For the record ... and an update
For the record, the following is why Alanis is a goddess manifest ...
She is insanely honest about her neuroses and the kind of private strugglings people simply don't admit because when you confess that something minute means something monumental to you, people look at you like you're crazy ... then make sure all future conversations are buffered by large groups ... or intoxicants ...
Some artists will lyrically admit weakness, but mostly if the weakness is one of those weakness that could be really a spiritual strength in disguise or at least something to be respected on some level, loving too much or leaving a note that read someday you'll be loved or or ... I can't really think of examples because it doesn't happen that often ... but Alanis frankly admits to such ireedemable sins as pettiness, narcissism, masochism, self-destruction, self-deception ...
yet coupled with these confessions is the wisdom she's gained from her own flaws, the narratives of her own spiritual refinement ...
pause for a moment of incoherent adulation
Every one of her songs acknowledges that a human being is an incredibly complex being, both grotesque and beautiful. Her music almost celebrates that, I hate to say it but, we're all bitches and lovers ...
Yet she never succumbs to the paradox of our own human nature ... that is, she doesn't merely shrug off her flaws, excusing them to genetic fate or human burden or blah blah blah ... many of her songs end with some sort of resolution, albeit painful, made at the end, some determination that she has agency and she is going to use it to change the course of her life ...
I actually don't have Jagged Little Pill, (I gather it's her -quintessential- work?) but in (happiness!)Under Rug Swept, So-Called Chaos, and Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, her lyrics are rich with affirmation ....
Since Under Rug Swept is her only album I have on my music player at the moment and because, besides, it was her first album that I ever heard, hence imprinting primal attachment, ...
21 Things I Want in a Lover
do you derive joy when someone else succeeds?
do you not play dirty when engaged in competition?
do you have a big intellectual capacity even though you know it alone does not equate wisdom.
do you see everything as an illusion but enjoy it even though you are not of it?
you are masculine, feminine, politically aware, and don't believe in capital punishment?
do you derive joy from diving in, see that loving someone can actually feel like freedom?
are you funny, a la self-deprecating, like adventure, and have many formed opinions?
are you uninhibited in bed, more than three times a week, up for being experimental?
are you athletic? are you thriving in a job that helps your brother, are you not addicted?
are you curious and communicate?
I -love- this song (especially the line about everything as an illusion) because it both acknowledges the beauty, spiritual wealth, and complexity of people, and -empoweringly- suggests that it's not mere fate or chance encounter that connects you with people but self-knowledge
So Unsexy
All these little rejections, how they add up quickly,
one small sideways look and I feel so ungood.
Somewhere along the way I think I gave you the power to make me feel the way I thought only my father could.
All these little rejections, how they seems so real to me.
One forgotten birthday, and I'm all but cooked.
How these little abandonments seem to sting so easily.
I'm thirteen again, am I thirteen for good.
All these little rejections, how they fail to serve me.
One forgotten phone call, and I'm deflated.
All these little defenses, how they fail to comfort me,
your hand pulling away and I'm devastated.
All these little rejections, how they keep springing from me.
I jump my ship as I take it personally.
All these little rejections, how they disappear quickly
the moment I decide not to abandon me.
When I first heard this song a couple years ago I was blown away that someone would admit to suffering from reading-rejection-into-insignificant-exchanges … Yet, it's complicated, with past experiences informing current responses and come on now, a birthday is not entirely an insignificant thing, which is the way it is with most things: a mixture of perception and reality. The really lovely thing about this song is that it suggests such universality that it's comforting and such individual revelation that it suggest empowerment
You Owe Me Nothing In Return
I’ll give you countless amounts of outright acceptance if you want it.
I will give you encouragement to choose the path you want if you need it
You can speak of anger and doubts, your fears and freakouts, and I’ll hold it.
You can share your so-called shame-filled accounts of times in your life and I won’t judge it.
And there are no strings attached.
--chorus-
You owe me nothing for giving the love that I give.
You owe me nothing for caring the way that I have.
I give you thanks for receiving. It’s my privilege.
