93. Megan Mayhew Bergman Discusses Fiona Apple, Tidal

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Author and Middlebury College English and American Literatures professor Megan Mayhew Bergman pays a visit to YMAAA to talk about Fiona Apple’s debut album, Tidal. She revisits the time in her life when she first heard the album, why it was important then and continues to be important to her now, and which songs are her favorites (and which ones she is liable to skip).

Megan and Al got into a little bit of a discussion about Genesis as well, and Al stated that he thought Tony Banks wrote “In Too Deep.” Phil Collins is credited with the lyrics, so he was at least partly wrong about this.

Al also alluded to a series of Genesis interviews conducted in 2014. You can find them on YouTube in four installments. The first one is here — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeGVDk0mSY8 — and links to the others are in the notes for that video.

One last Genesis-related note: Megan mentioned a baby Jesus statue in Mexico that resembles Phil Collins. Here is one of many stories regarding said statue. https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/jesus-statue-phil-collins-trnd/index.html

Follow Megan on Twitter and Instagram at @mayhewbergman! Also be sure to keep up with her many, many projects at http://www.mayhewbergman.com/.

For the time being, Al is on Twitter at @almelchiorBB, and this show has accounts on Twitter and Instagram at @youmealbum. Be sure to follow @youmealbum to find out in advance about upcoming guests and featured albums for this podcast.

The show is also now on Mastodon. @[email protected].

Al launched You, Me and An Album: The Newsletter earlier this year and has brought it back after a hiatus. You can subscribe for free to get Al’s monthly posts, but paid subscriptions give you access to weekly posts. Please consider trying a paid subscription as it also helps to support this podcast! https://youmealbum.substack.com/

1:14 Megan joins the show

2:18 Megan has an awesome Genesis t-shirt

3:07 Megan first heard Tidal during a difficult and lonely period of her life

4:38 Megan and Al are impressed by the maturity and sophistication Apple showed on this album

6:47 Megan discusses the specific ways that Tidal helped her get through a difficult time

10:03 Megan breaks down how the drums and percussion amplify the emotional impact of “Sleep to Dream”

11:28 “Criminal” and “Never Is a Promise” also evoke strong emotions

13:54 Megan has a different relationship with Tidal now than when she was in her teens…

18:46 …but some of the messages carry just as much weight now as then

20:30 Megan and Al marvel at how Apple was able to create such an influential album in her teens

25:06 Megan highlights her favorite musical moments on Tidal

28:23 There are songs on the album that Megan will skip

32:28 Megan and Al discuss Tidal’s sequencing

34:32 Megan reveals which song from the album is her favorite now

36:28 Megan likes the “big character energy” of “Criminal”

38:36 Megan appreciates the videos Apple made for this album

41:19 A bonus Genesis discussion!

50:14 Megan talks about her upcoming book on the International Sweethearts of Rhythm

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