Summary
This episode of One Song breaks down Alanis Morissette's 1995 hit "You Oughta Know," exploring how a 19-year-old Canadian artist created a generational anthem by blending post-grunge, electronica, and punk-funk elements. The hosts analyze the song's production, featuring contributions from Red Hot Chili Peppers members Flea and Dave Navarro, and discuss how the demo's raw authenticity became a 33-million-copy-selling album.
Insights
- Raw, first-take vocal recordings with intentional imperfections and distortion can enhance emotional authenticity and commercial appeal more than polished studio refinement
- The convergence of multiple musical genres (grunge, electronica, punk-funk) in mainstream pop during the mid-1990s created a unique cultural moment that wouldn't be replicated in the streaming era
- Session musicians' creative contributions to hit records often go uncompensated beyond session fees, despite their significant impact on the final product's commercial success
- Home studio technology (ADAT, drum machines, synthesizers) democratized music production in the 1990s, enabling two people to create multi-million-selling albums without expensive studio infrastructure
- The loss of radio monoculture has fundamentally changed how breakthrough songs achieve cultural impact, as algorithmic discovery lacks the shared experience of simultaneous radio exposure
Trends
Authenticity and vulnerability in songwriting becoming commercial drivers in mainstream pop musicGenre-blending in pop production incorporating underground and alternative music elementsHome studio production becoming viable for professional-quality album creationFemale artists in alternative rock establishing new standards for emotional honesty in lyricsDecline of radio-driven monoculture and shared cultural moments in music discoverySession musicians' creative contributions undervalued in copyright and compensation structuresTherapeutic and introspective language entering mainstream pop lyricsMusic video aesthetics reflecting grunge and anti-fashion movements influencing pop cultureDemo recordings retaining commercial viability when authenticity outweighs polishCross-genre collaboration (rock + hip-hop + electronic) becoming standard in 1990s pop production
Topics
Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know" song analysis and production1990s music production technology and home studio capabilitiesSongwriting process and publishing splits in the music industryPost-grunge and alternative rock influence on mainstream popVocal performance and emotional authenticity in recordingRed Hot Chili Peppers' session contributions to pop musicMusic video production and visual aesthetics in the 1990sRadio monoculture vs. algorithmic music discoveryFemale artists in alternative rock and popDrum programming and live drum blending in productionBass guitar and guitar arrangement in pop-rock songsLyrical content and therapy language in mainstream musicMusic publishing and artist compensation structuresADAT recording technology and digital music productionBreakup songs and relatable songwriting in pop music
Companies
Maverick Records
Record label founded by Gio Ciri that signed Alanis Morissette and released Jagged Little Pill
MCA Records
Label that signed young Alanis in the early 1990s for dance-pop albums before dropping her
Nickelodeon
Network where Alanis appeared as a child actor on "You Can't Do That on Television" in the 1980s
HBO Max
Streaming platform where the documentary "Jagged" about the album's creation is available
Toyota
Automotive sponsor advertising Tundra and Tacoma trucks during the episode
Nintendo
Video game company with Super Mario Brothers movie advertisement in episode
People
Alanis Morissette
Canadian singer-songwriter who wrote and performed "You Oughta Know" at age 19-20
Glenn Ballard
Producer and songwriter who co-wrote and produced "You Oughta Know" with Alanis Morissette
Flea (Michael Balzari)
Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist who played bass on "You Oughta Know" as a session musician
Dave Navarro
Jane's Addiction guitarist who played guitar on "You Oughta Know" as a session musician
Matt Laug
Session and touring drummer who added live drums over the drum machine on the final recording
Gio Ciri
Maverick Records founder and manager who signed Alanis and brought in Flea and Dave Navarro
Jimmy Boyle
Producer who created the alternative mix of "You Oughta Know" and linked Flea and Dave Navarro
Quincy Jones
Music producer who employed Glenn Ballard as an in-house writer for Michael Jackson projects
Dave Coulier
Actor who dated Alanis and is widely believed to be the subject of "You Oughta Know"
Sam Sanders
Referenced for coining the term "monoculture" to describe shared cultural moments in media
Quotes
"That's some weak shit. It was no flash and no smash. I like that. No flash, no smash, but the vocal was strong. So I just tried to play something good."
Flea•Mid-episode, discussing bass contribution
"It's not fair to deny me of the cross I bear that you gave to me."
Alanis Morissette (lyric)•Song lyric analysis
"When he heard that demo, he was like, I know exactly what needs to go there and he was right because that's the moment that I got to pull my car over twice."
Luxury (about Matt Laug's drum fill)•Bridge section discussion
"There's an authenticity that you can't necessarily put your finger on, but you know she means it. You know this is so real."
Diallo Riddle•Vocal performance analysis
"We're losing monoculture. And we definitely are because I can totally remember where I was when I heard certain songs for the first time on the radio."
Luxury•Discussion of radio vs. algorithmic discovery
Full Transcript
Did you forget about me, Mr. Duplicity? I hate to bug you in the middle of dinner. There was a slap in the face. Duplicity, Mr. Duplicity. I don't think I'd ever heard that word before. Like, you know, I knew what it meant. OK, not even in life, like you say nothing of pop music. The word duplicity does not show up in tag team. Whoop, there it is. And it should have. So actually, today we're talking about a breakup anthem from one of the best-selling albums ever. This album has sold something like 33 million copies and spent 12 weeks at number one on the charts. What's even crazier is that the artist, a 21-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter, was virtually unknown before she blew up. That's right, Diallo. And today we're going to dig into the magic of the song that introduced her to the world. On the surface, it's just a pop-rock tune. But when you listen closer, this song has elements of electronica, punk funk, and even alpine Swiss folk music. We're going to be getting into all that in the stems. We'll also talk about what happened in that movie theater. We're talking one song, and that song is You Want to Know by Atlantis Morissette. Hey, One Song listeners, if you love our show, you should check out Trappital, the podcast where technology meets culture. Each episode, Trappital host and founder, Dan Runsee, digs into the strategy behind the media and technology that drives our attention. You'll hear Trappital explore topics like YouTube's growing influence in music and entertainment, the never-ending saga about TikTok's future, and how AI is shaping the future. Media is one of the first industries to get disrupted by new tech. It's Trappital's job to keep you ahead of the latest trends. You can listen to Trappital wherever you get your podcast. That's Trappital, T-R-A-P, I-T-A-L. Let's go. From Nintendo and Illumination, the Super Mario Brothers can take care of the kingdom. Comes a super-powered adventure. On April 1st, pack our things. The galaxy gets even bigger. He knows that's my bike, right? Lussie. