Shutterstock: Jon Salangsang and Chelsea Lauren
Alanis Morissette Diablo Cody
Diablo Cody (left) and Alanis Morissette
Purchasing CDs as a 9-year-old in 1995 came with its fair share of perils. While one strives to be hip, the ever-present mom and dad — peaking over shoulders at Sam Goody or Walmart — easily made a shy kid self-conscious about how they chose to spend 10 of their parents’ dollars. So, selecting an album called Jagged Little Pill by an angsty Canadian was high-risk stuff. And that’s exactly what my brother did.
No, my parents never really “got it,” but that didn’t stop me and my slightly older brother, in what might’ve been our first acts of rebellion, from listening to Alanis Morissette’s third album on repeat. It was edgy, emotional, and cathartic in its rage. And, somehow, I related to all of it. I kinda got it, you know? And I clearly wasn’t the only one; the album, which sold over 33 million copies worldwide, became a cultural phenomenon. I mean, whenever one is parodied by Weird Al Yankovic, you’ve entered another stratosphere of pop stardom.
For about a year, “You Oughta Know,” “Head Over Feet”, and, yes, “Ironic,” blared pretty regularly from my brother’s new boombox. Toss in some Oasis and Coolio, and you have our soundtrack from this period in our lives.
While Morissette’s music offers feelings of nostalgia, the songs also hold up well and remain staples on FM radio stations. The hits have become quintessential pop standards. Let’s put it this way, if you haven’t heard a song from Jagged Little Pill in the past couple years, you need to get out more. And this timelessness, combined with the songs’ emotional heft, is precisely why adapting the album into a Broadway musical feels like a natural evolution.
The musical, which will be coming to Bass Performance Hall this weekend, Sept. 15–17, made its Broadway debut in 2019 and has been touring North America since 2022. While you’ll recognize all of the songs from Jagged Little Pill — as well as a few other hits sprinkled in — Morissette wrote a couple new tunes, “Smiling” and “Predator,” for the show. Despite the mid-90s songs, the Tony-award-winning book by Diablo Cody (of “Juno” fame) follows a bevy of what one would call modern hurdles: gender expression and transphobia, coming out, sexual assault, and addiction. Again, effectively using 28-year-old songs as a backdrop speaks to the enduring quality of Morissette’s oeuvre.
Though still touring and no doubt busy — she’s headlining FORMAT Festival in Bentonville, Arkansas, Sept. 23, and playing both weekends at ACL — we were able to exchange emails with Morissette where she thoughtfully answered a few of our questions. You can read the interview in its entirety below. And, if you’re interested in attending “Jagged Little Pill,” tickets are available at the Bass Hall website here.
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Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock for
Glen Ballard, Alanis Morissette and Diablo Cody
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Shutterstock: Jon Salangsang and Chelsea Lauren
Glen Ballard (left) and Alanis Morissette
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Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock for
Alanis Morissette and the cast of "Jagged Little Pill"
FW: While you've had a hugely successful career since, "Jagged Little Pill," as an album, has become an iconic work of art matched by few. What do you think makes the album so timeless and adored?
Alanis Morissette: What I love about it the most is that the essence of what I’m sharing is that it’s safe to be human and (have) all the feelings. I think empaths and highly sensitives don’t shy away from feelings, whether it’s anger, frustration, rage, joy, peace, pain, sadness — all of it. I think it’s an invitation and a permission-giving, in a way, to feel.
FW: What was the original "Jagged Little Pill" writing and recording process like with Glen Ballard? I understand you and Mr. Ballard wrote 20 songs in 20 sessions, many of which became hits. What inspired such prolific songwriting?
AM: I often tell people that when I write my songs initially, they are for myself, not unlike a journal entry. To feel the liberation and anchoring of being fully expressed. The process of writing helps define and clarify and organize things, internally. Then, once I share them, they are not mine anymore. People can interpret them in whatever way they want. I love hearing people’s interpretations of the songs. These songs are offered as support for anyone who might benefit from the comfort or clarity or empathy.
FW: What was it like recording two new songs for the musical? Do you consider these an extension of the original album?
AM: About 11 years ago, I sat with Vivek Tiwary, one of the producers, and he said to me, “Do you want to turn ‘Jagged Little Pill’ into a musical?” I was intrigued. I said, “yes, but not if it’s jukebox musical. I wouldn’t really be able to get behind that.”
So, I said let’s take our time and see if there is a match — we took many years. I had the privilege of meeting so many incredible writers who were masterful, but for just whatever reason (they were) not a click. And then once Diane Paulus and Diablo Cody’s names were brought up to me and I met with them, I just thought, “Wow, we’re all finishing each other’s sentences and we’re on a similar wavelength.” We were off to the races!
FW: The new arrangements for the songs by Tom Kitt are spectacular and give the songs an interesting and fresh perspective. What was it like when you first heard these interpretations of your songs?
AM: My being in the audience or in the workshop beholding … it was the first time I was receiving my own songs, and I was blown away. (How do you say that without sounding like an egomaniac? Haha.) I was really moved because I had my first taste of objectivity in a way that, as you can imagine, is hard to achieve when you are monologizing around the planet onstage for so many years. To receive it was really moving. It was also impactful to receive it through gender-bending (methods) — basically the songs were often gender-bent in order to integrate into the story of the family, the Healys. So, hearing Steve’s character sing “Mary Jane” or hearing Nick’s character sing “Perfect” — there’s something about that vulnerability in a male body that just keeps reducing me to tears.
FW: How much of your story is in Diablo Cody's book? Do you relate to any of the characters?
AM: [When the producers] ran the idea past me, I thought, well that sounds interesting, but the only way I’d want to do it is if it wasn’t a jukebox musical. It would have to be a story I could sink my heart’s teeth into. As with anyone who co-writes or writes fiction, a lot of this story is quote unquote not autobiographical, but it’s impossible not to have our personal experiences show up, whether it’s Diablo Cody or me or any of us who write. It’s hard to not beautifully impose our personal experience into any story, fiction or otherwise, so it’s personal in that sense, and anyone who knows me well can pick that up when they are watching it. Diablo matched the tone of the songs with the tone of the story. I love her so much.
