Song · Fiona Apple
“Shadowboxer” by Fiona Apple
From the album Tidal (1996)
“Shadowboxer” by Fiona Apple appears on 17 radio countdowns from 11 stations between 1996 and 2026. It was first released in 1996 on the album Tidal. Its best result is #73 on the WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1996. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #205 alternative song of 1996 and #4,698 alternative song of all time.
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Video from YouTube (fionaappleVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"Shadowboxer" was Fiona Apple's first single, the opening move from her debut album Tidal in 1996, and she'd recorded it with Jon Brion in 1995, right after signing with Sony. She wrote it alone and plays the piano, and the song circles the risks of wanting someone and letting your guard down, sung in a low, smoky voice that takes its time.
Andrew Slater produced it, and the arrangement leans toward late-night jazz: Brion on vibraphone and tack piano, Patrick Warren on chamberlin, Greg Richling on bass and Danny Frankel on drums, with Mark Endert recording and mixing. Jim Gable shot the black-and-white video in a recording studio, Apple at the piano and at the microphone. She played it on Saturday Night Live and on her MTV Unplugged special, and it hung around the Alternative Songs chart for six weeks, getting as high as number 34.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 99 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1996 | 107 |
| 1996 | 86 | Q101 Chicago, IL | Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1996 | 101 |
| 1996 | 73 | WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD | WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1996 | 99 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 697 | Q101 | Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1017 |
| 2000 | 401 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000) | 500 |
| 2001 | 403 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001) | 498 |
| 2009 | 627 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Essential Songs | 913 |
| 2012 | 341 | WYEP | WYEP Top 500 Songs Countdown | 500 |
| 2016 | 686 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 | 913 |
| 2021 | 220 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s | 908 |
| 2022 | 188 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s | 900 |
| 2022 | 360 | KEXP | KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022) | 491 |
| 2022 | 1153 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2022 | 603 |
| 2023 | 112 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
| 2023 | 366 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 | 1229 |
| 2025 | 222 | WFPK | WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '90s | 500 |
| 2026 | 861 | KXT | KXT 917 Song Countdown | 917 |
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