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. With EPG. Only be to April 1st. Get to Gitsnow. The Toyota Tundra and Tacoma are built to keep going. Back by Toyota's reputation for legendary reliability. Step into a Tundra with the available i-Force Max hybrid engine, delivering impressive torque and serious towing power. Or take a look at Tacoma with an available power lift gate so gear goes in fast and the adventure keeps moving. Toyota trucks are built to last year after year, mile after mile. So drive one home today. Visit toyota.com to find out more. Toyota, let's go places. I'm actor-writer, director, and sometimes luxury's anger management specialist, D'Yalla Riddle. And I'm producer, DJ, songwriter, and musicologist luxury, AKA the guy who whispers or sometimes shouts, Interpolation. And this is one song. The show where we break down the stems and stories behind iconic songs across genres and tell you why they deserve one more listen. You will hear these songs like you've never heard them before and you can watch one song on YouTube while you're there, please like and subscribe. All right, D'Yalla, when was the first time you heard You Outta Now? I think like everybody else, I probably saw it on MTV, you know, maybe heard it on the radio, but you know, the first time I ever saw Atlantis, and this is way before Jagged Little Pill, she was a kid actor on one of my favorite Nickelodeon shows growing up. I used to love You Can't Do That on television. Oh, really? The show that gave us green slime every time you said, I don't know. Did you know her character was one that at the time you would have known? Yeah, Atlantis Moose. Moose is the goat, as far as I'm concerned, as far as that cast. I don't know Moose. But it's, yeah, look, I'm dating myself because this show was on Nickelodeon in like the early 80s, but I used to love it. It was basically a kid's version of Saturday Night Live. And why don't we show a clip? Here's a clip of You Can't Do That on television with a very young Lannis. Did you give him a burger from across the street to get him off your back? No, I did not. I gave him a bar's burger to get him off my back. I guess we won't be hearing from him anymore. Maybe not the greatest moment. You can't do that on television history. But it was a very funny show. They were always just hanging out, doing kid stuff, doing kid's jokes. If you said the word water, they dumped water on you. And if you said, I don't know, they dumped green slime on you. The green slime has stayed on Nickelodeon ever since. I was vaguely aware of this show. It wasn't quite my demographic. I mean, at the time it came out, I was a little bit older than you, my friend. But when you heard Atlantis Moose set and you ought to know on the radio, did you connect? Oh, God, no. This was the same Atlantis right away? Definitely not. I definitely did not think, oh, that's Atlantis. You can't do that on television. This video though, and this song, they were just huge hits at the time. And I think they kind of remained a quintessential snapshot of the 90s. And Atlantis, at that time, her hair wasn't teased. You know what I mean? She was wearing a T-shirt long before Billy Eilish made that call. It was just everything was completely dressed down. I guess you could say it was like a little grunge, but it also just felt like the slacker 90s. There was no heart barracuda levels of style to this music video. Listen, I think one thing that's really interesting about investigating this song is that it really is a snapshot of 1995 musically because it is sort of post-grunge. And visually, yeah. Visually, she's able to take advantage of the fact that not take advantage in a sort of transaction way. But we're naturally coming into an era where we've just had grunge. We have sort of early proto-electronica also. This is a moment where we're starting to, because that's an element of this song and this record that can easily be forgotten. As much as, because we think of her powerful vocals and performance and maybe the band and the early footage with like Taylor Hawkins on drums. They're a rock and band, but in the recording, there's like, there are drum loops and drum machines. So this is sort of like akin to what early garbage. I'm only happy when it rains. I'm only happy when it's cold. There's some other bands. Absolutely. Shout out to Shirley Manson, one of my favorites. Let's not forget, early 90s, we had like EMF and like unbelievable. You're unbelievable. Oh, I'm so good. Right? Jesus Jones, stereo MCs. There's this new experimentation with mixing electronic beats and rock guitars and in the pop song format. So when this record comes out, when this song comes out, it's right in the pocket of that. It also had just a killer video. Let's take a quick look at the music video for you, Autono. This is together, Kwannei, and she have your baby. I'm sure she can make her really. Max the land, mother. All those Rs are super distinctive. She has a very distinctive R sound. R. So you're a pirate. I forgot to add to the genre blend. There's a little pirate in there. This is the electronic on the punk funk. By the way, we're going to get into this, but the music in the video is slightly different than the music in the song. That's right. We're going to talk about how there's a couple of different mixes, but in brief, if you buy the record of Jagged Little Pill, song number three is you ought to know the kind of iconic canonical version, but there's a second mix, which up until COVID basically, the video version used instead of the video version. So all of these decades of knowing the song, I've always a little bit be confused about why are there two different versions? We'll talk about that a little bit later on. Absolutely. What about you, Lettria? When was the first time you heard you ought to know? I remember I was working at a job I had during school, during college. I was working at this company, and it was, I think, pumping out of the radios that all the programmers were listening to. I was working at this early internet company basically in Washington, DC. When I heard it, it popped off the radio in a way that I can sort of remember the pull the car over moments. And my first song is so good that you're like, what is this? And certainly the previous version would have been Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit. I remember hearing that song and being like, whoa, pull that car over. What is this? Pull the car over moment. Crank it up. Can I just say that's not a thing anymore. And I feel like I can totally relate to that. I remember the very first time I heard nothing but a G thing. It was, I know exactly where I was driving. And I heard that I was like, well, this sounds like nothing I've ever heard before. And I remember, I didn't pull the car over. I think I was actually getting ready to cross some train tracks. So sometimes it's a metaphorical pulling up the car over, but it's the same idea. You got to stop what you're doing. Yes. And just pay full attention to this incredible song coming up as speakers. That is a thing that used to be a thing. That is no longer a thing. I feel like because now you get things from the algorithm. And I don't know, it's just not the same. It's when you know that everybody is listening to the radio, hearing the same thing at the same time. That's a good point. It felt important maybe for some reason. It feels important. It feels shared. Yeah, shared. A friend of the show, Sam Sanders, has said like, you know, we're losing monoculture. And we definitely are because I can totally remember where I was when I heard certain songs for the first time on the radio. I think monoculture is Sam's interpolation, isn't it? It's a great word for him to own. Like, Bernadette Brown with vulnerability. I always think of her. I need a word. I need a word. It used to be chunky, but I didn't say that. Let's bring it back. Chunky. I love that though, a pull over the car moment. And why do you think it was? What about this song made you want to pull the car? Well, personally, it was what I liked about the music I was listening to at the time. It was bringing in elements of, like I heard, without knowing at the time that there was a connection to this band, which we'll get into, I heard the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the James Addiction and the sort of post-grunge, grunge elements. Some of them were sonic like guitars. Some of them were dynamic, like arrangement wise, like quiet, loud, like we talked about with the Shapsiz and Nirvana. That was huge enough, but then add another 99% for this insanely good vocal. The best, one of my favorite vocals, lyrically, delivery, the emotions there, the rawness, the melodies. She has a great voice. Such a good voice. It's a different voice. It reminds me of like maybe the first time people heard Mama Cass or Janice Joplin. You know what I mean? Like certain women just explode on the scene and their voice is so unique that it immediately becomes that thing that you can like do an impression of. Because it's so unique. Yeah. She does have some distinctive mannerisms and ways of hitting certain like sounds or vowels or consonants actually in certain cases. We're gonna talk about that when we get to her isolated vocals a little bit later. Well, yeah. Also, I feel like we heard her emotion, right? Like there was a lot of emotion in this song. There's an authenticity that's hard to like pin down. That word, it does a lot of lifting and it's hard, it doesn't really get to the heart of things. It's like saying the word cool. What does that mean? But there's an authenticity that you can't necessarily put your finger on, but you know she means it. You know this is so real. And it's so relatable. I mean, like, you know, I know a lot of people are gonna say that like this is like, you know, a feminist anthem, but I feel like anybody who's ever felt jilted can relate to this. I was literally. Male, female, whatever. You're speaking my mind, my friend. That