And you owe me nothing in return
You can ask for space for yourself and only yourself and I’ll grant it.
You can ask for freedom as well and time to travel and you’ll have it.
You can ask to live by yourself or love someone else and I’ll support it.
You can ask for anything you want, anything at all, and I’ll understand it.
And there are no strings attached.
I bet you’re wondering when the next payback shoe will eventually drop.
I bet you’re wondering when my conditional police will force you to cough up.
I bet you’re wondering how far you have now danced your way back into debt.
This is the only kind of love as I understand it that there really is.
You can express your deepest of truths even if it means I’ll lose you and I’ll hear it.
You can fall into the abyss on your way to your bliss, I’ll empathize with.
You can say that you have to skip town to chase your passion, and I’ll hear it.
You can even hit rock bottom, have a mid-life crisis, and I’ll hold it.
And there are no strings attached.
Oh Alanis. Everything I know about love I learned from this song. Well, not quite, I suppose. But this song represents the ideal of love that I stumble toward. ‘So Unsexy’ is number five on this album and this is number nine. It’s a gorgeous evolution from a person who is scared and shattered to a person who is whole and bold, from someone sort of sick to someone who shines with vitality. The first person was one who was more fighting off abandonment, whereas this is a person who is flinging her arms open to embrace love
…. Every song in this album is so transcendent, but I’m pretty sure I’ve already exceeded whatever tiny quota anyone has for reading song lyrics on LJ anyway … but if anyone wants a copy of this album or So-Called Chaos or Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, I would absolutely love to make you a copy.
Oh dammit, I have to give you at least one stanza of the last song on Under Rug Swept, oh-so-appropriately entitled Utopia:
We’d share and listen and support and welcome,
Be propelled by passion, not invest in outcomes
We would breathe, be charmed and amused by difference
Be gentle and make room for every emotion.
………..
We’d rise post-obstacle,
More defined, more grateful.
We would heal, be humbled,
Be unstoppable.
We’d hold close and let go
And know when to do which.
We’d release and disarm
And stand up and feel safe.
You got it, goddess.
She is insanely honest about her neuroses and the kind of private strugglings people simply don't admit because when you confess that something minute means something monumental to you, people look at you like you're crazy ... then make sure all future conversations are buffered by large groups ... or intoxicants ...
Some artists will lyrically admit weakness, but mostly if the weakness is one of those weakness that could be really a spiritual strength in disguise or at least something to be respected on some level, loving too much or leaving a note that read someday you'll be loved or or ... I can't really think of examples because it doesn't happen that often ... but Alanis frankly admits to such ireedemable sins as pettiness, narcissism, masochism, self-destruction, self-deception ...
yet coupled with these confessions is the wisdom she's gained from her own flaws, the narratives of her own spiritual refinement ...
pause for a moment of incoherent adulation
Every one of her songs acknowledges that a human being is an incredibly complex being, both grotesque and beautiful. Her music almost celebrates that, I hate to say it but, we're all bitches and lovers ...
Yet she never succumbs to the paradox of our own human nature ... that is, she doesn't merely shrug off her flaws, excusing them to genetic fate or human burden or blah blah blah ... many of her songs end with some sort of resolution, albeit painful, made at the end, some determination that she has agency and she is going to use it to change the course of her life ...
I actually don't have Jagged Little Pill, (I gather it's her -quintessential- work?) but in (happiness!)Under Rug Swept, So-Called Chaos, and Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, her lyrics are rich with affirmation ....
Since Under Rug Swept is her only album I have on my music player at the moment and because, besides, it was her first album that I ever heard, hence imprinting primal attachment, ...
21 Things I Want in a Lover
do you derive joy when someone else succeeds?
do you not play dirty when engaged in competition?
do you have a big intellectual capacity even though you know it alone does not equate wisdom.
do you see everything as an illusion but enjoy it even though you are not of it?
you are masculine, feminine, politically aware, and don't believe in capital punishment?
do you derive joy from diving in, see that loving someone can actually feel like freedom?
are you funny, a la self-deprecating, like adventure, and have many formed opinions?
are you uninhibited in bed, more than three times a week, up for being experimental?
are you athletic? are you thriving in a job that helps your brother, are you not addicted?
are you curious and communicate?
