Wait, I need to get
the My hair's too long. Wait, I I got
this. I I know what to
do. Enough about me. When I
was nine, I was gifted my first CDs and
I got them at the same time. Seal by
Seal and Jagged Little Pill by Alennis
Moriceette. I obviously have been
inspired by Alanis Moriceet and I am so
thrilled to get to do some analysis of
Jagged Little Pill, which is one of the
greatest albums of all time. And I don't
know how she did this when she was 19.
She not only was writing so maturely,
but she was singing so maturely. She was
singing about things and singing things
as if she had already lived so many
lifetimes. And I believe it. You ought
to know. So, this is the one. This is
the one that got me into Atlantis in the
first place.
Okay, already in the intro, stellar
production. She's singing as if she's
out of breath. Makes it sound like she's
about to explode, like she's holding it
all in and it's taking effort. And just
the fact that the rest of the production
is restrained, too, makes you feel even
more like like what's about to happen?
At least that's how it felt for me. It's
just like somebody's pissed, you know?
And the drums, it's this really like
brushy
sound. it. Maybe it is brushes. No.
Yeah. I was I would say as a drummer
playing with brushes. Interesting
texture, right? And then other than her
voice, there's just this like synth or
something that's kind of just going
along on the tonal center. I think it's
like maybe it's a fifth in the tonal
center. And then at the very end, right
before everything comes crashing down, I
think it does like a little chord.
That's the fifth. And
oh, I see what happened. So, it's kind
of on the fifth. That's kind of cool.
It's kind of hanging out on the fifth
the whole time, which is a very stable
place. It helps orient your ear, but
it's not the most fundamental note in
the song. The most fundamental note in
the song is a tonal center. And that's
what it goes up to right before she
drops the hammer. That's kind of nice.
And then
[Music]
maybe it's a
guitar. I'm sure she really excent.
I love the way she says excellent. Was I
too young for this? Was this
inappropriate? I turned out
okay. There's some chords. There's two
chords here.
It's the um it's that Dorian
[Music]
sound
thinking there's a love that you Okay.
Oh, I love
that. Nice
[Music]
repetition. F# minor. Okay. So, I mean,
sorry, F# Dorian because this this is
our home chord and then this is the uh
four chord. And in a minor key, this
chord would be minor and be really
hopeless sounding. It'd be like
And it's just hopeless and you have left
me. It's just like so unforgiving. But
this is like
cheekya. That's how I interpret it. It's
a little bit playful, a little bit
angrier sounding almost.
Um like she could be smiling, you know?
It's that's what it is. It's like this
is like tragic. Like he left me. This is
like you.
And so,
um, and then this continues into the pre
chorus, which is phenomenal. Before we
get there, I guess I need to comment on
another sick 90s groove. Really, really
tasty. The bass is so funky. You can
really hear it. I mean, it is it's not
being hidden whatsoever. you in a
[Music]
theater mother.
So it's
like and even though the chord
changes, it stays
there.
Sorry. Now, what's making the chord
change? Is it guitar? Oh, yeah.
[Music]
Okay. And that's got like a Is it
tremolo or is it a w I never know. I got
to learn some guitar stuff, y'all. And
then, um, so yeah, it's nice and clean
and sparse. The pre chorus takes it up a
notch, as it should. It's leading you
into the chorus. And, uh, she's double
tracked.
that you made for
the
you
know Can we just talk? Oh, I'm
sorry. I'm sorry, sweet boy. Um, and
every time you speak her name, does she
know how you told me you hold me? Does
she know how you told me you hold me?
Oh, it's so good.
I love also how she says but you're
still alive. She goes so she like I
guess that's called a dip thong where
you add syllables like extra syllables
to a word that doesn't have them but it
it it rhythmically works for the song.
Buddy, you're still alive. So freaking
great. Um this is a very Dorian sound.
It's so cool getting to do this because
I these are the things I've always heard
but I didn't have the vocabulary to name
what I was hearing. Nice.
[Music]
Cuz the love that you gave that we made
wasn't able to make it enough for you to
be open. Why? So she's going down a
scale.
D. Right. Okay. So, that's Dorian right
there. So cool. Um, one of my favorite
parts about Dorian is this.
Uh, there's this half step up here. And
neither of these notes are like settled
sounding. They're both sort of
transitory. She doesn't start on the
home note, which would sound
almost like what you'd expect, but she
starts on the edgy note. Cuz the love
that you gave that we made wasn't able
to make it enough.
Also, I like this. So, she's kind of
she's kind of going to the next note
on she's just changing on like a
offbeat. It feels so much more natural
this
way. And
[Music]
then so yes, she's double tracked. She's
going all the way down the sides here.
And that makes it feel like you're
caught in the middle, right? Like she's
surrounded you. You can't get away.
You're trapped. You're trapped by
Atlantis. I'm not complaining, but I bet
you her ex
was. for you to open.
Listen to how angrily she's singing,
though. I mean, she's dead on her pitch.