was exactly what I was gonna say. It transcends that it's another person. It transcends that another person happens to be female. Like it's just like, this is my story too. I'm hearing this song and I can relate to it. Can I tell you though? I actually can't relate to it in one sense because I've never been dumped. I was never dumped. Okay. And here's the fun. Quite deflects my friends. Well, no, it's not. Here's where this is going. It's a good flex. When I met my wife, we laugh because she's never been dumped. Okay. We were like, neither of us has ever been dumped. So like clearly one of us is going to lose eventually. Right. Like maybe in death. If your partner dies, you're effectively dumped. It's like the idea like one of you married up, but which of you married up? I know. I was just like, Hey, babe, what of us? Who's gonna get the better deal here? What if it's gonna have that streak broken? Who's gonna get the better deal here? It's been 17 years and either one of us has had the streak broken. By contrast, I have been broken up with and I'm going to list all of those women right now. I had just been dumped. You're actually making me remember. There was a major dumpage that had happened to me. You've been dumped? Just moments earlier when this song came out because it was not only a dumpage, it was a double dumpage where it's like the girl that I had been seeing started to date my best friend. So I lost both of those people in one moment. It was a double dump. I am so sorry about that. You're just bringing back an old, profound memory. So, but that is her name. Oh my gosh. Bleep that out, but use it. Let's back up a bit. We've gone really far that direction, but I think we were both surprised to learn that prior to Jagged Little Pill, Alanis had a totally different sound in the early 90s. At the time, she was in her teens. She was signed to MCA and she released two albums for MCA. Let's watch the video for one of her early singles. Here's Too Hot. Now I'm too hot, never too cold. You make your head shot too hot to hold. Never too young, never too old. You gotta go for good. I love this song because I love Paula Abdul. I know, straight up that's helping. I love Taylor Dean. It does feel very straight up. Straight up now, tell me, do you really wanna love me forever? It's very Paula Abdul meets Taylor Dean meets Bobby Brown, maybe. For those listening, and you really shouldn't just listen, you should really watch this on YouTube. For those listening, it's styled like Paula Abdul. It's black and white. She's got the checkerboard shirt tied around her waist. It is straight up, straight up. Straight up, straight up, not tell. I know, present. Yeah, that was a good song. I actually dig that song. It was Dance Pop. One of these days I would love to do a freestyle episode, like a song, because that's such a fun genre. Whether it's freestyle or sort of like early 90s dance pop. That's definitely a genre that I feel is kind of left in the past, but there's some gems in there. I'm always thinking about let the music play once a week. Shannon. I'll say, let the music play. Gotta get some one song, Shannon, action. I think Shayla listens to the show. These albums that she did for MCA were not a commercial success. And by 1992, Alanis was no longer satisfied during the dance pop thing. She was in her early 20s and her songwriting was moving in a more introspective direction. MCA did not like that at all, so they dropped her. And this ends up being a blessing in disguise, because if that didn't happen, she might not have packed up her bags and moved to Los Angeles. So just for those of our listeners who aren't aware of how the songwriting process often works in pop circles, when I moved to LA, I was in a publishing deal, which meant that I was a track person that would be put in a room with a top liner, which is a lyrics and melody specialist. And the two of us would write songs together. This was my career for about four years. So what Alanis is doing in this moment is exactly that. She has a publishing deal, but no record deal. So there's a publisher who's motivated to have her write songs that they can financially benefit from when she gets a record deal. And she is in room after room after room, writing song after song and really honing her craft. She talks about that she would write like dozens of songs, like she would have a session in the morning and another session in the afternoon, seven days a week, kind of a workaholic, but really honing her craft and getting good at writing songs quickly, which is really important because when she meets one of our unsung heroes of this show, which we will now talk about, that's Glenn Ballard in Los Angeles, the two of them click as a writing duo in these circumstances of just sitting in a room, trying to get a song out without any thought as to how- Yeah, are they writing? I'm just curious because I don't know. Are they writing? I mean, obviously they're writing songs that she would like to sing, but are they writing songs for other people? That's an important distinction, you're right. There are circumstances where sometimes you're writing just to get the song out and who knows who will cut it. Maybe it's for another artist. You hope to get it cut by a big artist because that's how you make money. But then there are circumstances where there are artists that are themselves writing for other people potentially. This song feels like a me song, I'll keep it for myself. I think in the circumstances here with Glenn Ballard and Alanis Morissette, they're writing ostensibly for Alanis. Like these are really personal songs. I don't know that there's any thought that they'd try to have it cut by a big pop star of the day. By Apollo Abdul, for example. So a little bit more about Glenn Ballard, we've actually mentioned it before on the show. If you go back to our Michael Jackson Billy Jean episode, one of the songs that didn't make Thriller was a song that Glenn Ballard had written called Nightline. He was one of Quincy Jones' stable of in-house writers. He worked for Quest. So he wrote a bunch of hits, including Man in the Mirror for Michael Jackson. He wrote Wilson Phillips Hold On. He actually wrote for Paul Abdul. Her name has come up three times already. It does take six minutes of this episode. So they were put together by a publishing company. They clicked and they wrote together starting in early 1994. As Glenn Ballard tells the story, the first song was All I Really Want. They wrote it and recorded it all in one day, finished it that night, recorded it, played it for the publisher the next day who liked it. And that was the pattern that they, for the rest of the year, they would get together and just have these really intense conversations about life, which would turn into lyrics. And then Glenn would go off and work up the music while Alanis would focus on the lyrics and melody, record the song, move on to the next day, 20 songs in 20 days across a few months. So they would meet at his Encino-based home studio, which by the way, in 1994, this is a new ability that you don't have to rent out an expensive studio. Basically the songwriting process is starting to become potentially also the recording process. Cause one thing that's really interesting about Jagged Little Pill is that it's mostly the demos they made in his home studio in Encino. And in 1994, we take this for granted now. We so take it for granted. But it was relatively- Maybe this is that whole album in your closet. He had an ADAT machine, which is a precursor, not even a laptop. This was sort of earlier digital recording technology. And because he also happened to be simultaneously a guitar player and songwriter, but he was interested in early electronics. We'll talk about it when we get to the Sims, but he's using a Lin 900 and he's using loops. So you have the ability with that, two people can make an entire song, an entire album, not to mention a hit record. There were overdubs, we'll get into that a little later. But for the most part, this record was made by two people in a garage with an engineer for some overdubs in Encino, California in 1994. And you know what's funny? It feels personal and homemade, so to speak. And what I thought was really interesting is that at some point she left Los Angeles and went back to Canada and he was like, oh, well, I guess that's the end of this relationship. But then when she came back, he was like, oh man, she's only gotten better. You know, like there's so much like mutual love and respect between these two artists. 