Sunday, January 29, 2012

Cut it Out

Does anybody else find it completely weird that Alanis Morisette's all-time great album about breakup and bitterness, JAGGED LITTLE PILL, was actually inspired by and written in revenge to Uncle Joey from FULL HOUSE? How is this possible? Turns out that Alanis Morisette was dating Dave Coulier before she wrote the album, he dumped her, started dating somebody else, and Alanis became so enraged by this betrayal, she penned, recorded, and released one of the most brilliant albums ever, JAGGED LITTLE PILL, in like six weeks.

You're probably saying, 'Cut it out,' and doing the hand-scissor thing that Uncle Joey did on FULL HOUSE.

But no, I'm very serious about this. In Alanis's most famous song, YOU OUGHTA KNOW, when she bitterly and angrily sings, "Does she know how you told me you'd hold me/Until you died/‘til you died/But you're still alive" she's talking about Uncle Joey. Not Uncle Jesse (John Stamos), that would be understandable, I guess. No, the other guy, the one who did the moose ears and funny voice for Michelle. That guy inspired one of the grittiest, most powerful albums about breakup and female scorn in music history.

This has happened before. Many believe that Warren Beatty inspired Carly Simon's YOU'RE SO VAIN, and an in-band breakup from Lindsey Buckingham inspired Stevie Nicks to write and perform SILVER SPRINGS. But that was Warren Beatty, one of the greatest playboys ever, and Lindsey Buckingham, who fronted one of the best bands ever, Fleetwood Mac. Alanis found her inspiration and anger from some forgotten comic, whose claim to fame is playing the goofy uncle in a kids' sitcom and hosting the other AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS show. You don't get to be the fuel for something as raging/rocking as JAGGED LITTLE PILL, when you play second fiddle to Bob Saget. Do you?

So next time you hear Alanis screaming through YOU OUGHTA KNOW or ALL I REALLY WANT, think Uncle Joey doing Bullwinkle. That's Canadian girls for you.

JAGGED LITTLE PILL LYRICS: http://www.angelfire.com/mi/wojtkiewicz/jagged.html

YOU OUGHTA KNOW Song facts: http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1265

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