Originally “The Drumset Is Gone” (she probably changed it because of the similarity to “The Child Is Gone”, a track from her debut album Tidal), the origin story of the song was explained in the New Yorker profile:
Once, when Apple was upset about a recent breakup, with the writer Jonathan Ames, sh...
[Verse 1]
The drumset is gone
And the rug it was on
Is still here screaming at me
Why did you take it all away?
Why did you take it all away?
And the dialing of the phone
Is no longer fun
Since you've been done with me
And you don't want to talk with me at all
Why'd you take it all away?
I did nothing wrong
I don't believe it, I don't believe it
I don't believe your reasoning
Now I understand you're a human
And you've got to lie, you're a man
And you've got to get what you want
How you want it but so do I
And I wanted to try
[Chorus]
Why did you not want to try?
Why did you take it all away?
Why did you not want to try?
Why did you take it all away?
Why did you not want to try?
Why did you take it all away?
Why did you not want to try?
Why did you take it all away?
[Post-Chorus]
Why did you take it all away? (You took it all away)
Why did you take it all away? (You took it all away, took it)
Why did you take it all away? (You took it all away)
Why did you take it all away? (You took it all away)
[Verse 2]
The drumset is gone
And the rug it was on
Is still here screaming at me (You took it all away, took it)
Why did you take it all away?
Why did you take it all away? (You took it all away, took it)
And the dialing of the phone (You took it all away, took it)
Is no longer fun (You took it all away, took it)
Since you've been done with me
And you don't want to talk with me at all
Why'd you take it all away?
I did nothing wrong
I don't believe it, I don't believe it
I don't believe your reasoning
Now I understand you're a human
And you've got to lie, you're a man
And you've got to get what you want
How you want it, but so do I
And I wanted to try
[Chorus]
Why did you not want to try?
Why did you take it all away?
Why did you not want to try?
Why did you take it all away?
Why did you not want to try?
Why did you take it all away?
Why did you not want to try?
Why did you take it all away?
And
Drumset was written by Fiona Apple.
Drumset was produced by Amy Aileen Wood & Fiona Apple.
Fiona Apple released Drumset on Fri Apr 17 2020.
Jonathan had broken up with me, and I think I was expecting everybody to break up with me. If he didn’t want to work on things with me, and I know he loves me, then you guys aren’t going to work on things with me either. Because [the band and I] had this little argument and then they took some of th...