Music
Plus One
The 11 best Alanis Morissette songs
Why have a Top 10 when you can have one more? With a world tour set for 2025, here are the very best Alanis Morissette songs, ranked
Most women (or impressionable 90s teenagers, like me), remember the exact moment they heard Jagged Little Pill in its entirety.
The seminal album released in 1995 by Canadian singer/songwriter Alanis Morissette arrived at a time when angst was a feeling largely owned by men wielding guitars. Female artists weren’t expected to be *gasp* angry. And god forbid they were to go as far as calling out their boyfriends/ex-boyfriends/lechy bosses on their bad behaviour. Good girls in the pop industry don’t make references to fellatio in songs?!
Yet, here was Alanis Morissette, with her long hair and her grunge-plaid aesthetic, sending a musical f**k you by way of an alt-rock album that has since gone to sell over 33 million copies worldwide. Produced by Glen Ballard, Jagged Little Pill was a cultural phenomenon, and for this writer (who first heard it by way of a bootlegged tape that a kid called Andrew Perry made for me), the album fast-became my emotional go-to. Something to delve into whenever my fragile little heart felt slighted by some fleeting crush or unrequited love. It spoke to me. It had the power to heal. Yes, it was that powerful, and very, very important. It was like Alanis was sent (via Ottawa) to help us recognise the fact it’s 100% ok to be downright furious sometimes, while still holding on to the softness and vulnerability that makes us love so fiercely in the first place.
After Jagged Little Pill, Alanis went on to record nine more studio albums and three live albums. She has won a Brit Award, seven Grammy Awards, fourteen Juno Awards, and has been nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. The late Taylor Hawkins was her original tour drummer, and Rolling Stone once described her as the “queen of alt-rock angst”.
From navigating therapy to walking away from toxic relationships, for this writer, Alanis will always be a musical badass – thank heavens, then, that she’s announced a worldwide tour for 2025 to coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of the album that made her an icon.
To get you pumped, here are Alanis Morissette’s greatest ever songs, ranked…
11. Not As We
(Flavours of Entanglement, 2008)
The second single to be released from Morissette’s eighth album Flavours of Entanglement. With most of the album reportedly written in response to her breakup with actor Ryan Reynolds (yes, the actor), this piano-led ballad speaks of grief and longing – feelings that Morissette does so very well. Plus, the vulnerability in her voice is simply beautiful.
10. Reasons I Drink
(Such Pretty Forks In The Road, 2020)
Another stand-out piano intro and catchy drum rhythm backdrop this confessional banger from AM. The first line is punchy: “These are the reasons I drink”. Bam, you’re immediately drawn in, because this is Alanis Morissette, and you know whatever follows will be juicy, insightful, and yes, downright relatable. Once again, AM digs into her pain, her struggles with addiction. It’s stark. It’s vital. It’s so, so good.
9. Your House
(Jagged Little Pill, 1995)
At precisely 5:12, after the very last track of Jagged Little Pill – ‘You Outta Know (Jimmy the Saint Blend)’ – has silenced, the album’s ‘ghost track’ ‘Your House’ kicks in. Ghost tracks, or hidden tracks, were hugely popular in the 90s (famously on Ash’s debut album 1977, the ghost track featured members of the band vomiting), and could sometimes take you by surprise, especially if you’d dozed off listening to the album in question. Thankfully, ‘Your House’ doesn’t feature any bodily expulsions… only Morissette singing a cappella about breaking into her ex-boyfriend’s gaff and dancing in his shower. Despite the mildly stalker-ish undertones, it’s still an utterly charming song, and well worth the wait.
8. Hands Clean
(Under Rug Swept, 2002)
Alanis Morissette has this lovely way of cramming an awful lot of lyrics into one line. Like a signature, it gives a playfulness to her songwriting, and is demonstrated perfectly in the opening of ‘Hands Clean’. The song itself caused some hand-wringing as it reportedly deals with AM’s forbidden sexual relationship with a much older (music industry) man when she was just 14 years of age. But in typical Alanis style, she takes this rawness and turns it into something like therapy – or, according to the track-by-track commentary: “to introduce the bliss of speaking transparently and truthfully and as honestly as I possibly can, knowing that the truth in this case is my truth only.” Brilliant.
7. All I Really Want
Jagged Little Pill, 1995)
Jagged Little Pill’s opener was obviously going to make the list simply because it acts like the prologue of what’s to come. The opening line: “Do I stress you out? My sweater is on backwards and inside out, and you say ‘how appropriate’” is delivered with a beautiful sneer, as a mouth-organ wheezes away in eye-wincing discord. We then get introduced to Morissette’s sprawling vocal line, which showcases the confessional mezzo-soprano style she would become so famous for. At certain points it’s impossible to tell if she’s singing from her throat, chest or nose because the sound (and the emotion) changes so rapidly throughout the track. But, of course, it’s genius. And, there’s still a full album to go.
