So I’ve recently gifted Fiona Apple’s The Idler Wheel… to my crush, and when she asked me about the meaning of the title I couldn’t give her an answer because I didn’t really understand it either. English it’s not our native language so we don’t really know how to translate something that it’s not literal, because I would say this is more like poetry. I’ve tried to translate each word separatelly, but I understand that since it’s poetry you can’t translate it literally, you may lose the meaning in the process.
Ok, so I seem to understand that “Idler Wheel” it’s something like a gear or pulley that does not provides a driving force, it’s more like a connection between two pulleys that do provide that driving force. An idler wheel only moves if the gears beside it move. In comparison, a screwdriver can produce that driving force (only if you take it with your hands and move it). It’s an active tool, whereas the idler wheel is more passive. So if the idler wheel is wiser that the driver of the screw, does that mean that taking a more passive aproach to life (but not disconnected from it) is better (or wiser) than taking control of it, than “being a screwdriver”?
The second part, I understand that a whipping cord is a technique to prevent the fraying of the end of a rope. It is a natural tendency, it will happen unless you take some measures to prevent it. But I don’t really understand why whipping cords (around the end of a rope) Will serve you more than the rope itself. A rope it’s a tool, you can use it, even though it eventually Will get frayed. However, a whipping cord it’s not useful without the rope, I don’t really get the sense out of this. I’ve also thought that “whipping” may refer to the rope used to whip (Indiana Jones stuff), and that the rope may refer to the suicide method, hanging yourself with a rope. In that case, it may be that being depressed, having a tendency to upbraid yourself and live unhappily because of that it’s still better than not being alive at all. But this seems a little too macabre.
So it would be really nice if anyone of you can explain me the meaning of the album’s title, or your interpretation of what she was trying to say with it, because a literal translation in spanish (our native language) doesn’t make much sense, but maybe in english has some deeper meaning because she’s using some set phrases that lose their sense when translated literally.
Thanks in advance! And sorry for the bad english.
Apparently she said this in an old interview with Pitchfork:
"I came up with it in a total rush. After having stayed up all night on deadline, it just came to me right after the sun rose. I didn’t realize people would be like, "Oh shit, another poem." It just came out to be what it was– sorry. If you think about it, the driver of the screw has one job and he is always trying to change things. But the idler wheel is there and has this great effect on what the gears do; the idler wheel knows the machine much better than just this one thing that’s performing this one task. For the second line, I had read about whipping cords in a nautical book that my last boyfriend had. I read that when ropes get frayed at sea, you can repair the frayed ends of the ropes with whipping cords that are very strong. This goes right back to the parenting thing– if I had a kid, and I had a choice between teaching somebody how to avoid trouble, or teaching them how to get out of it, I’d teach them how to get out of it."
The interview is here: https://pitchfork.com/features/interview/8853-fiona-apple/
I like your analysis a lot, you got her intended point and I think found other themes that resonate with the album too!
Hi! I'm so sorry for the late response, your answer was great and it helped a lot! Thank you very much, I understand it a lot better now <3
your english is excellent, don't worry! this is really thoughtful look at it! i have to spend a bit more time with it myself
Hi! Thank you for reading it and for your kind words! Would love to hear from you when you have reached an interpretation!
Wow what an insightful comment. Thank you for the perspective. I’ve listened to that album 37478404 times and never thought about the meaning of the title. I’m sure you’ve listened to Fetch the Boltcutters, that woman amazes me. Her ability to put feelings into words is true gift. Oh I really hope your crush turned into your person.
I'm just seeing this post after reading an article about Apple and looking up this album title today. I too was trying to better understand what it meant. As someone else replied, I think your literal analysis of the words in the title are quite good and helpful for understanding the title. Along with the quote from Apple herself, provided by WhinyTortoise, I think there is enough to feel confident in inferring a general message from the title.
It seems to be saying that the things designed to aid more single-purpose driven things are the more useful of the pair. Since it's likely that these are metaphors for people, I think it's a safe step to say the quote is stating that the people whose work is toward helping others achieve their goals are the "wiser" and, possibly, better sort to surround yourself with or model yourself after.
I would go a little further and say that since the "idler wheel" (or idler gear) is, literally, a cog in a system and it is attributed with the human quality of wisdom, while the ropes and cords are not anthropomorphized (not attributed human qualities) that the ethical message (the message relating to how people should act in society) is that the "wiser" person is one who comes to understand the system they find themselves in and then acts to help others, rather than the "driver of the screw" or the person who has a single motivation and pushes others toward acts to accomplish that goal.
You asked about any English idioms (phrases that have a different meaning when put together than the literal definition of each word) and the "driver of the screw" is likely a reference to the English idiom "turns the screws." Someone who "turns the screws" is someone who applies some sort of negative pressure to others in order to get them to do something or get something done. A common and generic example would simply be a boss or supervisor at work who threatens their staff with something bad in order to motivate them to meet a deadline or quota. The phrase also has a relation to torture, where 'turning the screws" was to apply more pain to those already in pain. When used in this way the phrase generally means "making a bad situation worse." I would be hesitant to apply this meaning of the phrase to the title, predominantly because the title is so laden with tool and work related subject matter and so empty of pain references. Also, because almost anyone is "wiser" than someone who makes a bad situation worse and so that meaning of the phrase would weaken the impact of what is being said. While it's always possible that the more ominous pain related meaning is wished to be ... sort of a background note (understood to be included but not the primary meaning of what is being said) even that is hard to defend given the quote from Apple herself being so absent from references to pain.
There's more to be said about the "whipping cords" portion of the title, especially with the Apple quote relating it to a mother teaching lessons or skills to her child, but this is already a long reply.
I have only come to learn of this album title today and I have to say I think very highly of it. It's poetic, it's concise, it has a real depth and complexity to it, and the rhyme scheme and word choice both a friendly and serious tone to them.
Interesting thoughts.
“Healing your trauma will serve you more than a new beginning ever will”-my understanding of the second parts meaning
For the idler wheel, working in harmony in life and it’s horrors/radical acceptance is wiser than trying to force life to meet your expectations