“It was a big step for me to contemplate writing a record from a place that wasn’t overtly suffering… You don’t have to suffer to create. You don’t have to suffer to learn. I was led to believe that the only way I could evolve was if I suffered, and now I realize I can evolve – probably faster even – if I’m not suffering. Which is big”(Morissette, Nov. 1999) Alanis Morissette was born on 1 Jun 1974 in Ottawa, Canada to Alan and Georgia Morissette. She has an older brother called Chad and a twin brother called Wade. Alanis loved dancing an acting as a child and took to writing songs and playing the piano from an early age. Alanis recalled, “I started writing songs when I was really little because there were things I could say through songs that I couldn’t verbalise in any other way. Writing was something I had to do”, her song writing was a way of releasing the thoughts and emotions inside. At the age of ten she joined the cast of the children’s television programme “You Can’t Do That On Television” and using the money she earned she recorded an independent single, “Fate Stay With Me”, which was released when she was just ten. At fourteen she had signed a music publishing contract and in 1991 she moved to Toronto and released her debut album “Alanis. Alanis was one the most unlikely stars of the mid-90’s, starting off as a dance-pop star she changed into a confessional alternative/songwriter, this change brought about the worldwide success of her third album, “Jagged Little Pill”, her first two albums only being successful in Canada. There was a lot of pressure on the young Alanis from those around her who depended on her to look good and also financially. But there was also pressure from Alanis herself, she described herself as being a perfectionist and “her own drive to achieve, couples with the needs and expectations of those around her was a heavy load for someone so young”(Anon). She spent so much time trying to please too many people with bookings and events all over the place so it was a relief when the record deal with MCA came through and things became a lot more controlled. It took Alanis a long time to find her footing as a songwriter but this came with the internationally acclaimed album “Jagged Little Pill”. A studio in Los Angeles belong to a fellow songwriter, Glen Ballard, became a sanctuary to Alanis and was where she wrote the highly autobiographical songs for her third album. Throughout her struggle for success she retained faith that she would find her place and be able to unleash the ideas in her mind that was causing her so much frustration, bursting to be transformed into breath-taking songs. The turning point for Alanis was with the song “Perfect”, one of “Jagged Little Pill’s” most effective tracks, which reached out to all those who have suffered from low self-esteem, and it has also been widely interpreted as an attack on parental expectations. “Perfect” allows the internal voice that pushed the teenage Alanis towards perfection to surface and through this song she was able to release and put into words the long unstated fears and weaknesses deep within. Of the other tracks in the album “Forgiven” explores her relationship with the catholic church and “Hand In My Pocket” is a comforting number which reveals the introverted side to Alanis. When Alanis first moved to Los Angeles she was suffering from great stress, and was finding it difficult to adjust to her new environment, growing up and leaving her parents. She was close to having a nervous breakdown and went down from there. She hid away from the world having lost incentive to go out after working so hard in the studio. When the weekend came she felt anxiety at knowing she would have to go into the city and work on her personal life, part of her was holding in but the other part was working hard and reaching out to others. It would seem that the turmoil and struggle endured by Alanis was the fuel behind “Jagged Little Pill” and gave it its colour and feeling. The upheavals, pain and trauma were captured in song in the mind-blowing lyrics of the tunes making up her most successful album. Through “Jagged Little Pill” Alanis evolved as a singer and songwriter, and her honesty and openness in her song writing has become addictive and in some way good for her. She said in an interview “If I continued to hold everything in, I would probably explode. And I would probably start losing it on people”, and her manager constantly reminded her “I know what is gonna happen. If you don’t keep writing, you are going to freak out”. So far Alanis has only scratched the surface of her talent and wealth of ideas, and she knows “there are a million more (songs) and a million more revelations and thoughts and confusions that I haven’t even begun to write about yet”. Written by: Claire C.H. 2001 BIBLIOGRAPHY ANON(No Date) Mental Health: Teen/Young Adult Talent[Online] Available: http://talentdevelop.com/mnthlth.html (Accessed: 27 November 2001) ANON(2000) Forgiven – A Tribute To Alanis Morissette[Online] Available: http://www.oocities.org/SunsetStrip/4925/Alanis/ (Accessed: 27 November 2001) CATIN, PAUL(2001) You Oughta Know: Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Life[Online] Available: http://www.canoe.ca/JamMusic/Alanis/home.html (Accessed: 27 November 2001) |
BIOGRAPHY OF ALANIS MORRISETTE |