Her intonation is fantastic. But she's
really punching these
notes, which is hard. I'm not up to the
task for you to be open wide. And this
time the rhythm is a little bit more
slinky snake
[Music]
like her name. And every time you speak
her name and those are on the offbeat
16 man that's sexy. And every time you
speak her
name I love
[Music]
it. But of course long notes. Yes. Pax.
And every time you speak a name does she
know how you told him? And then she goes
back to that rhythm until you die till
you die. So now she takes
the instead of just
going now she fills it all in till you
die till you die. And so you can feel it
building but you're still alive and it
goes right into the chorus which is in a
higher range than she's been singing
before. Um
Now there's some mode mixture that's
about to happen because I can feel it in
my gut when I'm singing
ita like there's a major thing and then
a and then a minor thing is happening
which is very exciting. I love that kind
of stuff. So oh no my keys are going to
get yellow if I
don't here you guys go to sleep. There
we
go. Stay. Okay. Okay. So, and I'm here.
You're annoying. Can you go up here?
Thank
you. Okay. So, it instead of being on F#
minor like it has been, it goes to
major. And I'm here. And she sings the
major third. And I'm
here to remind you flat 7 again. And now
I think she digs deep into the flat
three chord, which is just one note
below where she wants to end up. And it
sounds really, really good. And I'm here
to remind you. So it's going to be a
major of the mess you left when you went
away. Okay, so this is so good. I love
this one flat 7 flat
3 major 4 all major chords. But why does
this still sound so and not like
I'm a major song? It's because there's
mode mixture. It does bring in notes
that are foreign to a scale if you've
been in one. So she
goes major
third and she keeps it on this chord.
Same melody of the mess. Now, she
changes probably very intuitively to a
minor third here because of the chord
that she's playing or they're playing or
whatever. Someone's playing this chord
and um she's been singing um she's been
singing this A
sharp, but
then Sorry. Yeah. Well, I'm glad I made
that mistake because now you can hear uh
the clash uh the clash that happens if
you don't account for the mixing that
you're doing of these
chords. So, she sings an A that matches
with the chord instead of the A sharp.
Okay. Which is very radio
head. I didn't like warm up my voice or
anything. And I also not sure if I can
sing as high as her to remind you of the
mess you left. There it is. You left
when you went away. And then she leans
on that seventh again. It's so good.
Went away. It's not fair to deny me. And
I love the
deny of the cross I bear that you gave
to me. And then she does her Atlanta's
thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Which I can't
do. So that's like the
line those
[Music]
notes. See if I play on the piano, you
can really see and hear the mode
mixture.
See? Yeah. And then it goes back down.
But this time, I think there's a little
bit more instrumentation at the end of
it.
You don't till you die. Till you die.
But you're still alive. And I'm
here to remind you of the mess you left
when
you cross.
Listen how the band interacts with her.
You You ought to know. You. You. You.
So, since she's on the offbeats, right?
Wait. You. Yes, she is again. She's on
the offbeats again. You You The band is
kind of hitting the beats there.
See the snare starts hitting and
everything's going and
then she's all alone. So powerful. She's
just standing there with like fire
behind her. Anyone else see that? Okay.
very well. Drum loopace.
[Music]
I fear her during this part. I'm not
quite as well. I just thought you should
know. It's terrifying.
I hate to bug you in the middle of
dinner. There was a slap in the face.
How quickly I was replaced and thinking
of me when hear the drum the live drums
come in live whatever the kit drums come
in right before the bar.
[Music]
Oh yeah. I love this bridge.
It's just like this
like the anger and then the restraint is
even scarier in some
ways. Now what's going on here?
[Music]
Okay. I think Okay. I think it's kind of
going back and forth between like maybe
a major or F sharp minor 7.
a little bit. No, but that there's that
note as
[Music]
well. Okay, that's that's it. That's got
to be
it. Little 11th chord
there. And then
[Music]
Maybe like that.
[Music]
Like I love the beats so
[Music]
much.
[Music]
So, so that's still
Dorian and she's just really singing
into that. My favorite part,
[Music]
the And then she does
[Music]
the I love the way she pushes that
out. No bass, keeping you guessing.
transition
[Music]
delay. So, I think I guess I always
assumed she was double tracked here, but
I think it's actually just that her like
drier focal is over here and then the
there's like a really wet delay over
here. So, there's this cool relationship
between the left and right.
It's really, really well done. This is
so emotional.
The Cuz the joke that you made in
the lyrics cuz the joke that you made in
the bed that was
me. Genius.
That's okay. So, she does sing and you
know it. Okay.
[Music]
How did I know what the she was talking
about when I was nine? I'm a little I'm
a little
[Music]
concerned. We got to the end where she's
going it's
going like a siren, like a warning.
Sorry, kitty.
to remind you of the mess you left when
you went away. It's not
fair to the
nightmare all across
the If you enjoyed this, you know what
to do. It's YouTube, so you press all
the buttons and you make a comment. And
also, if you want to support me
directly, I have a Patreon and that's
like my main thing. Also, I'm now
recording artist, so check out my album
and whatever. Um, all the links are down
below and I will see you in the next
video.