Sunday, April 26, 2009

"Uninvited"

One of Alanis Morissette's title songs is "Uninvited." It's a strange, eerie piece. She is telling someone that he is uninvited. My show choir performed this song last year, but I think her version is much more cool. First of all, I really enjoy the tune of the song. I could sing it all day. Of course, it sounds very odd when the soloist is not a female voice. Nonetheless, the song is very unique and appeals to the thinker. I also really like how the song is almost like a poem with music. Using lots of simile and metaphor, the words make you think. For example, "Must be strangely exciting to watch the stoic squirm." What does this mean? In context of the song, I think it means that it must be thrilling for her lover to watch her surrender and struggle against his love. In my mind, the song is about a struggle. The singer is trying to escape the love of someone. In this phrase, she was the stoic and the man took pleasure in making her struggle
She is telling the man that he is "uninvited" to her. He's not allowed to love her. And it's unfortunate that this had to happen. She loved him and was attracted to him- like any hot-blooded woman she's wanted an object to crave.

I really like the orchestral part of this song as well. It's almost poetic by itself. It's very strong, and it is nearly all minor until the very last chord when she begins to sing again. Also, the song is based off of the simple four note repetition first heard at the very beginning of the song.

Alanis Morissette promotes another discussion all by herself. Now I'm not a big Alanis Morissette fan, but in this song she does a great job. She gets the audience to feel her innocence and desires. Her body language and her voice inflection both promote her vulnerability and weakness to love. I do not think that what she does in this song with her voice and her body would be acceptable for any other song. "Uninvited" calls for a profound harshness, but it also calls for softness. It is about a contradiction of feelings, and I really like it.

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