Sleep to Dream

"Sleep to Dream" is a song written and recorded by American alternative singer-songwriter Fiona Apple. It was released on April 14, 1997 by Work Records and Columbia Records as the second single from her debut studio album, Tidal.

"Sleep to Dream"
Single by Fiona Apple
from the album Tidal
B-side	"Never Is a Promise"
Released	April 14, 1997 (1997-04-14)
Recorded	1996
Studio	Ocean Way Recording (Los Angeles, California)
Genre	Trip hop post-grunge^[1]
Length	4:10
Label	Work Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Fiona Apple
Producer(s)	Andrew Slater
Fiona Apple singles chronology
"Slow Like Honey" (1996) "Sleep to Dream" (1997) "Criminal" (1997)

The song's accompanying music video was filmed by French director Stéphane Sednaoui and received positive reviews. Apple won the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in a Video in 1997, in which it garnered worldwide controversy after she proclaimed during her acceptance speech: "This world is bullshit, and you shouldn't model your life about what we think is cool, and what we're wearing and what we're saying."^[2] Despite peaking at only number 28 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, the song remains one of Apple's most successful singles to date.^[3]

Background and release

"Sleep to Dream" was reportedly Apple's first lyric, penned when she was 14.^[4] She recorded the song with collaborator Jon Brion in 1995 immediately after being signed to a record deal with Sony Music Entertainment. It was later released as the third single from Tidal. Apple performed "Sleep to Dream" in various events, notably on the television special MTV Unplugged: Fiona Apple.^[5] A live version recorded at the SXSW appears on the deluxe version of Apple's fourth studio album, The Idler Wheel... (2012).

Chart performance and critical reception

The song peaked at number 28 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart on the week ending April 26, 1997, and spent 13 weeks there.^[6] It also peaked at number 84 on the UK Singles Chart^[7] (number 79 on the compressed chart, with exclusions below number 75^[8]), becoming Apple's first song to chart in the United Kingdom. "Sleep to Dream" has also received critical acclaim from music critics. Christopher John Farley of Time wrote: "In "Sleep to Dream", she assumes a smoldering anger that comes off like a muted Alanis Morissette."^[9] People magazine also remarked: "A sort of hybrid of Alanis Morissette and Nina Simone—part rebellious rocker and part sultry jazz singer—Apple comes on tough in songs like "Sleep to Dream," a slow, smoldering tune in which she kisses off a reluctant lover ("You say love is a hell you cannot bear/And I say gimme mine back and then go there, for all I care")."^[10]

American R&B singer Macy Gray tried to cover the song, but found difficulty doing it instead. She remarked "her songs are so moody, and if you take it out of that it doesn't sound right."^[11] American rapper Kanye West also expressed enthusiasm over the song's lyrical content, saying: "one of my favorite opening lines to a song... "I have never been so insulted in all my life!"^[12] American soul singer Bettye LaVette's studio album I've Got My Own Hell to Raise (2005) is titled after a lyric of "Sleep to Dream", which also includes a cover of the song.^[13][14]

Music video

The music video of the song was French director Stéphane Sednaoui and was released in May 1997. It features Apple singing in different rooms in an apartment, all the while suffering from insomnia.

1997 MTV Video Music Awards acceptance speech

Apple won the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in a Video for the video at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards on September 4, 1997, where she was presented by Elton John.^[15] During her acceptance speech, Apple was quoted saying:

"I didn't prepare a speech and I'm sorry. But I'm glad that I didn't, because I'm not going to do this like everybody else does it. 'Cause everybody that I should be thanking, I'm really sorry, but I have to use this time. See Maya Angelou said that we, we as human beings, at our best can only create opportunities, and I'm going to use this opportunity the way I want to use it. So what I want to say is everybody out there that's watching, everybody that's watching this world. This world is bullshit! And you shouldn't model your life—wait a second—you shouldn't model your life about what you think that we think is cool, and what we're wearing and what we're saying and everything. Go with yourself. Go with yourself."^{[16][17][18][19]}

She ended her speech thanking her mother, her sister (Maude Maggart) and Andrew Slater (the song's producer).^[16] She said to the audience "It's just stupid that I'm in this world. But you're all very cool to me. So thank you very much."^[19] Immediately after ending her speech, host Chris Rock remarked: "Let's hear it for Fiona X!"^[16][20] The speech was initially greeted with applause and cheer from the audience.^[16][20] However, it received condemnation from most of the press media around the world,^[16] with some of them, such as The New Yorker and NYRock, deemed it to be "ungrateful" and "ridiculous".^[21][22]

