Trufax: When all of my friends were head over heels in love with Alanis Morissette in high school, I wasn’t impressed. I remember one day on the way to tennis practice, my friend Christy was like, “You should listen to this, I bet you would like it” and I all, “Nah bro, that’s too white for me.” If it wasn’t being reviewed by Rap Pages or The Source magazines, then I wasn’t interested. I didn’t hate Alanis like I hate Katy Perry, it wasn’t like that at all. She just wasn’t my thang.
(She was Corey’s thang, though. I have live footage of him singing a mangled rendition of “Ironic” when he was 4. And hoo boy, was it interesting!)
But then one day in 1998 (my Golden Year), I was in the car with my mom and she cried, “HAVE YOU HEARD THIS SONG YET?!?!” as Alanis’s most recent track began playing on the radio. I rolled my eyes at first because once my mom hit her 40s, her taste in music became way less respectable. That fucking Lonestar song was her favorite song for at least 7 straight years, tied only with Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.” Ugh, please don’t let that happen to me.
(As if.)
So I expected this song to be pure, homogenized shit.
But it wasn’t. It was fucking haunting and creepy and it made the hairs on my arms stand erect.
I went out and bought the City of Angels soundtrack specifically for “Uninvited.”
***************
Henry and I were just waking up on Easter morning when that goddamn Goo Goo Doll’s song, “Iris,” came on the bedroom radio. I have been waking up in a sour mood lately, the byproduct of a zillion conflicting emotions crashing into each other like blind people in a mosh pit, and because of this, I got very angry at this song.
“I can’t believe that this song is still being played on the radio when it was like, the least best song on the City of Angels soundtrack!” I cried into the side of Henry’s face. “DON’T YOU REMEMBER HOW SICK THAT ALANIS TRACK WAS?
!”
And he sleepily mumbled that no, no he did not remember. So I fumbled for my phone, because that is my favorite thing to do, cull up songs that he apparently has no recollection of. And then I placed in on his pillow, volume maxed out, right next to his ear. It’s his favorite way to fully wake up.
That moment was the first time in probably 15 years that I have heard “Uninvited,” and goddamn if my arm hairs didn’t stand just as erect.
I have obviously fallen down the 1998 rabbit hole and I don’t want to come back. I’ll send post cards. And a Delia*s catalog. And then when I come back, I’m making a Spotify playlist.
Because that year, that whole entire year, was my motherfucking jam.
11 Responses to “Music Interlude: 1998 Throwback”
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The Delia’s catalog….now THAT brings me back!
I had this amazing black and white checkered A-line dress from Delia*s, probably circa 1995, and I would give anything to get that dress back! It was so mod and perfect. :(
Alanis! & let’s not forget about Val & Savage Garden…
HA! Do you remember when Lisa used to babysit that one family, and then they ended up getting a live-in nanny from Australia who was friends with one of the guys from Savage Garden? I just remember thinking that was The Biggest Deal Ever, lol.
I fucking LOVE that song. It’s the only Alanis song I really, truly like. It is the best song on that CD for sure.
Yes! I definitely have a greater appreciation for her now than I did in high school, but I wouldn’t really consider myself a fan. It’s funny, because I feel the same way about Dave Matthews Band, and the only song of theirs that I REALLY like a lot, Alanis not only sings on it, but she wrote it too. (“Spoon.”)
Totally agree that song very good. I was an Alanis fan all of the way – people always said I looked like her and I hated it so fucking bad. Lauryn Hill was my girl in 1998. I heard she may be coming out with an album sometime. I have almost all of my CD’s still from 1996 – 2006?? The Delias* catalog!!!!!!! That was my shit! This buzzfeed article will take you back. http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/19-reasons-why-you-miss-getting-the-delias-catalo#.jgNMz1o89Y
Haha thank you for sharing that!
Wow, I had forgotten about that song! 4 1/2-year-old Z just watched the video with me. Her comments included: “Did she die? Not yet?” and “Is that a Halloween song?”
Ha! It does kind of have that Halloween vibe to it!
“Because that year, that whole entire year, was my motherfucking jam.”
this. this right here. oh to be 19 again.