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Alanis Morissette

Canadian-American singer (born 1974)

Alanis Nadine Morissette (born 1 June 1974) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and actress.

Sometimes I feel more bigness than I've shared with you

Quotes

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I want to decide between survival and bliss
And though I know who I'm not I still don't know who I am
But I know I won't keep on playing the victim
 
I'm here, to remind you
Of the mess you left when you went away
  • There's a lyric in the middle of the song that says, "I want to decide between survival and bliss." Basically I'm talking about the difference between really being alive and really embracing the reason why I'm here on this earth versus my just being asleep and sleep walking and accepting the status quo and accepting somewhat of a suffering mentality to being here. It really is my responsibility to distinguish the difference between the two and choose which one I want. It's so easy for me to want to not take responsibility for my life and relinquish it and look outside of myself for the answers that I know very well are within me. It's so scary to be silent and it's so scary to go within, until I do it. And once I'm doing it, I just wonder why I wasn't doing this all the time. So that decision to be fully alive is one that is preceded by some pretty intense decisions and some choices and responsibility-taking that at times can be very intimidating, again, before I do it.

Song lyrics

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Alanis (1991)

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  • Can't feel no pain when I'm thinking about you
    Dreaming isn't black and white
    Can't make no gain until my vision comes true
    Give it to me like I'd like to give it to you.

Now Is the Time (1992)

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  • I had high expectations
    It's something I could not compromise
    And when I saw you I wasn't ready
    It completely took my heart by surprise.
  • And we hurt the ones that we love the most
    Why we do only heaven knows
    And I don't know why I'm still holding on, holding on.

    I reach in my heart to see
    If your love is alive in me
    But now I feel alone
    My feelings turn to stone
    My heart makes no apologies.

    • "No Apologies", written by Alanis, Leslie Howe, and Serge Côté

Jagged Little Pill (1995)

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  • Do I stress you out?
    My sweater is on backwards and inside out
    And you say, "How appropriate!"
  • And there I go jumping before the gunshot has gone off,
    Slap me with the splintered ruler.
    And it would knock me to the floor if I wasn't there already.
    If only I could hunt the hunter.
    • "All I Really Want"
  • I want you to know that I'm happy for you,
    I wish nothing but the best for you both.
    An older version of me,
    Is she perverted like me?
    Would she go down on you in a theatre?
    Does she speak eloquently?
    And would she have your baby?
    I'm sure she'd make a really excellent mother.
  • 'Cause the love that you gave that we made
    Wasn't able to make it enough for you to be open wide, no.
    And every time you speak her name
    Does she know how you told me
    You'd hold me until you died?
    Till you died, but you're still alive.

    And I'm here to remind you
    Of the mess you left when you went away.
    It's not fair to deny me
    Of the cross I bear that you gave to me.
    You, you, you oughta know.

    • "You Oughta Know"
  • 'Cause the joke that you made in the bed that was me
    And I'm not gonna fade as soon as you close your eyes.
    And you know it.
    And every time I scratch my nails down someone else's back
    I hope you feel it.
    Well, can you feel it?
    • "You Oughta Know"
  • Sometimes is never quite enough
    If you're flawless, then you'll win my love.
    Don't forget to win first place.
    Don't forget to keep that smile on your face.
    • "Perfect"
  • I'm broke, but I'm happy.
    I'm poor, but I'm kind.
    I'm short, but I'm healthy, yeah.
    I'm high, but I'm grounded.
    I'm sane, but I'm overwhelmed.
    I'm lost, but I'm hopeful, baby.

    And what it all comes down to
    Is that everything's gonna be fine, fine, fine.
    'Cause I've got one hand in my pocket
    And the other one is givin' a high five.

  • Wait a minute, man
    You mispronounced my name
    You didn't wait for all the information
    Before you turned me away.
    Wait a minute, sir,
    You kind of hurt my feelings.
    You see me as a sweet back-loaded puppet
    And you've got meal ticket taste.
    • "Right Through You"
  • I sang Alleluia in the choir (Alleluia)
    I confessed my darkest deeds to an envious man.
    My brothers,
    They never went blind for what they did, but I may as well have.
    In the name of the Father, the Skeptic and the Son,
    I had one more stupid question.
    • "Forgiven"
  • I recommend getting your heart trampled on to anyone
    Yeah, oh.
    I recommend walkin' around naked in your living room
    Yeah.

    Swallow it down (What a jagged little pill)
    It feels so good (Swimming in your stomach)
    Wait until the dust settles

    You live, you learn.
    You love, you learn.
    You cry, you learn.
    You lose, you learn.
    You bleed, you learn.
    You scream, you learn.