The incident became one of the controversial moments in the VMA history,^[15][16][17] and a career-defining moment for Apple.^{[15][23][24][25]} However, she never apologized for the matter. In an interview with the Rolling Stone on January 22, 1998, Apple responded by saying: "I just had something on my mind and I just said it. And that's really the foreshadowing of my entire career and my entire life. When I have something to say, I'll say it."^[25][26] In an interview with New York magazine in June 2012, Apple remarked what happened after the incident: "When I walked backstage, I was proud of myself. And they gave me the silent treatment! They pretended I wasn't there! It was the moment I learned that they needed me more than I need them. It was one of the best things I've ever done."^[19]

Track listing

CD single^[27]

1. "Sleep to Dream" (edit) – 3:48
2. "Sleep to Dream" (album version) – 4:08

7" vinyl single^[27]

1. "Sleep to Dream"
2. "Never Is a Promise"
3. "Sullen Girl" (live)
4. "Pale September" (live)

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Tidal.^[28]

• Bass guitar – Dan Rothchild
• Drums, Percussion – Matt Chamberlain
• Guitar, vibraphone, tack piano – Jon Brion
• Piano, Chamberlin – Patrick Warren
• Vocals – Fiona Apple

Charts

Chart (1997)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)^[29]	159
Canada Top Singles (RPM)^[30]	78
Scotland (OCC)^[31]	75
UK Singles Chart^[8]	79
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)^[32]	28

Release history

Country	Date	Format	Label	Catalog
United States	February 25, 1997	Contemporary hit radio	Work, Columbia	^[33]
	April 14, 1997	CD, Vinyl		^[27]
United Kingdom			Columbia	^[27]

References

1. Myers, Owen (January 22, 2023). "Kylie Minouge - Impossible Princess". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
2. "Twenty Years Later, the World is Still Bullshit".
3. "Fiona Apple". Billboard. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
4. Sutcliffe, Phil, "Hard Core Pawn", Q, March 2000, pp46-48
5. "MTV Unplugged - Fiona Apple". TV.com. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
6. "Fiona Apple Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
7. "Chart Log UK 1994-2010 > A – Azzido Da Bass". zobbel.de. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
8. "Official Charts > Fiona Apple". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
9. Fairley, Christopher John (29 July 1996). "Fiona Apple: Wise beyond her years". Time. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
10. "Picks and Pans Review: Tidal". People. 16 September 1996. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
11. "Macy Gray Sings Metallica, Radiohead and More on 'Covered'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
12. Ryan, Chris. "10 Things Kanye West Has Enthusiastically Endorsed Via His Twitter". MTV. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
13. "Singer Bettye Lavette covers 'em". Canoe.ca. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
14. "Music review: I've Got My Own Hell to Raise". Entertainment Weekly. 26 September 2005. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
15. Parker, Lyndsey. "We Got Your Crazy: The Wackiest VMA Moments Ever". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
16. "1997 Video Music Awards". MTV. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
17. Montgomery, James. "Kanye West Isn't The Only Bad Boy In Video Music Awards History". MTV. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
18. "Fiona Apple world is bullshit". June 2, 2011. Archived from the original on 2021-12-17. Retrieved December 10, 2013 – via YouTube.
19. "'I Just Want to Feel Everything': Hiding Out With Fiona Apple, Musical Hermit". New York. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
20. "The 2010 MTV VMA Countdown: Fiona Apple Tells Us A Thing Or Two". MTV. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
21. "Extraordinary Measures". The New Yorker. 3 October 2005. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
22. . NYROCK. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
23. "The 5 Most Absurd Moments in VMA History". Cracked.com. 26 August 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
24. Allen, Jim. "Five Videos of Fiona Apple Being Awesome". MTV. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
25. "Fiona Apple's Bad, Bad Girl Moments". Rolling Stone. 24 April 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
26. Heath, Chris (January 22, 1998). . Rolling Stone. No. 778. p. 30. Archived from the original on 6 April 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
27. "Fiona Apple - Sleep to Dream". Discogs. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
28. "Fiona Apple - Tidal". Discogs. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
29. "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 12 July 2016". Imgur.com. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
30. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 7766." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. February 24, 1997. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
31. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
32. "Fiona Apple Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard.
33. "New Music Now"". Radio & Records. No. 1179. January 10, 1997. p. 33.