ALANIS MORISSETTE - ALL I REALLY WANT

ALL I REALLY WANT

ALANIS MORISSETTE

SONGWRITERS: ALANIS NADINE MORISSETTE & GLEN BALLARD

COUNTRY: CANADA/U. S. A.

ALBUM: JAGGED LITTLE PILL

LABEL: MAVERICK

GENRE: ROCK

YEAR: 1995

 

        Alanis Nadine Morissette (/əˈlɑːnɪsˌmɒrɪˈsɛt/ə-LAH-niss MORR-ih-SET; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with two highly successful dance-pop albums. In 1995, she released Jagged Little Pill, an alternative rock-oriented album with elements of post-grunge, which sold more than 33 million copies globally and is her most critically acclaimed work to date. This earned her the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1996 and was made into a rock musical of the same name in 2017, which earned fifteen Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical. The album was also listed in the 2003 and 2020 editions of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time Guide. The lead single, "You Oughta Know", was also included at #103 in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Her highly anticipated, more experimental follow-up, electronic-infused album Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, was released in 1998.

    Morissette assumed creative control and production duties for her subsequent studio albums, including Under Rug Swept (2002), So-Called Chaos(2004), Flavors of Entanglement(2008), Havoc and Bright Lights(2012), and Such Pretty Forks in the Road(2020). Her latest album, The Storm Before the Calm, which features ambient music, was released in 2022. Her well-known singles "You Oughta Know", "Hand in My Pocket", "Ironic", "You Learn", "Head Over Feet", "Uninvited", "Thank U", and "Hands Clean" reached top 40 in the major charts around the world, including ten top-40 hits in the UK, 3 three top-10 in the US and Australia, and twelve top-10 hits in her native Canada. She also holds the record for the most Nº 1s on the weekly Billboard Alternative Songs chart for any female soloist, group leader, or duo member. She is listed on VH1's 1999 "100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll" at number 53.

    Morissette has won seven Grammy Awards, fourteen Juno Awards, one Brit Award, and has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. She has been dubbed the "Queen of Alt-Rock Angst" by Rolling Stone

        Jagged Little Pill is the third studio album by Canadian singer Alanis Morissette, released on June 13, 1995, through Maverick. It was her first album to be released worldwide. It marked a stylistic departure from the dance-pop sound of her first two albums, Alanis(1991) and Now Is the Time (1992). Morissette began work on the album after moving from her hometown Ottawa to Toronto, making little progress until she traveled to Los Angeles, where she met producer Glen Ballard. Morissette and Ballard had an instant connection and began co-writing and experimenting with sounds. The experimentation resulted in na alternative rock album that takes influence from post-grunge and pop rock, and features guitars, keyboards, drum machines, and harmonica. The lyrics touch upon themes of aggression and unsuccessful relationships, while Ballard introduced a pop sensibility to Morissette's angst. The title of the album is taken from a line in the first verse of the song "You Learn".

          Jagged Little Pill was a worldwide commercial success, topping the charts in thirteen countries. With sales of over 33 million copies worldwide, it is one of the best-selling albums of all time and made Morissette the first Canadian to achieve double diamond sales. Jagged Little Pill was nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning five, including Album of the Year, making the then 21-year-old Morissette the youngest artist to win the top honor up to that point. Rolling Stone ranked Jagged Little Pill at number 69 on its 2020 list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".

      The album has been re-released twice: on October 30, 2015, in a 2-disc deluxe edition and a 4-disc collector's edition commemorating its 20th anniversary; and on June 26, 2020, in a 25th anniversary deluxe edition. Na acoustic re-recording of the album was released on June 13, 2005, to mark its 10th anniversary. A musical stage production based on the album premiered at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge on May 5, 2018; it transferred to Broadway the following year, and was nominated for 15 Tony Awards including Best Musical. A world tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of Jagged Little Pill began in early 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Do I stress you out?

My sweater is on backwards and inside out

And you say, how appropriate

I don't like to dissect everything today

I don't mean to pick you apart you see

But I can't help it

 

And there I go jumping before the gunshot has gone off

Slap me with a splintered ruler

And it would knock me to the floor if I wasn't there already

If only I could hunt the hunter

 

And all I really want is some patience

A way to calm the angry voice

And all I really want is deliverance, ah

 

Do I wear you out?

You must wonder why I'm relentless and all strung out

I'm consumed by the chill of solitary

I'm like Estella

I like to reel it in and then spit it out

I'm frustrated by your apathy

 

And I am frightened by the corrupted ways of this land

If only I could meet the maker

And I am fascinated by the spiritual man

I am humbled by his humble nature, yeah

And what I wouldn't give to find a soul mate?

Someone else to catch this drift

And what I wouldn't give to meet a kindred? Ah

 

Enough about me, let's talk about you for a minute

Enough about you, let's talk about life for a while

The conflicts, the craziness and the sound of pretenses is falling

All around, all around

 

Why are you so petrified of silence?

Here can you handle this?

Did you think about your bills, you ex, your deadlines

Or when you think you're going to die?

Or did you long for the next distraction?

 

And all I need now is intellectual intercourse

A soul to dig the hole much deeper

And I have no concept of time other than it is flying

If only I could kill the killer

 

And all I really want is some peace man

A place to find a common ground

And all I really want is a wavelength, ah

And all I really want is some comfort

A way to get my hands untied

And all I really want is some justice, ah

 

It's all I really want, some patience

A way to calm me down

And all I really want is deliverance

A place to find a common ground.