Thank U

"Thank U"
Single by Alanis Morissette
from the album Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie
Released	October 13, 1998
Format	CD single
Recorded	1998
Genre	Pop, Rock
Length	4:19
Label	Maverick
Writer(s)	Alanis Morissette, Glen Ballard
Producer	Alanis Morissette, Glen Ballard
Alanis Morissette singles chronology
"Uninvited" (1998) "Thank U" (1998) "Joining You" (1999)

"Thank U" is the first single from Alanis Morissette's fourth album, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, released in 1998 (see 1998 in music). It was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2000 Grammy Awards.

Background and writing

Morissette wrote "Thank U" after returning from a trip to India in 1997. The song expresses the heartfelt gratitude which she felt at the time.^[1] The lyrics, such as "thank you terror" and "thank you frailty," lend the song a sense lyrical reflection on cynicism, despair, personal triumph and hope.

"Thank U" is a pop rock song composed in the key of C major. It is written in common time and moves at a moderate tempo of 80 beats per minute. The song uses a simple chord progression alternating between a tonic C major chord, dominant G major chord, and the subdominant F major chord.^[2]

Chart performance

The excitement generated sent the single to number two on the U.S. Hot 100 Airplay chart almost immediately and helped the song peak at number seventeen on the Billboard Hot 100; this was strong, but not as successful as the multiple hits from Jagged Little Pill (1995), Morissette's previous album. (The eligibility rules for the Hot 100 were changed midway through the single's chart run.) "Thank U" is Morissette's most commercially successful post-Jagged Little Pill single. The single was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2000 Grammy Awards.

Music video

The music video featured a nude Morissette, with long hair shrouding her breasts and her crotch not quite blurred out, walking around and being embraced by strangers in a variety of public locations, such as in the street, at a supermarket, and on a subway car. Slight modifications to the video were made before broadcasting by MTV in India and certain other Asian countries. Subsequent replays, however, aired the video in its original format. In May 2001, the video was voted #66 on VH1's 100 Greatest Videos ^[3]. It was directed by Stephane Sednaoui.

Cover versions and parodies

"Thank U" was covered by British musician Steven Wilson, of Porcupine Tree fame (who jokingly changed the line "How about them transparent dangling carrots" to "How about changing a line 'cause it don't make sense"). Blackfield, one of Steven Wilson's bands, has regularly played the song on tour.

On MadTV there was a parody, "Wash Me," starring Mo Collins which takes place in a laundromat.

On French & Saunders, Jennifer Saunders parodied Morissette with a song called "Bless U," a tribute to thesaurus, dictionaries, spell check and other word referencing methods. The clip showed Saunders as a singer called Aimless Morris Minor, dressed in a flesh-coloured body-suit to make it appear as if she were naked. At the end of the sketch Dawn French stuck the pubic hair of the suit onto Saunders's face. This clip was shown as a sketch on French and Saunders 1999 Bank Holiday Special.

"Weird Al" Yankovic debuted an unreleased spoof of "Thank U" entitled "Fast Food" on his 1999 Touring with Scissors tour.

Track listing

1. "Thank U" (album version) – 4:19
2. "Pollyanna Flower" (unreleased bonus track) – 4:07
3. "Uninvited" (demo) – 3:04

References