, directed and edited by Michael Blieden, premiered on Apple's official website in August 2005.[http://www.fiona-apple.com/html_content/video.html "Video"]. 'FionaApple.com'. Retrieved May 31, 2006. It features Apple and comedian Zach Galifianakis in bed together, and later walking the streets and they appear to be a couple whose relationship is on the rocks, while Galifianakis lip syncs the song. Originally filmed for the DualDisc edition of 'Extraordinary Machine', the video made its internet premiere outside of Apple's official site on January 13 at AOL Music, and it debuted on the television channel VH1 on January 23.
It was shot in one day on digital video at Galifianakis' house and the surrounding neighbourhood. Apple was friends with Galifianakis as they both performed regularly at Club Largo, and she asked him to participate in the "Not About Love" video after watching a video of him lip synching an Anita Baker song. She said she chose "Not About Love" as the song for which the video would be filmed as "[it] has a lot of tempo changes in it and it's this sort of like schizo song". She also told MTV News that she had hoped the "Not About Love" video would become an official video, and described it as "a weird goal because the whole thing is pretty low-key". The video was popular on the internet and received substantial airplay on vh1 and mtvU, an MTV channel for college and university campuses.
Musical credits
*Fiona Apple piano, vocals
*Mike Elizondo Moog bass
*Brian Kehew guitar
*Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson drums
Notes
References
* Montgomery, James and Perez, Rodrigo. [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1522785/20060130/story.jhtml "If You Think Fiona Grew A Beard, You're Not Paying Attention"]. MTV News. January 30, 2006. Retrieved May 31, 2006.
* [http://www.paulkorda.com/news/2006/01/vh1s-music-radar_19.html "VH1's Music Radar"]. PR Newswire. January 19, 2006. Retrieved May 31, 2006.
* [http://www.antimusic.com/dayinrock/06/jan/12/05.shtml "Fiona Premiere"]. AOL Music. January 12, 2006. Retrieved May 31, 2006.
Buy Not About Love now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 2005