  • 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.

    You've already won me over
    In spite of me.
    And don't be alarmed if I fall
    Head over feet.
    And don't be surprised if I love you
    For all that you are.
    I couldn't help it,
    It's all your fault.

  • A traffic jam when you're already late,
    A "No Smoking" sign on your cigarette break.
    It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife.
    It's meeting the man of my dreams
    And then meeting his beautiful wife.

    And isn't it ironic?
    Don't you think?
    A little too ironic,
    And yeah, I really do think.

  • There's an obvious attraction
    To the path of least resistance in your life
    Well there's an obvious aversion no amount of my insistence
    Could make you try tonight

    'Cause it's easy not to
    So much easier not to
    And what goes around never comes around to you
    To you, to you, to you, to you, to you.

    • "Wake Up"

Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (1998)

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You were uncomfortable in your own skin you were thirsty but mostly you were beautiful
  • 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?

    Thank you India.
    Thank you terror.
    Thank you disillusionment.
    Thank you frailty.
    Thank you consequence.
    Thank you, thank you silence.

  • That I would be loved even when I numb myself
    That I would be good even when I am overwhelmed
    That I would be loved even when I was fuming
    That I would be good even if I was clingy.

    That I would be good even if I lost sanity
    That I would be good whether with or without you.

  • 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
    We had paper routes uphill both ways
    We went from school to a job to a wife
    To instant parenthood.
    • "The Couch"
  • To all the unheard wisdom in the schoolyard,
    You think you're the right ones.
    You think you're the charmed ones, I'm sure.
    And how can you go on with such conviction?
    And who do you think you are? Why do you question me?
    • "Can't Not"
  • Supposed former infatuation junkie,
    I sink three pointers and you wax poetically.
  • I remember vividly a day years ago,
    We were camping.
    You knew more than you thought you should know.
    You said I don't want ever to be brainwashed
    And you were mind-boggling, you were intense.
    You were uncomfortable in your own skin,
    You were thirsty.
    But mostly, you were beautiful.
  • If we were their condemnations,
    If we were their projections,
    If we were our paranoias,
    I'd be joining you.
    If we were our incomes,
    If we were our obsessions,
    If we were our afflictions,
    I'd be joining you.
    • "Joining You"

Under Rug Swept (2002)

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  • Do you derive joy when someone else succeeds?
    Do you not play dirty when engaged in competition?
    Do you have a big intellectual capacity,
    But know that it alone does not equate to wisdom?
    Do you see everything as an illusion,
    But enjoy it even though you are not of it?
    Are you both masculine and feminine, politically aware, and don't believe in capital punishment?

    These are 21 things that I want in a lover,
    Not necessarily needs but qualities that I prefer.

  • Dear popular boy, I know you're used to getting everything so easily,
    A stranger to the concept of reciprocity.
    People honor boys like you in this society.
    • "Narcissus"
  • If it weren't for your maturity, none of this would have happened.
    If you weren't so wise beyond your years, I would've been able to control myself.
    If it weren't for my attention, you wouldn't have been successful and if
    If it weren't for me, you would never have amounted to very much.

    Ooh, this could be messy
    But you don't seem to mind, and
    Ooh, don't go telling everybody
    And overlook this supposed crime.

    We'll fast forward to a few years later
    And no one knows except the both of us.
    And I have honored your request for silence
    And you've washed your hands clean of this.

  • I can feel so unsexy for someone so beautiful,
    So unloved and for someone so fine.
    I can feel so boring for someone so interesting,
    So ignorant for someone of sound mind.
  • But this won't work as well as the way it once did
    Because I want to decide between survival and bliss.
    And though I know who I'm not I still don't know who I am,
    But I know I won't keep on playing the victim.

    These precious illusions in my head
    Did not let me down when I was a kid
    And parting with them is like parting with a childhood best friend.

