Everything (2004) – Alanis Morissette

What a strange coincidence. Just over a week ago, in my News on the March segment, I mentioned an old rhyme: “When you’re good, you’re very, very good, but when you’re bad, you’re horrid.” That same split in character is reflected in today’s featured song, Everything by Alanis Morissette. In each verse, Alanis swings between tearing herself down – openly listing her flaws – and then lifting herself up, where she feels she can do no wrong. The extremes of her personality are on full display.

More broadly, Everything is about recognising that being in a relationship means seeing the whole person – the good, the bad, and everything in between. It suggests that being with the right person also means they see, and even love, your darker side. There is a sense of empathy, acceptance, and steady support: someone who stays beside you through thick and thin. The song is not only inspirational in its words but also in its music. It feels warm and reassuring. It is unconditional love, put to song.

(You see everything, you see every part)
And you’re still here

That’s one thing you can’t fault in Alanis’ writing and general demeanour is her openness and transparency. I think that’s why so many people admire her and connect with her music. I mean we are talking here about the Canadian queen of confessional alt-rock and folk-pop.

Like many people, I first came to Alanis’ music through her 1995 breakthrough album Jagged Little Pill. While it wasn’t her first album, it became one of the best-selling records of all time, selling over 30 million copies worldwide and defining an era. Only more recently have I explored more of her later work, including Everything and I was surprised by how much I liked it. In some ways, I find myself just as fond of this song – if not more so – than much of her earlier material.

In the music video below, Pau Dones is the man who cuts Alanis’ hair at the beginning of the video (0:19). He was a Spanish singer who gave Alanis the idea to make this video clip. His video, of similar aesthetics, that Alanis liked so much, is titled Bonito. At the time the video was shot Morissette had already cut her previously long hair and the scene was shot with her wearing a wig.

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Most of the following was abridged from the Wikipedia reference below:

Everything was the first single from Alanis’ sixth studio album So-Called Chaos. The song reached number three on the Canadian Singles Chart and number six in Italy and Spain. Although it reached only number 76 on the US Billboard Hot 100, it reached the top 20 in Australia, Austria, Norway, and Scotland. The song received considerable support and airplay from alternative and adult radio stations, peaking within the top five and spending 26 non-consecutive weeks on Billboard‘s Adult Top 40 chart. Mainstream pop and rock radio stations were less supportive of the track.

A heavily edited version of the song was released to radio stations for airplay on February 23, 2004.The radio version removed over 60 seconds of the track by taking the first two lines from the first section of a verse and placing it together with the last two lines from the second section of the verse, effectively removing a whole verse from the album version. The video version of the track endured further edits, with the replacing of the word “asshole” in the opening line to “nightmare.”

[Verse 1]
I can be an asshole of the grandest kind
I can withhold like it’s going out of style
I can be the moodiest, baby, and you’ve never met anyone
Who’s as negative as I am sometimes

[Verse 2]
I am the wisest woman you’ve ever met
I am the kindest soul with whom you’ve connected
I have the bravest heart that you’ve ever seen
And you’ve never met anyone
Who’s as positive as I am sometimes

[Chorus]
You see everything, you see every part
You see all my light and you love my dark
You dig everything of which I’m ashamed
There’s not anything to which you can’t relate
And you’re still here

[Verse 3]
I blame everyone else, not my own partaking
My passive aggressiveness can be devastating
I’m terrified and mistrusting and you’ve never met anyone
Who’s as closed down as I am sometimes

[Bridge]
What I resist, persists
And speaks louder than I know
What I resist, you love
No matter how low or high I go

[Verse 4]
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

[Outro]
(You see everything, you see every part)
And you’re still here
(You see all my light and you love my dark)
Oh, and you’re still here
(You dig everything of which I’m ashamed)
(There’s not anything to which you can’t relate)
And you’re still here

References:
1. Everything (Alanis Morissette song) – Wikipedia