100%. You just gotta love their relationship. And again, going back to my experience in the room, I know the feeling of sometimes you get connected with somebody and you really have something. It's a combination of maybe your musical taste, but also just the rhythm and pace of how you work and how you think and how vulnerable one person can allow the other person to feel because it's a very vulnerable thing to write music together, to have something that isn't quite right yet. And maybe the other person, if you sense that they're impatient, you know what I mean? Like that can really put a damper on the relationship. Yeah, I feel like this is almost like the opposite of an impatient relationship. Lynn wasn't coming in with some big agenda or trying to shape her into anything. So, Lynn has had the freedom, you know? She had the freedom to write about whatever was on her mind. And you can hear all that freedom on Jagged Little Pill and songs like Hand in My Pocket. I got one hand in my pocket and the other one is giving a high five. You learn. You learn. You love. And one of my absolute favorites, Head Over Feet. Don't be a long divide far. Head over feet. And of course, Ironic. Let's watch a bit of that iconic Ironic music video. It's like rain. I know what it is. It's a free ride. Ah! So good. She's so good. She is so good. She's such a good artist. It's such a good record. Everything about her is great. I love her. We like talking about people who are great. I just, I'm so excited. I get so into this. I did. I mean, it was crazy. I didn't even know how much more popular Ironic has stayed. It's actually her most streamed song. How ironic. More than you. Don't you think? I do. I do think. No, but think about it. Like, if you were alive in the 90s, you would assume you want to know way out ahead. But Ironic has twice the streams. It's crazy. But I think that's because people come to it and then obviously there's always been that debate about, are these things really ironic or do they just suck? I think it's a little easier to sing too. You ought to know it's really hard to sing. It's hard to like belt and hit those notes. And you just can't get that emotion. So it's like, why try? With Ironic, that's the crowd sing along. That's the stadium sing along. Yeah. With this record, I think. I think you're right. So in that music video, it's a couple of Alanis' Alani. I think we can call them plural. Alanis'. You know, there's one driving. There's one in the back seat being whimsical. Yeah. But they're all buds. They like each other. They're all hanging out. She likes all of her different selves. I don't know where she's driving, but that looks like Canada to me. When I think Canada, I think frigid. It looks very cold. Frigid road. Yeah. You know what, it's funny. You're making me think that there's another element to her, like the genre blend. Like she has this sort of iconic beanie. Like her hair is disheveled and the oversized clothes. But there's definitely a post grunge and musically. There's one where she has like almost like dreadlocks too. There's a pearl jammingness to the music, I would say. And in 1995, like the, that was a few years earlier. It's still happening. There's still a pearl jam right now. But my point is, is that pop music tends to absorb other elements that were once more underground. And by 1995, we are fully absorbed. All the nirvana isms, all the electronic isms, even the punk funk isms of like the chili peppers we were talking about. And pearl jamming. In relation to this episode. And yes, I think that pop music always looks for a cosine from the underground. Like this is 1995. This is the same year that Mariah Carey does a song with Old Dirty Bastard. And that's like getting a sign off from Wu-Ten Klan. So she's going to hip hop for a cosine. I feel like Lannis is going to like the visual and alternative rock. So like this song could have been produced by Butch Vig. You know what I mean? Like, you know, who's working with garbage and have exactly the same time making a very similar kind of sound. Yes. It should be said with like drum loops and then rock guitars and pop music. So there's something really interesting about that absorption. And I don't necessarily, I'm not, I don't know that it was like strategic or planned. I think it's very, very Atlantic. Chance of Art, she was probably just into that music. I think very much so, yeah. And she tried, you know, she'd done the dance pop thing in her teens and she wanted to do something more authentic, more real. And this is the 90s. Right. So like, there's a lot of growling in the 90s. A lot of like, you know, like, like, you know, that's what people wanted to hear. And also the reason why Nirvana and Pearl Jam and these grunge bands were so important is because they really did unlock this other available lane of vulnerability and an aggressive music. And so that's another kind of opportunity that Alanis is like, this is what I want to be doing right now. And I think the writing process from all accounts just unfolded very naturally without any sort of like record industry like strategy. There was a record label to speak of. But this was something that she was naturally drawn to or I should say it just came out of her in that way that maybe happened to coincide with what this post grunge sounded like. This is also the 90s. And the 90s is just like, it was such a good time to release really big albums. Like I'm thinking about Green Day, Dookie, Nirvana's Never Mind. Like they're just some really big albums during this period. And Jagged Little Pill is easily one of the biggest. Yeah. And it's the end of that chapter, probably in human history. Because the monoculture is coming to a close with the internet's rise. Just a couple years away. Yeah, about five years away from the end. But also Alanis is part of like this generation of female artists, and specifically like alternative rock and folk that they are expressing themselves completely honesty. There's like another level of honesty. And I love it because it's like artists like PJ Harvey. Baby, baby, ain't it true? And Tori Amos. There was a cornflake there. It's an Annie DeFranco. I'm a post-a girl with no posters. I am 30 to play with the... Even Tracy Chapman, I would argue. You get a fast car. I want a ticket to anywhere. Like these are artists that are, you know, sort of walking so that Alanis can mainstream that sound and experience all the success. And because of her success, then you have the success of like a garbage or like an Avril Lavigne. I'm gonna say Billie Eilish again, because again, this is sort of that first lady who was able to just get out there and just a t-shirt and some comfortable pants and rock out to millions. I mean, like she's on tour for a long time, like millions of people all over the world coming out to see her and this amazing band perform. All right, we're gonna take a quick break, but when we get back, we're gonna hear Alanis' raw, isolated vocals. We're going to hear the original demo. I'm so excited about that. And we're gonna find out how two of the Red Hot Chili Peppers were the missing links the song needed when we get back. ["Wild Cherry Cola"] ["Wild Cherry Cola"] ["Wild Cherry Cola"] ["Wild Cherry Cola"] before we get into the stems, we would like to share with you the one song nation, the demo. So bear in mind as you listen to this, that her vocal take on this is the final vocal take that got used in the final song. But the musical bed is very different. And we'll break that down after we listen. Okay. So here's a part that's different. I gotta say at first I was liking it. Okay. You know, like I like that. That's a little guitar thing. It's just guitar thing. But then when it gets to the, The build, the pre-chorus. Yeah. Yeah. That bass line is kind of... Let's talk about that bass sound. It's a little bit silly. Yeah. It's a little bit, it's got like a filter on it. It's got like kind of a parliament funk. Like a Bootsy Collins, you kind of like... Like a wah wah wah. I don't even know if that, I want to say, it almost seems like it's a little Bootsy Collins a little bit. Well, that's, we just said the same thing. Yeah. Yeah. There's a little bit of silliness, I would say. Yeah, yeah, yeah. As opposed to serious rock. That's what sounds like so basic. Like it's like... Well, what's interesting is we keep those drums throughout the entire... Those drums remain. That's a drum machine loop that is in the final version, but it was enhanced and, you know, overdubbed with a real drummer. With a real drummer, which you feel. Yeah. You do feel that real drummer. Yeah. And one last thing, which is super minor, but like, or unimportant, relatively speaking, but the chord changes in that pre, the build, are slightly different. Yeah. And they go to the five, which is the, the, the dominance, which is like you, you want your ear wants to go back to the one, but it's a little too on the nose. It's a little too obvious. You know, I came across this quote from Flea about his reaction to the original bass line. Flea says, quote, that's some weak shit. It was no flash and no smash. I like that. No flash, no smash, but the vocal was strong. So I just tried