Fiona Apple: Paper Bag Meaning

Song Released: 2000

Paper Bag Lyrics

I was staring at the sky, just looking for a star
To pray on, or wish on, or something like that
I was having a sweet fix of a daydream of a boy
Whose reality I knew, was a hopeless to be had
But then the dove of hope began its downward...

1. anonymous

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   Nov 7th 2022 !⃝

   My interpretation of Paper Bag is that the writer, Fiona Apple, sets up false hope for herself; she tries to make herself believe that this guy, who’s she dating, it's worth her love and time. This causes her to second guess herself frequently and become crazy. In the meanwhile the person she’s dating is in a sort of “rose colored glasses” perspective, which makes it even harder for the writer to cope. In reality he's just careless and doesn’t believe her in other words, a paper bag. In addition, I see her calling him a little boy rooted from his childish behavior. Maybe even relating him to a child because he's not at the same level as her to see what kind of state the relationship lies in. I think her use of “hunger” and “starving” is a metaphor rather than her having an ED. Her hunger being her trying to get/find benefits out of this relationship knowing that there's no hope for it because it’s not what it used to be, even though she truly loves this guy.
2. anonymous

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   Mar 23rd 2021 !⃝

   She was looking for a sign to keep going and give her hope - ( “dove of hope”) but instead it was just a paper bag so she crashes down again and she’s struggling with mental health perhaps ocd and an ed (“hunger hurts”). It sounds as if she is also having relationship problems and this paper bag was supposed to be hope but it wasn’t.
3. anonymous

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   Feb 26th 2020 !⃝

   I imagine that the writer had a chance meeting in a parking lot one night, without glasses, and got to talking to someone and thought they were older and found out a bit later they were younger, troubling the writers mind between the laws of nature and the laws of man. The writer and this person the writer met, must have had a great deal in common, including birthdays, though some years apart and may still torture them both to this day.
4. anonymous

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   Aug 9th 2016 !⃝

   It sounds like it has to do with a man, and that he made her feel like she wasn't good enough. And this resulted in an eating disorder. "Hunger hurts, but starving works, when it costs too much to love" just speaks to me as such a powerful message, what kind of damage love can really do.
5. anonymous

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   Aug 17th 2014 !⃝

   What I get from this is:
   She is hoping for the love relationship with this guy to really work out, even though she views it as a hopeless situation.
   Because of that, shes looking for signs of "hope" but what she thought was hope was nothing. "Just a paper bag".
   Meaning she is losing hope for the future with this man.
   
   One can really understand how much she loves and wants this guy, but there are undercurrents of self sabatage on her part which is all part of her mess.
   He's a guy. He just doesnt get her. As usual in many relatiinships.
   What ever the issues, she leaves even though she loves him deeply. She thinks she is too much for him.
   And he was not man enough to go after her or the love she has for him. If he did he would prove what he is made of. Thereby bringing love and all the hope it needs with him.
6. anonymous

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   Jan 19th 2012 !⃝

   For me, I believe it's a reference to alcoholism. How she suffers watching him slowly kill himself, waiting for hope, and when she thinks there's hope, he goes back to his "old ways" which would hurt her feelings.
   
   She becomes the mess. Anxious, worries, numb.
   
   Funny how much the alcoholic's behavior can affect a person.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
7. anonymous

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   Jul 14th 2011 !⃝

   Sounds like a person I've been crazy about for years. Sleepless nights thinking about him, and him being equally in "love" with me. Only to be left feeling empty from time to time, hyping him up in my head, trying to justify him as my soulmate, and finding out that he's just a "boy". Being in "love" but so indecisive turns one a bit crazy.

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