Alanis Morissette

Released: November 9, 1999

Songwriter: Alanis Morissette Glen Ballard

Producer: Alanis Morissette

[Verse 1]
Dear darlin', your mom, my friend
Left a message on my machine
She was frantic, saying you were talking crazy
That you wanted to do away with yourself
Guess she thought I would be the perfect resort
Because we've had this inexplicable connection since our youth
And yes, they're in shock
They are panicked
You and your chronic
Them and their drama
You, this embarrassment
Us in the middle of this delusion

[Chorus]
If we were our bodies
If we were our futures
If we were our defenses
I'd be joining you
If we were our culture
If we were our leaders
If we were our denials
I'd be joining you

[Verse 2]
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

[Chorus]
If we were our name tags
If we were our rejections
If we were our outcomes
I'd be joining you
If we were our indignities
If we were our successes
If we were our emotions
I'd be joining you

[Verse 3]
You and I, we're like four year olds
We want to know why, and how come about everything
We want to reveal ourselves at will and speak our minds
And never talk small and be intuitive
And question mightily and find God, my tortured beacon
We need to find like-minded companions

[Chorus]
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

[Outro]
We need a reflection
We need a really good memory
Feel free to call me a little more often

Alanis Nadine Morissette was born on June 1, 1974, in Ottawa, Canada. At age 6, she began taking piano lessons, and by the time she was 9, she was writing her own songs.

When she was 11, Morissette joined the cast of a Nickelodeon children’s show called You Can’t Do That on Television, and saved up her earnings. In 1987, she used them to self-release her first track, “Fate Stay With Me.” The song caught the attention of record label MCA Canada; at age 14, Morissette signed a contract with the company. She released a self-titled album, Alanis, in 1991, which went platinum. Quickly following up the success of her first album, Morissette released Now Is The Time a year later, though it did not reach the same level of popularity.

In 1994 Morissette moved to Los Angeles teamed up with industry veteran Glen Ballard, and she began to approach songwriting more organically.

more tracks from the album

MTV Unplugged

From the album

MTV Unplugged (1999)

Alanis Morissette popular songs

Joining You (MTV Unplugged)Alanis Morissette

Alanis Morissette

MTV Unplugged