69. Alanis Morissette, "Jagged Little Pill"

 


I can think of two songs where I remember exactly where I was when I first heard them, like they're a Presidential assassination or something.  One of them you will find out later (it's in the Top 10 I think) and one of them is "You Oughta Know," the lead single from this album.  If you were anywhere near a radio or cable TV in 1995 you remember that this song absolutely dominated the airwaves.  I was helping my friend Ian move and it came on the radio and, reader, I was transfixed.  Not only is it a totally kickass song with a great vocal melody and fantastic production (by Glen Ballard, who also co-wrote the album with Alanis), it also was my first introduction to Morrisette's completely unique vocal style, growling and snarling her way through it.  I thought it was incredible and unlike anything else I'd heard.

Another data point courtesy of my wife, who told me she owned a copy of this album and that all of her friends did too.  She was a girl in high school (or whatever they call it in Ireland, where she grew up, I'm 99% sure they don't call it high school) in 1995 and therefore was probably the exact epicenter of the target audience for this record.  I said I liked the album but I didn't know if it was Top 100 material and she said I was absolutely wrong and it is definitely a Top 100 record and I will defer to her on that.

A lot of people don't realize that Morrisette was already an accomplished recording artist who had released two albums before this one, which was made when she was NINETEEN YEARS OLD.  Jesus I feel so fucking old now.  Speaking of "You Oughta Know," you can dislike the Red Hot Chili Peppers as much as I do and still appreciate Flea's bass line on that song, which totally slaps and gives the song a funky undercurrent.  It's just a great fucking song.  (The rumor, as you well know I'm sure, is that it's about her failed relationship with TV's Dave Coulier but the less you think about Alanis going down on him in a theater, the better.)

You know, I really like "Hand in my Pocket" too, with its very drum-machiney drum machine and great vocal, but there's something that's always bugged me about it lyrically.  The chorus lyrics change every time, and here are choruses two and three:

And what it all comes down to
Is that everything's gonna be quite all right
'Cause I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is flickin' a cigarette

And what it all comes down to
Is that I haven't got it all figured out just yet
'Cause I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is givin' a peace sign

So in #2, "cigarette" doesn't rhyme with "right," and in #3, "peace sign" isn't even the same neighborhood as "just yet," but if you just switched them, you'd be great!  "Right" and "sign" and "just yet"/"cigarette"!  Girl why!

As Wikipedia wryly puts it, "Ironic"'s "use of situational irony led to some fascination with whether it is a correct application of the term ironic."  Man did we ever talk about that, and the prevailing view was that the song was just about "stuff that sucks" and not necessarily ironic things (rain on your wedding day, 10,000 spoons when you need a knife, you know), but who gives a shit.  You remember the very very famous video.  Let's all take a moment and watch together!


Fun fact - that was actually Morrisette's real car, a 1978 Lincoln Continental.  This video got shamelessly mocked but there's really nothing wrong with it.

Anyway, this album kicks ass and I'm glad it's high up on the list and I am CERTAIN it is a lot of people's favorite album, but let's be honest, it is not the 69th best album of all time.

I got through this whole post without saying "Nice," where's my fucking medal?

Is this album in my personal Top 100? My wife is gonna kill me, but no.

Comments

  1. GGOctober 17, 2022 at 10:12 AM

    This album never really caught me, and reading this I realize that I was probably just a little old for it -- in 1995 I was almost done with undergrad and planning my first wedding. You're right that high school really would have been the sweet spot to hear this for the first time. That being said, "One Hand in My Pocket" is a great song and I will 100% sing along to it out loud if it ever comes on.

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