Alanis Morissette became internationally famous in 1995 with the release of her third album ‘Jagged Little Pill’. I listened to her music again while writing my first book.
That first internationally successful album has a lot of great songs. In ‘Perfect’ she sings about one of the reasons of generational trauma stating: ‘We’ll love you just the way you are / If you’re perfect’. In ‘You Learn’ she points out the truth: ‘You live, you learn / You love, you learn / You cry, you learn / You lose, you learn / You bleed, you learn / You scream you learn’. And in ‘Wake Up’ she reminds us about our Inner Child: ‘Well, there’s an apprehensive naked little trembling boy / With his head in his hands / And there’s an underestimated and impatient little girl / Raising her hand’.
Her next album was titled ‘Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie’ and had many more great songs. In ‘Baba’ she noticed: ‘I’ve seen men overlooking God in their own essence / I’ve seen their upward glances in hopes of instant salvation / I’ve seen their righteousness mixed without loving compassion / I’ve watched you smile as the students bow to kiss your feet’. In ‘Thank You’ she wonders: ‘How ’bout me not blaming you for everything / How ’bout me enjoying the moment for once / How ’bout how good it feels to finally forgive you / How ’bout grieving it all one at a time (…) How ’bout no longer being masochistic / How ’bout remembering your divinity / How ’bout unabashedly bawling your eyes out / How ’bout not equating death with stopping’.
In ‘The Couch’ she sings about her shrink who asks: ‘Who are you younger generation to tell me / That I have unresolved problems? (…) / How can you just throw words around? / Like grieve and heal and mourn / I feel fine we may not have been born / As awake as you were / It was much harder in those days’. And in ‘One’ she understands: ‘I have abused my power, forgive me / You mean we actually are all one / Always looked good on paper / Sounded good in theory’.
In ‘Joining you’ she confesses: ‘If we were our bodies / If we were our futures / If we were our defenses / I’d be joining you / If we were our culture / If we were our leaders / If we were our denials / I’d be joining you’. Finally in ‘These Are the Thoughts’ she asks: ‘Why do you say you are spiritual yet you treat people like shit? / How can you say you’re close to God / And yet you talk behind my back as though I am not a part of you?’. Let’s reflect on this.
What I am trying to do by quoting some of her words is to persuade you to listen to these songs again with the new, more spiritual understanding.
