12 by... aims to summarize and artist's career in 12 songs. This one features...
I've opted to ignore Alanis's first two Canadian teen pop albums, including the big hit "Let's Go To The Mall." Oh, wait, that was Robin Sparkles. Anyway...
1. "Head Over Feet" (from Jagged Little Pill, 1995)
Anyone who gets as angry as Alanis does in "You Outta Know" also has the ability to go completely to the opposite extreme. That's what "Head Over Feet" is, a sappy bowing-at-your feet ode to new love.
2. "You Learn" (from Jagged Little Pill, 1995)
I'm only slightly embarrassed to admit that I've found this song therapeutic on more than three occasions.
3. "You Outta Know" (from Jagged Little Pill, 1995)
My favorite line is "Does she know how you told me you'd hold me until you died / Well you're still alive." She could have just called him a liar.
4. "Uninvited" (from City Of Angels, 1998)
I never get sick of "Uninvited." It's her "Stairway to Heaven."
5."Thank U" (from Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, 1998)
I wrote about what this song means to me here, so I don't have much else to say. Oh, she was buck naked in the video.
6. "That I Would Be Good" (from Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, 1998)
Raw, minimal and heartfelt.
7. "Hands Clean" (from Under Rug Swept, 2001)
One of her catchiest melodies, "Hands Clean" tells a juicy two narrator tale taken right from Alanis' past. Apparently she got into a sexual relationship with an older producer/manager in her teen pop days. Isn't the fact that she says "I will honor your request for silence" kind of disingenuous? I mean, won't people who know the situation be able to figure out now that you wrote a freaking song about it?!
8. "Precious Illusions" (from Under Rug Swept, 2001)
Alanis really had her compositional mojo working on this record. A great pre-chorus and chorus buoy up more self-realization lyrics.
9. "Everything" (from So-Called Chaos, 2004)
It occurs to me that those looking to save some money on therapy just needs to get themselves some Alanis albums and spend some time with them. It's all there. Everything is a bonus because it's a love song too.
10. "Giggling Again for No Reason" (from Flavors of Entanglement, 2008)
A sparkling song of joy and freedom, celebrating those rare moments, as Paul Simon puts it, "where your brain just takes a seat behind your face."
11. "Guardian" (from Havoc and Bright Lights, 2012)
It's got one of Alanis's trademark soaring choruses, but it feels earned each time as Alanis addresses a wounded person and promises to provide refuge and safety. Isn't it what we all want to hear?
12. "Reasons I Drink" (from Such Pretty Forks in the Road, 2020)
A catchy piano tune that brings about a whole new level of self-examination and confession. There's something comforting in knowing that even all these years later Alanis still doesn't have it all figured out.
*
The above was revised in 2021. As follows is the original entry. One could probably make a case for Alanis having an early career "12 by..." and a later career "12 by..." and I wouldn't argue vehemently against them.
1. "Hand In My Pocket" (from Jagged Little Pill, 1995)
One might generalize and say that early Alanis was tortured and angry, but "Hand In My Pocket" is proof otherwise. It's a song of cautious optimism, half-serious and half-funny.
2. "You Outta Know" (from Jagged Little Pill, 1995)
My favorite line is "Does she know how you told me you'd hold me until you died / Well you're still alive." She could have just called him a liar.
3. "Head Over Feet" (from Jagged Little Pill, 1995)
Anyone who gets as angry as Alanis does in "You Outta Know" also has the ability to go completely to the opposite extreme. That's what Head Over Feet is, a sappy bowing-at-your feet ode to new love.
4. "Ironic" (from Jagged Little Pill, 1995)
Isn't it brilliant that many of the scenarios it described weren't true irony, thus making the song itself an example of irony.
5. "All I Really Want" (from Jagged Little Pill, 1995)
This is a really weird song, from the strange talk-singing on the verses, to the off-kilter high harmonies on the chorus to the lyrics themselves ("intellectual intercourse" anyone?).
6. "You Learn" (from Jagged Little Pill, 1995)
I'm only slightly embarrassed to admit that I've found this song therapeutic on more than three occasions.
7. "Uninvited" (from City Of Angels, 1998) I never get sick of "Uninvited." It's her "Stairway to Heaven."
8."Thank U" (from Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, 1998)
I wrote about what this song means to me here, so I don't have much else to say. Oh, she was buck naked in the video.
9. "That I Would Be Good" (from Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, 1998)
Raw, minimal and heartfelt.
10. "Hands Clean" (from Under Rug Swept, 2001)
One of her catchiest melodies, "Hands Clean" tells a juicy two narrator tale taken right from Alanis' past. Apparently she got into a sexual relationship with an older producer/manager in her teen pop days. Isn't the fact that she says "I will honor your request for silence" kind of disingenuous? I mean, won't people who know the situation be able to figure out now that you wrote a freaking song about it?!
11. "Precious Illusions" (from Under Rug Swept, 2001)
Alanis really had her compositional mojo working on this record. A great pre-chorus and chorus buoy up more self-realization lyrics.
12. "Everything" (from So-Called Chaos, 2004)
As I conclude, it occurs to me that those looking to save some money on therapy just needs to get Alanis' four albums and spend some time with them. It's all there. Everything is a bonus because it's a love song too.
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