Feast on Scraps (2002)

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You're unavailable and disinterested and to you I look for comfort
  • My misery has enjoyed company,
    And although I have ached, I don't threaten anybody.
    Sometimes I feel more bigness than I've shared with you.
    Sometimes I wonder why I quell
    When I'm not required to.
    I've tried to be small,
    I've tried to be stunted,
    I've tried roadblocks and all
    My happy endings prevented.
    Sometimes I feel it's all just too big
    To be true.
    I sabotage myself for fear of what
    My bigness could do.
    • "Fear of Bliss"
  • You're unsure and you're not ready,
    So that must mean I want you.
    You're unavailable and disinterested,
    To you I look for comfort.
    A million times in a million ways,
    I will try to change you.
    A million months and a million days,
    I'll try to convince you.
    • "Bent for You"
  • When I'd speak of artistry you would roll your eyes skyward.
    When I'd speak of spirituality you would label it absurd.
    When I spoke of possibility you would frown and shake your head.
    If I had stayed much longer, I'd have surely imploded.
    These are my words.
    This is my house.
    These are my friends of which you've had no part of.
    • "Unprodigal Daughter"

So-Called Chaos (2004)

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You've never met anyone
Who is as everything as I am sometimes.
  • How to lie to yourself and thereby to everyone else,
    How to keep smiling when you're thinking of killing yourself,
    How to numb a-la-holic to avoid going within,
    How to stay stuck in blue by blaming them for everything.

    I'll teach you all this in eight easy steps,
    A course of a lifetime, you'll never forget.
    I'll show you how to in eight easy steps,
    I'll show you how leadership looks when taught by the best.

  • My tendency to want to do away feels natural and
    My urgency to dream of softer places feels understandable,
    But I know

    The only way out is through,
    The faster we're in, the better.
    The only way out is through ultimately.

  • I wanna be naked running through the streets.
    I wanna invite this so-called chaos that you'd think I dare not be.
    I wanna be weightless flying through the air,
    I wanna drop all these limitations but the shoes upon my feet.
    • "So-Called Chaos"
  • Not in contact, not a letter,
    Such communication, telepathic.
    You've been vilified, used as fodder.
    You deserve a piece of every record.
    • "This Grudge"
  • I feel this, truly proclaimed
    Will help the curbing of this tendency.
    I know this sharing of shame
    Will ensure that I won't forget myself so easily.
    • "Spineless"
  • I am the funniest woman that you've ever known.
    I am the dullest woman that you've ever known.
    I'm the most gorgeous woman that you've ever known and you've never met anyone
    Who's as everything as I am sometimes.

Flavors of Entanglement (2008)

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  • There is no difference in what we're doing in here
    That doesn't show up as bigger symptoms out there.
    So why spend all our time in dressing our bandages
    When we've the ultimate key to the cause right here?
    Our underneath.
  • Day one, day one,
    Start over again.
    Step one, step one,
    I'm barely making sense.
    For now, I'm faking it
    Until I'm pseudo making it.
    From scratch, begin again,
    But this time "I" as "I"
    And not as "we".

Havoc and Bright Lights (2012)

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  • I'll be your keeper for life, as your guardian.
    I'll be your warrior of care, your first warden.
    I'll be your angel on call, I'll be on demand.
    The greatest honor of all, as your guardian.
  • So now it's your, your religion against my, my religion
    My humble opinion against yours
    This does not feel like love
    It's you, your conviction against my, my conviction
    And I'd like to know what we'd see
    Through the lens of love
    Love, love, love.
  • I wake up and first things first
    I’m of service
    I make sure your needs are met, as a selfless
    I give hard and serve hard and now I, I need a break
    I give big, I give all and now it’s time to regenerate.

Such Pretty Forks in the Road (2020)

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  • This is a life of extremes
    Both sides are slippery and enticing
    These are my places off the rails
    And this, my loose recollection of a falling
    I barely remember who I failed
    I was just trying to keep it together.

    This is my first wave of my white flag
    This is the sound of me hitting bottom
    This, my surrender, if that's what you call it
    In the anatomy of my crash.

  • First thing that you'll notice is some separation from each other
    Yes, it's a lie, we've been believing since time immemorial
    There was an apple, there was a snake, there was division
    There was a split, there was a conflict in the fabric of life.

    One became two, and then everyone was out for themselves
    Everyone was pitted against each other, conflict ruled the realm
    All our devotions and temperaments are pulled from different wells
    We seem to easily forget we are made of the same cells.

    • "Ablaze"
  • These are the reasons I drink
    The reasons I tell everybody I'm fine even though I am not
    These are the reasons I overdo it
    I have been working since I can remember, since I was single digits
    Now, even though I've been busted
    I don't know where to draw the line 'cause that groove has gotten so deep.

Quotes about Alanis Morissette

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  • There's nothing ironic about being stuck in a traffic jam when you're late for something. [pause] Unless you're a town planner. If you were a town planner... and you were late for a seminar of town planners at which you were giving a talk on how you solved the problem of traffic congestion in your area, and couldn't get to it because you got stuck in a traffic jam, that'd be well ironic! [mimicking a town planner] 'I'm sorry, lads, you'll never guess!'
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