Destination Jam: Our Top 5 Alanis Morissette songs that will enchant you with their musical and lyrical depth
As the release date draws near for 'Such Pretty Forks in the Road', the ninth studio album by Alanis Morissette, we'd like to share our favorite songs by the iconic singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. 'Such Pretty Forks in the Road' is due out on July 31.
'Uninvited'
The first track on our list has to be the jaw-dropping stunner, 'Uninvited'. If you've never been acquainted with the singer before, Morissette's core-hitting track is explosive, dynamic, and merciless in its musical prowess. Opening in an eery and utterly catchy piano melody, singing, "Like anyone would be. I am flattered by your fascination with me. Like any hot blooded woman. I have simply wanted an object to crave. But you, you're not allowed. You're uninvited. An unfortunate slight" before distorted guitars, an ensemble of strings, and power drumming grips listeners in the chorus. Audiences often have left pin-drop silence during Morissette's live performances of this beautiful piece of music.
Listen to 'Uninvited' here.
'Hands Clean'
For any aspiring '90s female artists equipped with an acoustic guitar hoping to take on the world with their music, many can attest to the fact that Morissette was certainly their inspiration. In addition to her musical genius, Morissette has also boldly pushed timeless lyrics. Before all the headlines surrounding Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Corey Feldman, who has opened up about child sexual abuse in Hollywood, celebs like Morissette have also given the proverbial slap or two to those who abuse their power. Lyrically, 'Hands Clean' explores a past relationship and how its effects linger. Although Jon Pareles went farther, writing for Rolling Stone that the song is about "an apparently matter-of-fact reminiscence of underage sex with a music-business mentor, an affair 'under rug swept.'" referring to the title of her 2002 album.
'You Learn'
Longstanding fans will tell you that the vocal term mezzo-soprano is best suited to this amazing singer. Morissette also broke out in fame due to her unique singing style that left many an artist to channel in her wake. In 'You Learn', Morissette belts out a stunning harmony of her own voice toward the end chorus, "You live you learn. You love you learn. You cry you learn. You lose you learn. You bleed you learn. You scream you learn. You grieve you learn. You choke you learn. You laugh you learn. You choose you learn. You pray you learn. You ask you learn. You live you learn."
'Head Over Feet'
When Morissette sings emotional, things can get heavy, yet a lot of her music has a sense of relaxation to it. Put on one of her albums, kick back and listen, and you begin to notice there is a strong sense of escapism to her music. If you enjoy a focus on lyrics, deeper meanings, catchiness, it's all there, but before synth and all the electronically-themed songs of today, Morissette's organic music carries sonic authenticity and candidness that seems to have faded over time.
'Ironic'
Sorry, Morissette, but we just had to. She recently revealed to Rolling Stone that she "didn’t even want it on the record," referring to her album 'Jagged Little Pill'. It seemingly stood apart from the autobiographical narrative of the album and she explained, “And I remember a lot of people going, ‘Please please, please.’ So I said, OK. That was one of the first songs we wrote, almost like a demo to get our whistles wet. But people wound up really liking the melody, and I wasn’t that precious about it. And I came to realize later that perhaps I should have been." Among its landing on a multitude of charts, 'Ironic' is her highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. If you want to understand why it became such a successful hit, just take a listen below.
Destination Jam is a daily list of songs that will keep you entertained and grooving up top in lieu of feeling drained and losing the plot. Look out for a fresh selection of great tunes from MEAWW to refresh your mood every day!