I -love- this song (especially the line about everything as an illusion) because it both acknowledges the beauty, spiritual wealth, and complexity of people, and -empoweringly- suggests that it's not mere fate or chance encounter that connects you with people but self-knowledge
So Unsexy
All these little rejections, how they add up quickly,
one small sideways look and I feel so ungood.
Somewhere along the way I think I gave you the power to make me feel the way I thought only my father could.
All these little rejections, how they seems so real to me.
One forgotten birthday, and I'm all but cooked.
How these little abandonments seem to sting so easily.
I'm thirteen again, am I thirteen for good.
All these little rejections, how they fail to serve me.
One forgotten phone call, and I'm deflated.
All these little defenses, how they fail to comfort me,
your hand pulling away and I'm devastated.
All these little rejections, how they keep springing from me.
I jump my ship as I take it personally.
All these little rejections, how they disappear quickly
the moment I decide not to abandon me.
When I first heard this song a couple years ago I was blown away that someone would admit to suffering from reading-rejection-into-insignificant-exchanges … Yet, it's complicated, with past experiences informing current responses and come on now, a birthday is not entirely an insignificant thing, which is the way it is with most things: a mixture of perception and reality. The really lovely thing about this song is that it suggests such universality that it's comforting and such individual revelation that it suggest empowerment
You Owe Me Nothing In Return
I’ll give you countless amounts of outright acceptance if you want it.
I will give you encouragement to choose the path you want if you need it
You can speak of anger and doubts, your fears and freakouts, and I’ll hold it.
You can share your so-called shame-filled accounts of times in your life and I won’t judge it.
And there are no strings attached.
--chorus-
You owe me nothing for giving the love that I give.
You owe me nothing for caring the way that I have.
I give you thanks for receiving. It’s my privilege.
And you owe me nothing in return
You can ask for space for yourself and only yourself and I’ll grant it.
You can ask for freedom as well and time to travel and you’ll have it.
You can ask to live by yourself or love someone else and I’ll support it.
You can ask for anything you want, anything at all, and I’ll understand it.
And there are no strings attached.
I bet you’re wondering when the next payback shoe will eventually drop.
I bet you’re wondering when my conditional police will force you to cough up.
I bet you’re wondering how far you have now danced your way back into debt.
This is the only kind of love as I understand it that there really is.
You can express your deepest of truths even if it means I’ll lose you and I’ll hear it.
You can fall into the abyss on your way to your bliss, I’ll empathize with.
You can say that you have to skip town to chase your passion, and I’ll hear it.
You can even hit rock bottom, have a mid-life crisis, and I’ll hold it.
And there are no strings attached.
Oh Alanis. Everything I know about love I learned from this song. Well, not quite, I suppose. But this song represents the ideal of love that I stumble toward. ‘So Unsexy’ is number five on this album and this is number nine. It’s a gorgeous evolution from a person who is scared and shattered to a person who is whole and bold, from someone sort of sick to someone who shines with vitality. The first person was one who was more fighting off abandonment, whereas this is a person who is flinging her arms open to embrace love
…. Every song in this album is so transcendent, but I’m pretty sure I’ve already exceeded whatever tiny quota anyone has for reading song lyrics on LJ anyway … but if anyone wants a copy of this album or So-Called Chaos or Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, I would absolutely love to make you a copy.
Oh dammit, I have to give you at least one stanza of the last song on Under Rug Swept, oh-so-appropriately entitled Utopia:
We’d share and listen and support and welcome,
Be propelled by passion, not invest in outcomes
We would breathe, be charmed and amused by difference
Be gentle and make room for every emotion.
………..
We’d rise post-obstacle,
More defined, more grateful.
We would heal, be humbled,
Be unstoppable.
We’d hold close and let go
And know when to do which.
We’d release and disarm
And stand up and feel safe.
You got it, goddess.