Why Alanis Doesn't Suck No Matter What Art May Tell You

Here's the story. Art and I were living in a tiny (400 square feet, maybe?) apartment stuck to the back of her parents' basement. It was 1995 and we were 19 year old girls. That means we were required by law to listen to women whine to an instrumental accompaniment. While there were many such CDs to choose from I was inexplicably drawn to Alanis Morrisette's Jagged Little Pill. I played it all the time. All. The. Time. 3 am? Sure. 7 am? Sure. 10:30 pm? Sure. While Art was sleeping in the adjoining room? Sure. I was all about Jagged Little Pill.

Art took a bit of a different path and put Pearl Jam's Nothing Man on repeat for a full month. It was sandwiched between long bouts of Counting Crows August and Everything After. Neither one of which I mind listening to now. But for some reason Art has a deeply ingrained aversion to Alanis's brand of whine.

Flash forward a few years and I was newly entrenched in Southern Illinois and dating a FarmBoy.  I was a bit of a mess. My previous relationship had left me pretty seriously damaged. FarmBoy was ridiculously patient with me. I tried to keep my distance and put up some pretty tall walls. Luckily he's a good climber. I'd push and he'd let me. I'd keep him at arms length and he'd stay there until I wasn't looking. Then he'd scoot a little closer. He was very clear about his feelings very early on. I was ambiguous for months. He was kind. He was steadfast. He didn't give up and wasn't easily dissuaded by the hot mess I was.

 I had pretty deep feelings for him but wasn't willing or able to state them on my own so I turned to music. Oh, how I miss the days of the mix-tape.  The one I made FarmBoy was called "The Yucky Love Stuff." I'm pretty sure it still lives in a kitchen cabinet somewhere around here. The first song on it was Alanis's Head Over Feet.

I had no choice but to hear you
You stated your case time and again
I thought about it

You treat me like I'm a princess
I'm not used to liking that
You ask how my day was

Your love is thick and it swallowed me whole
You're so much braver than I gave you credit for
That's not lip service

You are the bearer of unconditional things
You held your breath and the door for me
Thanks for your patience

You're the best listener that I've ever met
You're my best friend
Best friend with benefits
What took me so long

I've never felt this healthy before
I've never wanted something rational
I am aware now
I am aware now

You've already won me over in spite of me
And don't be alarmed if I fall head over feet
Don't be surprised if I love you for all that you are
I couldn't help it
It's all your fault

That pretty well summed up what was going on with us, especially that line in red. It became "our song" almost instantly. 

And that is why Alanis doesn't suck no matter what Art may say.

Updated: It has been pointed out to me that Art has a completely legitimate reason to hate this song. I will not share the reason but I will say that she is fully in her rights to detest this song and were I here I would also hate it. But I am not her so I still love it in spite of a particularly crappy circumstance.