Hand In My Pocket by Alanis Morissette

I was a junior in high school when I listened to Jagged Little Pill for the first time. I'd barely experienced life at this point yet I knew this was the real deal: anger, bitterness, heartache, lust, self confidence. I knew I'd come to know all of these experiences intimately and I couldn't wait!

As I mentioned a few days ago, Alanis' songs have always resonated with me because she does such an incredible job of capturing what it's like to be a woman, to experience this roller coaster of emotions and hormones. We can feel ugly and beautiful in the same day, wearing the same outfit! This song says hey, there are some not so nice things about me but they all have a silver lining. This struck a chord with 16 year old me and still does 19 years later. I'm still short, but I'm healthy. Sometimes I'm wrong but I'm often sorry about it. I can be brave but I can chicken out. I still haven't gotten everything figured out but I know everything is going to be quite alright. We all have all these sides to us and it's nice to be reminded I'm not the only one.

This is a pick me up song, a feel good about life song. There's never a time it doesn't make me smile. I don't think I know a woman my age who doesn't like at least one of Alanis' songs or find her relatable in some way. She's gone through phases of being angry, angsty, sentimental and romantic. We've all been there! I definitely appreciate a female artist who can sum up these universal experiences and put them out there for those of us in need of some reassurance.

Everything by Alanis Morissette

This is the only song on my list that has fallen into favor with me fairly recently. In fact, Everything was not the E song I initially decided on when I started working on this project last fall. That was Escape by Rupert Holmes (also known as The Pina Colada song) which is a cool song but besides the fact that I enjoy it, there's no real significance there for me. 

Although I consider myself an Alanis fan, I'm more familiar with her earlier work and I'd never heard this song until a few months ago. I was carpooling to a temp job one morning when I heard the opening line in Alanis'  familiar voice from the tinny speakers of the company mini van: "I can be an asshole of the grandest kind" and I leaned forward in my seat to be sure I didn't miss a single word. I downloaded the song when I got home that evening and it's been on my regular playlist every since. Once again I was struck by how perfectly Alanis can sum up my feelings about being a woman, specifically the overwhelming appreciation I feel for my partner. 

Until now, I'd never been in a romantic relationship that felt completely mutual. All my other couplings seemed to involve one person giving, liking, loving, wanting at least a little more than the other. Sometimes that would shift back and forth in the same relationship, but I never truly felt like I was on the same page with the other person at all times. 

I've recently told my other half that he is with the best me that I have ever been. I truly believe that, but in order for me to be getting to this place he has supported me through a couple dark times and transition periods. He's lifted me up and had faith in me when I wasn't quite able to do that for myself. I have never had a romantic partner be willing to make the sacrifices for me that he has made. This song honed in on all of that immediately and worded it perfectly. I'm happy to have a new song to add to my list of favorites, especially from an artist who means so much to me already and obviously knows what it's like to go through some of the things that I have.