to play something good. I showed up, I rocked out and split. That's right. So how does Flea get involved in all this? So Gio Ciri at Maverick Records, who is Madonna's manager for many years and actually red hot chili peppers and U2's managers for very many years, he might even still be the chili peppers manager, I believe. But he was the first label to not pass on this incredible demo that got shopped around. Everybody passed. Every label was not interested, but Gio Ciri was interested. Gio Ciri knew a guy called Jimmy Boyle. He knew a guy. He knew a guy called Jimmy Boyle. That's the name of a guy that when you know a guy, that's that guy's name. Sure enough, Jimmy Boyle was another producer and unsung hero of this episode because he did the alternative mix we talked about earlier. He did track 13 on Jagged Little Pill, which is a slightly different version, a slightly different mix of the same recording of you ought to know. So it's called the Jimmy the Saint Blend. But the best for you both. I know the version of me. And he's also the link in the chain that brought in Dave Navarro from Jane's Addiction. But in this moment, Red Hot Chili Peppers. Oh, that's right. What Gio Ciri gives him full credit and says there's a guy called Jimmy I was hanging out with at the time. He kept saying, gosh, imagine what this would sound like with a stronger bass and guitar. Alanis and Glenn were down to try it out. And the rest is history. So we have some drum machine and we also have a live drummer. I'm dying to hear the drums. Well, the song begins with the live drummer and it goes back and forth and then they get blended. It's very interesting mix of electronic live. It's Matt Laug is his name. He's a session and touring drummer. He's worked with everybody from Donna Summer to ACDC, for whom he's currently the tour drummer. And he heard the same demo that we heard and added some live drums on top, starting with this at the very beginning. So he's playing the snare with brushes. Yeah, you can see it. Kind of jazzy. And that's what's playing in the intro underneath Alanis' kind of otherwise acapella vocal. But what's interesting, a little fun fact is that he'd actually recorded it later in the song. It was for a different section near the bridge, like during the bridge. But when the song was mixed, the final version, he was like, oh, cool. What a good idea to bring that to the front of the song as well. But you'll also hear it a little bit later, a little bit of Easter egg. What drum break does that sound like? Is that Amen, brother? Which what is that? Yeah, maybe that's that syncopated. I'll tell you what I think it is. So there is a little moment in music history where there's a lot of like soup dragons and a lot of kind of the baggy, like Manchester. Yeah, Manchester, Manchester adjacent, where they use that beat all the time. All the time. And it's boom, boom, cat, cat, ca-boom, cat. And it drives me crazy. Some small variations. That's my least favorite rhythm, especially when like a British, you know, white British drummer is playing in an indie rock band. It always, I don't hate it. I mean, I don't know why I don't have a reason. I just don't like it. But I hadn't noticed it. Maybe when it gets transferred to the brushes, it sort of loses its Manchester bagginess that always annoyed me a little bit. But you'll hear that all the time in those bands. It's also funky drummer has a similar syncopation pattern. Yeah, for whatever reason. It's one of those classic breaks. So we've always said on the show, you can't really copyright a break. Oh, God, no, it's a rhythm. It's a rhythm. Yeah. You're playing a pattern of, you know, syncopated snare hits. But that's what I hear when I hear those. When he's using the brush. That's what it evokes. I think it's a good call. Yeah, it evokes a lot of those like iconic break beats. Totally. So then right after this intro, we get right into the verse and we move from live drummer to drum machine. I'm going to play you the transition because it's actually pretty abrupt. But in the mix, you just don't notice it because you're so locked into the vocal. Yeah. But here's how that happens as we go from her singing best for you both. This is underneath that part. It almost seems like it didn't line up perfectly. There's something to that in this song, which I have been noticing just going through the stems. There's a lot of loops that don't line up perfectly because we're not in a screen grid, pro tools era. This is all done on ADAT, which is literally on VHS tape. It's a digital recording technology where you don't have the visual. So you're doing it by feel, by luck, by hooker, by crook to get things to line up. And kind of incredible job that Glenn Ballard and Chris Fogel did collectively. But, you know, it's imperfect. And maybe that adds to some of the humanity of the song. Can we hear it while we're talking? You want to hear that again? I'll put the vocal in just so you kind of know where we're at. Yeah. It's a little bit late. It's like slightly delayed. You know, maybe it's just because we have now just lived in the grid so long. It's so funny how wrong that sounds. But I would argue, and I think you would agree, especially in this era, all the hip hop, all of the electronica, not all, but like a great percentage of it has these little pre digital pre pro tools, pre Ableton, everything being lined up moments that actually arguably give it some humanity. Yeah. Yeah. Until it bothers me. Well, it's like there's one line on a Biggable Planet song where, where Doodlebug comes in so off and it just jars me every time. You just can't do it. I cannot. No, what's the line I need to know? Ruin that song for me. My man, do planets do it lovely? Am I my brother's keeper? Like I do it on the beat. He doesn't. Oh, he does it off the beat. It's not lined up, dude. And it's bothered me. I'm gonna defend Doodlebug and his timing to my dying day. 1993 that, that line has been off. And I'm like, did nobody else hear this long? Doodlebug, I got your back. This guy. What was that for another episode? Can't take him anywhere. So that drum machine is programmed by Glenn Ballard using a Lynn 9000, which was one of his favorite tools. He loved it because you were able to use drum sounds, but also other sounds. So there's a level which I think he's using this almost as a sampler. It's unclear to me exactly the tech. I've listened to every interview and read every article to the best of my understanding, though, a lot of the programming is through the Lynn 9000 because it's not just for drum sounds, but that loop and that groove based writing is really starting to be a thing in pop music writing. If anything, it becomes the standard at this point. And he's doing it for this entire record, starting with a loop, starting with a groove, and then having that vibe bring the rest of the instruments on top. He talks about how he especially, like this is kind of a nerdy thing, but on the Lynn 9000, the hi hat has eight different positions. So you can have it closed, semi open, big open. That's going to come into play when we listen to the chorus drums in a moment, because I actually wonder if this is a drum machine or a live drummer, or if it's Matt Loud, it's possible that in this next part, what we're about to hear is the drum machine with just a snare on top, or it could be a full kit. I'm not really clear, but it's Matt Loud doing at least a snare drum, possibly the entire kit, mixed with that same drum loop. And here it is. This is the chorus. And I'll play for you just this wonderful fill that's very human going into the chorus. You can hear the transition from drum machine to blend. And talking about the imperfections, notice in that drum machine that it doesn't quite, there is a little gap in between the beats. I'll play it for you again. Listen for every bar at one, two, three, four, a little gap. One, two, three, four. See if you can hear that display. Right. A little stutter. It's a little bit of a stutter there. Totally. Because it's not probably being played live. It's a loop. To be clear, Matt Loud is playing drums over the loop, but in the loop itself, it's not lining up perfectly. You can loop a live drummer. Yeah. And I do feel like the reason you hear that gap is because when it comes back in, so to speak, there's like, there's like an echo of something that came before. Yeah. There's a reverb echo, which I believe is just the room you recorded the drums in. Yeah. You can kind of hear that off. I think maybe the left channel a little bit. Yeah. And it adds liveness to the feel. Totally. And as I was researching the show, there's one big fill in this song, which may be the favorite part of every drummer on it. It certainly is for me. But it's the big fill that takes you out of the bridge and gets you back into the final pre-chorus. So here it is. And I will have to