6. King of Pain
(MTV Unplugged, 1999)
Morissette’s cover of ‘King of Pain’ by The Police was recorded as part of her MTV Unplugged performance in 1999 and was released as a single from the album to accompany it. Like hidden tracks, MTV Unplugged performances were another 90s juggernaut – some of which (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, etc.) have gone down in history as being some of the greatest ever live performances captured on film. Morissette’s turn on the hallowed unplugged stage featured her at her most stripped back, and this ode to Sting and his songwriting mastery has long been a fan favourite.
5. Uninvited
(City of Angels O.S.T, 1998)
Released as a single from the soundtrack for Nicolas Cage/Meg Ryan flick City of Angels in February 1998, ‘Uninvited’ was Morissette’s first new recording since Jagged Little Pill and went on to become a huge radio hit in the US. However, despite all the love it received on the airways, the track never received a commercial worldwide release. With its haunting melody and gut-wrenching lyrics, ‘Uninvited’ still remains to be one of her most beloved tracks, and was nominated for three Grammy Awards and a Golden Globe in 1998.
4. Thank U
(Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, 1998)
Written during a trip to India, ‘Thank U’ was the first single taken from Morissette’s eagerly anticipated sophomore album Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. After the phenomenal success of Jagged Little Pill, a lot was riding on this new venture, and arguably, a newer direction. While many labelled it as a bit of a ‘new world’ deviation from her post-grunge sound (“how ‘bout those transparent dangling carrots”: the line that sent a few music critics over the edge), in hindsight, ‘Thank U’ is essentially a song about forgiveness, transcendence, and being grateful for what makes us human. At a time when we’re now prioritising our wellbeing, it’s clear that Alanis really was ahead of the game. Revisiting the track nearly three decades on, it has a sad sweetness that’s often overlooked by her bigger, punchier hits. It really is a lovely thing.
3. Hand In My Pocket
(Jagged Little Pill, 1995)
Right. Let’s get serious. Jagged Little Pill: top three tracks. This writer may have gotten it wrong for some of you (the order is up for discussion in some part), but arguably, what follows is three of the greatest alt-rock tracks of the 90s. All three received EXTENSIVE airplay, and all three are absolutely f**king incredible. Third place in this Plus One: the jaunty and lyrically brilliant ‘One Hand In My Pocket’ which reminded us all that while life can be incredibly shitty, there’s always something amazing to grasp with an open hand, whether that’s throwing a peace sign or playing a piano.
2. Ironic
(Jagged Little Pill, 1995)
I once dated a guy who used to sing: “It’s like raaaaaaain, on your window pane” (instead of “wedding day”) when we would drive around in my car listening to ‘Ironic’. True story. I’ve never forgotten it. Thankfully, this song has endured way longer than his awful lyric interpretation. Yes, isn’t it truly ironic that this track still has so much clout. The fourth song to be released from Jagged Little Pill, ‘Ironic’ is Morissette’s best ever selling track, and received two Grammy Award nominations in 1997 for Record of the Year and Best Short Form Music Video (remember the video? It was never off MTV). Much has been made of the lyrics and whether or not the situations she describes are actually ‘ironic’ in the grammatical sense of the word – but honestly, who cares? Emulating the beanie-wearing Morissette in the accompanying music video, small town teenage girls (like me) would dive around in their crap cars, (with their crap lyrically challenged boyfriends), belting ‘Ironic’ out at the top of their lungs. It was our anthem. Still is.
1. You Outta Know
(Jagged Little Pill, 1995)
Ah. The OG of Morissette Mania. The track that raised a thousand eyebrows and reassured women everywhere that they weren’t crazy for wanting to key their ex’s car, ‘You Outta Know’ is probably the bitterest, most brilliant rock song ever penned. Hell hath no fury. Nope, not if you’re Alanis Morissette. An ode to an absolute bastard of an ex-boyfriend, this song voiced our furies, our insecurities, and that all-consuming rage we feel when a partner moves on. AM gives us the scenarios we all secretly envision (“I hate to bug you in the middle of dinner”), and the revenge we want to exact (“And every time I scratch my nails down someone else’s back I hope you feel it”). The lyrics are spat, visceral, and executed from the depths of Morisette’s gut. You feel EVERY emotion. ‘You Outta Know’ is a bare-knuckle brawl of a song that still retains incredible musical integrity throughout, and is the undisputed winner of this Plus One. All hail the First Lady of Angst, Alanis Morissette. See you at the barrier.
Alanis Morissette brings her World Tour to Dublin & Belfast in June 2025. Find Tickets Here.
