I was first introduced to Fiona Apple about 20 years ago by an American friend who was absolutely besotted with her. After listening to some of her work it was easy to see why and, quite frankly, I quickly became rather besotted myself.

Her voice and choice of lyric can be like soft velvet one moment, then jagged shards of glass the next. And her God-given natural ability to convey emotion in a song through her vocal delivery, and through the incredible dynamics in her piano playing is, in my opinion, utterly unmatched by any other artist of her time.

I Know is a great example of her extraordinary talent, and it’s a song I turn to regularly for some peace and reflection when I need to re-calibrate the mind and re-centre myself.

The song is the album-closing track on the 1999 release, When the Pawn… which is one of a select few albums in my collection that I simply couldn’t imagine being without. And when I listen to it today it still sounds every bit as good and every bit as relatable as it did 20 odd years ago.

A fun fact to end on: You may have noticed that When the Pawn… ends with an ellipsis and that’s because it’s not the full title of the album, which is actually a complete poem written by Fiona and, at time time of its release, was the longest album title in music history at 444 characters in length…

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

So be it, I’m your crowbar
If that’s what I am, so far
Until you get out of this mess

And I will pretend
That I don’t know of your sins
Until you are ready to confess

But all the time, all the time
I’ll know, I’ll know

And you can use my skin to bury secrets in
And I will settle you down
And at my own suggestion
I will ask no questions
While I do my thing in the background

But all the time, all the time
I’ll know, I’ll know

Baby, I can’t help you out
While she’s still around
So for the time being, I’m being patient

And amidst this bitterness
If you’ll just consider this
Even if it don’t make sense all the time
Give it time

And when the crowd becomes your burden
And you’ve early closed your curtain
I’ll wait by the backstage door

While you try to find the lines to speak your mind
And pry it open, hoping for an encore
And if it gets too late for me to wait
For you to find you love me, and tell me so

It’s okay
Don’t need to say it