air drum this. You got to get that double crash. It I love it. I love that. I feel like we've had a kick on the show before. Oh, Hart Barracuda has a cookie. Oh, yeah. It also reminds me of a fucking of the bushes by Oasis, which has sort of very similar drums to Little Miss Lover by Jimmy Winter. Sure. Oh, that's a hundred percent Little Miss Lover with a great, trashy SM 58 in the room, mic'ing the whole kit sound. Yeah. That's dope. That's dope. And it's definitely Mitch Mitchell coded. That was in percent. And Loud talks about Matt. Loud talks about when he heard that demo, he knew that there was an opportunity to go from that really chill bridge into this last pre with that energy. He says, when he heard that, I heard the drum fill that I played on the record in my head and I thought that'd be a cool fill to play. So I wrote it in my charts. I wouldn't forget it. So when he first heard the demo, he was like, I know exactly what needs to go there and he was right because that's the moment that I got. I got to pull my car over twice for that one just to like air drumming. And when I'm listening, you had to pull over twice. I had to pull over twice, pull over once to listen. So there we were back in the street. Now you're just blocking. Try. Here's what I do when I listen to Alanis Morissette. I pull the car over, I listen to the song and then right during the bridge, I start driving again so that I can pull over right at the end of the bridge to play that fill. It's just who I am. You're not a safe driver. No, do not. Don't drive behind me or next to me or in front of me. A lot of cool stuff happening with the drums there. I really want to talk about the bass and guitar on this song. It's crucial, crucial, crucial bass. All right, let's listen to Michael Balzari, aka Flea, play F sharp. A lot of F sharp in this song in the verse and into the pre, but let's listen. So he's just riding that F sharp, peddling. During the beginning of the song, he gets a little more fun a moment later and I'll play you where we are in the song, a little vocal for context. I may get out of fire to be open wide. No. That's during the pre-chorus. And what's cool about that is that he's really just rooted on that F sharp. That is the root note, the tonic of the song. And we're hearing a lot of other notes and a lot of playful funk bass or punk funk bass. But what's happening on top of that is different. Dave Navarro is not playing the F sharp. He's not playing the root. He's playing the three to the four to add some contrast. I'll play it for you. So here is just isolated. What Dave is playing on top of that with one guitar. So he's going from the three to the four, very, a lot of tremolo, a lot of chorus effects. Love that. There's a second guitar and then I'll put them together and then I'll add the bass back. The second arpeggio is a little bit different. Sounds like this. It's really beautiful. But now you've forgotten what key you're in. I'll bring back flea. Is that contrast? So good. So there's a lot of tension built because they're they're playing different chords, essentially please playing the one, the F sharp and the two guitar parts are going from three to four, the three, two, the four, I should say, from A to B. So when you hear them isolated, it's almost like you're hearing two different songs. And then when you bring them together, they mesh so well, they mesh so well, but they're adding this extraordinary tension, which is about to break three as I literally ended it as we get to the chorus. And then they lock in together and we get the four chords. And that's the pop chorus. Here's what it sounds like in the bass first. Just eighth notes playing the root notes of the chorus. And at the very end, he does something to map to her vocal. You just my favorite people. He's incredible. It should be noted, but he's also one of the first people who made me realize like sort of like in my late teens and twenties that, oh, I like it when the bass is doing something inventive or different or like sort of stand out because that doesn't happen too often. He's one of my favorite bass players. It should be noted that they are playing to the demo with, I believe, the instrumental parts muted just the vocal and the drums. Really? I think that's what's happening from the telling, from the quotes that are out there. So they are reharmonizing the song to a certain degree. It was their choice to retain the F sharp, but have the chords go from the three to the four on top, the A to the B. That was new decisions that they made. Remember how before with the silly bass sound, we were going in the pre-chorus to different chords. So they've simplified it. We're not going to that five. We're not going to that dominant. And the other thing I wanted to point out, as you mentioned, is that he is emphasizing that you, you at the very end, because that's already there. Yeah. That's already in the track. So that's this section at the very end. I'll put Alanis back so you can hear that they work together. You, you. So he's like, do, do, do. He's matching her rhythm. Remind me of all of this when we get to the splits, because it's going to be very interesting conversation. Now you can bet. And listen, just because we're talking about Flea and Dave, this is maybe our stealth Red Hot Chili Peppers episode. Because this song musically is a very high percentage to your point. Red Hot Chili Peppers. I'm so glad you said that. What we're hearing is the non-drums and vocal part of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It's just a band with two music instrument playing members. Until we started doing this episode, I didn't even know that these guys were on the song. You know, you could have told me it was her touring band who's all in the jagged documentary for those listening. If you really want to go on a super deep dive on the album, the jagged documentary is on HBO Max. And it's a really good. Apparently she's not a fan of it. Lannis had some issues with some, I think she had some issues with some of the things that she said in the documentary is my theory. You know, because it's a little bit of a warts and all documentary, but very good documentary for those who want to like know how this album came together. And Flea's doing some fun fills all over the song and adding like bits of color. Look, it's a punk funk song. Punk funk, by the way, this is a very forgotten sub-genre. There was a moment where there was like fishbone. Thelonious Monster. Another big LA band that never quite broke out of. But everyone talks about. You know, Primus kind of fits in there. I have to admit, I used to see a lot of Primus shows. When I was in high school, I had a fake ID and I would go see Primus. It was all punk funk in that moment. I would see Primus and the limbo maniacs and Fungo Mungo. These are bands that only people who lived in San Francisco in like early nineties would have known about. But like that was a huge scene. It was a scene. You know what? Faith no more, frankly, is in that genre, I would say too. 100% Faith no more. There's like a hard rock, maybe edge to them more so than some of the other bands. But it's funk rhythms and certainly like literally that he's popping and slapping that bass player. I can't say that. Think about Epic. It's like hip hop. Epic is the best ending of a song ever. It's the best ending for any song ever. There's some really cool moments that I always notice in the song where Flea is 100% like having his bass playing match the vocal match the lyrical content. I'll give you one example of that. I'll play Flea and I'll play Alanis isolated together. I always think of that as the slap in the face. This is a Red Hot Chili Pepper song with a drum machine and Alanis Morris singing on top. That's the musical content that we're hearing in the song for the most part. And it feels like it too. But this is the only song on this album that has Flea in Native American. That's right. That's right. And then at the very end, we have this wonderful whaling solo. Let's listen. It's like a battle between like Alanis and this like whaling note and she wins. She wins. She wins at the end. The whaling note ends before she ends. So it's like kind of a pure victory. That's funny. I hear a battle too, but I actually hear this crazy note supporting her. Yeah. To me, it's like her Bannerman. Yeah. You know, like chapter she's won this battle. Her Bannerman come out and they've got these like, you know, Floyd things. You've played some vocals. It's like the audio version of the steam coming out of her ears. Absolutely. Absolutely. The structure of this song is just so good because you now you'd like you you appreciate that sound at the end because that's letting you know, like, Hey, this is all coming to a climax. I love her vocals. This sounds so good. Hearing her vocal isolated. Can we hear a little bit of a