To those who think the generation that came of age in
the 1980s lacks focus, here's one bit of advice...take a
pill--a Jagged Little Pill! Although she only recently
passed her 20th birthday, Alanis Morissette's
Maverick debut proves she possesses a wealth of
insight and an off-kilter sense of humor that's at once
untainted and mature.
"People have always said I was an old soul," says
Alanis. "They said I was always a little more intense
and introspective than everyone was used to seeing
girls be, so they didn't know where to categorize me."
It all boils down to this one fact: "I want to walk though
life instead of being dragged through it."
That's a pretty accurate description of the jarringly
honest, frequently provocative songs on Jagged Little
Pill, Alanis' Maverick debut. The native of Ottawa,
Canada uses her own experiences--from a Catholic
school upbringing, to her many travels through
Europe as a youth, to her years as a teenager living
alone in Toronto--as a springboard for some striking,
universal statements. In the incisive "All I Really Want"
(on which her self-aware observations are set against
a swirling psychedelic canvas), Alanis pleads for
fulfillment of needs both physical and psychic, while
the stirring "Not The Doctor" offers a steely-eyed
declaration of emotional independence.
"Most of the songs are, in a roundabout way, actually
addressed to myself; there's a certain aspect of the
songs that's very confessional, very unadulterated,"
she allows. "I wrote some of the songs and woke up
the next day not even remembering I'd done
them--almost like a stream-of-consciousness. It was a
very unfettered, spiritual experience."