verse one? I want you to know that I'm happy for you. One thing I want to point out. So happy for him. I know. I don't know if I take it at face value, what you're saying. One thing to point out as we're listening, you can hear the bleed in her headphones and now that we've heard the demo. Listen, it's that guitar riff that we all heard. As I continue to play the rest of this, listen for that. I wish nothing but the best for you both. Right. Do you hear that? I hear it. By the way, this is the only time Alan has ever sang it in the studio. This is one take and it's her first take. Yeah. All the vocals were the original vocals. There's nothing about those first takes. I don't know. You know, even when we're on set, we're shooting a scene. I'm always like, shoot the rehearsal. Yeah. Because something sometimes it happens and you never get it back. It has a special vibe that like you, the more you refine it, the worse it gets. Yeah. In fact, Glenn Ballard said there was some talk about refining things and redoing them. But she was adamant. There was something about the moment of creation when we did it and she was right because some of the vocals will hear it isolated are in the red. They're like too hot. So it's distorted. But a little distortion. It only contributes to the overall vibe of the song, the energy of the lyric. Let's hear a little more of verse one, an older version of her, maybe. I know the version of me. Is she perverted like me? Would she go on you in a theater? I like that. You know, the 90s had such inventive ways of like editing. Yeah. Well, especially because like, why are we editing out down on you in the theater? They said the first time they played this on K-Rock. Yeah. They're like everybody was calling in. Everybody wanted, I think when you fuck her was edited, obviously. You can't say that. But I'm pretty sure that they play and go down on you in a theater, play it out and like, that's one of the things that hooks you. It grabs you. Yeah. But I guess once the song blows up and it's major, you do need a radio edit because, you know, sometimes people are driving into work at 8 a.m. And it's just like going down on any theater seems like so. Or the kids are in the car. You don't want to like talk about it right now. Maybe a little later. Kids don't. Maybe maybe maybe years from now. My kids, they're actually informing me of obscenities nowadays. I'm like, wait, that's what that means. And just to call attention, because it's throughout the song, we have all these Alanisisms, sounds and emoting that aren't necessarily lyrical or melodic. But listen, here's one at the end of that line. Let's just point out the. Ah, theater. Ah, it's ah, theater. That's so specific. The theater. Well, now that I hear it, it's the whole word has like so many Alanisisms in it. Are you in? Oh, theater. Double ah. They're double. That's such a thing. Let's continue into the pre. And you'll notice that what we had up the middle as a centered vocal is now split into the left and right channel. It's actually two takes. OK, I think this is the one section of the song that isn't a single, not doubled, i.e. multi-tracked vocal happens right here. So you hear two Alanisisms here. And every time you speak her name, does she know how you told me until you died, till you died, but I still. OK, the line. So good. But you're still alive. Yeah, so funny. It's I love that line. It is really funny. Right. She's mad at him that he's still. That's a great line. You're right. It is funny. I forget that. It's a fucking bomb. They're so good. I know that's a monogram across hyper. But like that's that's a line I heard from the very first time. I was like, wow, she's singing lyrics like every night. Maybe it's the writer of me like certain lines. I'm like, how did you get those words in there so wonderfully, so beautifully? Like to work that phrase into a song. That's like a mega hit. Yeah, you know, Princeton at that sometimes. Like there are a couple of like, you know, oceans of violence and bloom, you know, like I'm just like, oh, that's that's fucking poetry. And I love the line. It's not fair to deny me of the cross I bear. You know, I just think that's such a great line. It's not fair to deny me of the cross I bear that you gave to me. Yeah, yeah. I almost apologize in advance for trying to explain it because there's no explanation. She was born the way she was born, a creative and incredible soul. And she has her 10,000 hours by this point. She has been writing for years and performing and she has honed her craft. And she has innate gifts. And there's probably other things that contribute to it. But this is genius lyricism. It's genius delivery. It's the first and only take of the vocal. And they've kept in all of these breaths and everything. This is also a moment where like, how risky, how daring. I mean, at the time they were doing it, they had no record label. There was no sense of like someone waiting for some polished final product. And then when they take it around, nobody's interested. Props to Guy Osirian Maverick for keeping it this sort of like raw demo. Like it's wonderful that they kept the rawness of the sound guy. Guy had an ear. Absolutely. He was like 19 or so. He was really young when he started that. Yeah, by the way, this is one of those songs where every verse sort of has something very memorable going on. Oh, absolutely. I really want to hear verse two. Did you forget about me, Mr. Dew, Plissi T. I hate to bug you in the middle of dinner. There was a slap in the. Duplicity, Mr. Duplissi T. I don't think I'd ever heard that word before. Like, you know, I knew what it meant. OK, not even in life. Like, like, say nothing of pop music. This is the 90s. I definitely had never been to therapy. Like the idea that, like, you know, codependent relationship, you know, duplicitous behavior. Like, again, these are words that you would not expect to be slipped in. Right. This is all part of her lyricism, bringing just a new rawness, a new honesty. You're right. And quite honestly, you know, therapy words. This is introspection language that we hadn't necessarily heard on the radio to this degree with this poetic degree for that matter. No, this this the word duplicity does not show up in tag team. Whoop, there it is. And it should have. But I digress. That's a different episode. I also really love this line about, you know, I hate to bother you in the middle of dinner, bug you. I hate to bug you in the middle of dinner. Yeah. Another favorite. There's a famous line and we let's talk about this because this gets to the heart of, like, is this song written about somebody in particular? Anytime I brought up this song with friends this week, they were like, oh, yeah, that's Dave Kulie. And obviously Dave Kulie, Uncle Joey from Full House, you know, he has told this story about hearing this song on the radio for the first time. He's driving, it comes on. He knows that him and Alanis used to date at some point. And as the lyrics are full, he starts thinking, wait, is this song about me? He points specifically to the dinner line because apparently Alanis once called him while he was at dinner after they had broken up. So he felt like that would hit a little close to home. He's never really addressed the movie theater line, the famous movie theater line, probably smart on his behalf. Alanis, I want to point out, has said many times she loves to hear people talk about, oh, this song is about me. This song is about because she would argue that it's not about Dave Kulie. It's not about, you know, she's never confirmed or denied that this song was about any particular person. I actually do think it's probably her singing to a composite character of many people that she's dated. Yeah. And I think she's been very consistent about the idea that the song has more power when it's not revealed who the person is. And it doesn't really matter and probably would break some of the song's power if it was too closely associated. This is why we have Carly Simon, You're So Vain, is the same thing. I mean, people have kind of sleuthed out over the years, some very strong candidates, but like there's something nice about the mystery. And I don't think you need to know for sure. And I think it's, I think it's, it's classy on her behalf. And I think it's also funny that every time somebody new says, oh, this song is about me, she's like, it reveals something about their character. Why do you think that? Exactly. Yeah. And just to be clear, cause we mentioned it before the whole like Swiss alpine thing. There's a yodel in there. Yeah. She's doing what's basically going from your body, your chest voice to your head voice and back again really quickly, which is the essence of what a yodel is. I'll just isolate that for you again. Here is Alanis Morissette yodeling. One more time. That's hard to do. That's a skill set she has developed. It's so fun. All right. So now that we've heard the song and you've told us, you know, the contributions of all these wonderful musicians that I didn't even know about, how did the splits break down? So the splits of this song, the publishing splits are 50% Alanis Nadine Morissette, 50% Glenn Ballard. How does Flea and, uh, how did Flea and Dave feel about that? You know, it's a 50-50 split on the songwriting because songwriting just the way copyright works. And it's, it's kind of also just how it has been. It's one of those, this is the way it is guys. But at the same time, I think Flea and Dave were really just brought in as session musicians. And we talked about this many times on the show. Yes. Sometimes session musicians bring a lot. Sometimes they bring a lot and they're subject to literally the power dynamics of the moment. Sure. If they were brought in and said, Hey, you want the gig, I'll give you 50 bucks. Then they take the 50 bucks and that's the way it works. And that's capitalism. That's power. That's a whole other discussion. The whole other podcast, whether that's fair, I think in these circumstances, it's Flea, it's Dave from the Chili Peppers. They're doing their buddy, they're doing their butt is solid. Yeah. And they're having fun. And I don't, I feel these other bitches like I did a nice split. He didn't me split. And what they're contributing is obviously hugely important. So important. But it seems as though they aren't feeling left out as something. Yeah. I think they deserve it. How many boats could you ski behind, bro? Wait, who skis behind boats? That's a line from a Wall Street. How much is enough? How many boats can you ski behind? My sense is that Flea and Dave never had expectations of anything greater, but they also may not have had expectations of 33 million units sold. No, seriously. So that might be a tricky thing for them to have managed in a moment, but I think they'll be all right. I'd like to imagine like Flea driving down the road and hearing that for the first time, be like, oh, yeah, that's me. Yeah. I did that. I did that. So you ought to know is the beginning of this whirlwind of success for Atlanta. She wins five Grammys and she goes on an insane 18 month tour across the world. I can't imagine the pressure she was under the creative pressure, you know, not even put aside the commercial pressure, like creatively, how do you capture something so lightning in a bottle twice? You know, and I just, I feel like it's unenviable. The position she was in, given the success of that album. I mean, like we've talked about, you ought to know, all those songs were hits. Like that song, that album produced like five or six huge songs, you know what I mean? So like to come back with another album, I can't imagine that's another. I'm so glad you brought that up because she's already navigated so much in her first 19 years of youth, right? Because the songwriting when she was, she wrote the songs on Jagged Little Pill. Yeah. When she's 19 turning 20. Yeah. And they are so filled with such a human journey. So many we know without her telling us that a lot has happened to her and she is navigating her way through it. And then this other kind of version of a thing to navigate, which is success and fame and pressure from record labels and internal is another thing to navigate. I look at Alanis Morissette and I think what an incredible person, what an incredible human and she has navigated so much, but sort of shown her work along the way, which is such a gift to the rest of the world for us to be able to share in how challenging it is, because that allows for us to be more vulnerable because she has been telling us this whole time that she is trying and it's difficult. She has had challenges, but rather than hide them or be ashamed of them. Let's put them in the open and see what we can work with and see if we can't work through this messy humanity together. I mean, I think, I think you're absolutely right. And I think that goes towards her legacy as an artist. What do you think the legacy of you want to know is? I could not believe how excited I was to listen to it in the car driving over today. It joins the ranks. It might be in my top three of on the day of the show, we're taping episodes and I'm driving over just how pumped I was because it's such a belt. It has so much energy and thank God for music. Thank God for recording technology. Thank God for memory. I was really feeling all of it. To the feeling all the I was feeling all the feelings and the legacy of this song for me personally, beyond the like global success of it for me personally. It's a reminder of just the power of music. It's so trite, but it is the power of music. It's the power of great songwriting, the power of a great vocal delivery and the power of just the chance coinciding of Glenn Ballard and Alanis meeting up. And writing music together. Well, we're really happy that they did. OK, luxury. Aside for one more song. This is the segment where we share a deep cut or a hidden gym with you, the one song nation and with each other. You go first. All right. So I talk about Stoner Rock a lot of the time. One of my favorite genres, but I don't play nearly enough of it in this segment. Brand new Stoner Rock. This is a band called Earth Tongue and the song is Dungeon Vision. That is so me. These guys are from New Zealand and there is a two piece band. They call themselves a heavy psych rock two piece, but I mean, that's Stoner Rock. So that's the good stuff. Stoner Rock is one of those genre names where I'm like, I don't know that I see the the sonic through line every time, but I tend to like, you know, I've talked before I like and you will notice by the trailer. Then I love Fubanchi when I played it in the car that time. True. I love Fubanchi. I think Stoner Rock maybe is a little slower tempo. Like the halftime part was the Stoner Rock part. And then it became psych rock when it was like double time. So a couple of genres in one song. Absolutely. As they always are. What about you, Diallo? What is your one song today? You know, for my one more song, I'm actually going to go with usually I try to highlight artists who have not already made it, so to speak. But there is a song that I really, really love right now. MJ Cole just came out with a new version of his classic, Sincere. If you don't know MJ Cole's Sincere, then what are you doing? Go out, listen to it. He just re-released it with a new verse with Pink Pantherous. And the song is called Still Sincere. And it's just it's a banger. It's a one hundred and thirty three BPM hit us with it. Oh, that song does something to me. It's just like when it goes when it goes minor there, like just like off. We love Pink Pantherous, man. The original. She's got such a sound. She's got such a sound. I like her. I love him. J Cole. He's one of the reasons I got into UK Garage back in the day. So yeah, check out if you don't know Sincere by MJ Cole, do it. And then if you have, you know, just a little bit more time, check out Still Sincere by MJ Cole featuring Pink Pantherous. As always, if you have an idea for one more song, you can find us on Instagram and TikTok. You can find me on Instagram at Diallo, D I A L L O and on TikTok at D I A L L O. All right, D.D. Ellie, just spell out my name. And you can find me on Instagram at L U X X U R Y and on TikTok at Luxury X X. Right. And you can follow our podcast on Instagram and Tiktok at One Song Podcast for exclusive content. You can also watch full episodes of One Song on YouTube. Just search for One Song Podcast. You'll see these wonderful phases and all our gesticulations. We'd love it if you'd like it. Subscribe. Also, be sure to check out the One Song Spotify playlist for all of the songs we discuss in our episodes. You can find the link in our episode description. And if you made it this far, you're officially a part of the One Song nation show us some love. Give us five stars. Keep that four star shit to yourself. Five stars. Leave a review and send this episode to a fellow music fan. It really helps keep this show going. All right, luxury. Help me in this thing. All right, I can't say it sometimes. No, what if I say my own name and use people? Let's change the entire format of the show right now. Let's hit. Let's start for the very. I want to say your catchphrase. Luxury helped me in this thing. Okay, Sam. No, I just did. Luxury helped me in this thing. I produced a DJ songwriter, musicologist and KCRW DJ every Friday night from 10 p.m. till midnight. Luxury. And I'm actor, writer, director and sometimes DJ Diallo Riddle. And this is one song. We'll see you next time. This episode was produced by Melissa Dwayneas. Our video editor is Casey Simonson, mixing and engineered by Michael Hartman. This show is executive produced by Kevin Hart, Mike Stein, Brian Smiley and Eric Weil.