Alanis Morissette – Thank U

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  My Interpretation:It's about experiencing real love through full acceptance of yourself and others; acceptance of the human condition. Not trying to change or control but learning to just accept. To stop seeing seeing right/wrong or good/bad- stop labeling imperfection. To see beyond the concept that there is only one right way of living and that anything outside of this mold is imperfect and in need of repair. To experience peace by realizing that in every moment in life there is both something you might label as "right" and something you might label as "wrong". If you only focus on the "wrong" you will miss the "right"; you will miss out on all the beauty in life. If you only focus on the negative, you will never see the light. With every opportunity there is fear of failure. With every gain there is fear of loss. Learn to see beyond fear...To recognize it but not let it control you.

  Flagged KaliAshlynon May 03, 2013   Link

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    The human condition- a blank slate defined by the world around us; Taught what to call ourselves and others. The world is full of facts, opinions, labels, information, warnings... Learn not to label yourselves or others; just accept; Learn not to accept blindly.

    Flag KaliAshlynon May 03, 2013  
• +1
  My Interpretation:I think it's about the difficult part of humanity, our frailties, our negative actions, our selfish desires, and our attempts to try to control things beyond our control that drag us down and cause suffering. It's also looking at those sufferings as teaching us to be more humble, more appreciative of life, to cherish humanity and those we love, to be more in tune with the needs of others, to be more forgiving of others and ourselves.

  Flagged seesisoon September 11, 2012   Link

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  Song Meaning:Actually this song is about her conversion to Islam.
  
  "Thank you India" - India is heavily Muslim.
  "Thank you Terror" - She is giving thanks to terrorism / Al queda
  "Thank you Disillusionment" - She is referring to how the victims of terrorism can become disillusioned
  "Thank you Frailty" - The victims of terrorism are usually unarmed civilians, who have little capability to defend themselves, so they are frail
  "Thank you Consequence" - She sees terrorism as the consequence for betraying Allah
  "Thank you Silence" - Those who speak out against terrorism are killed, therefore, there is silence

  Flagged M249on December 30, 2011   Link

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    She's not a Muslim :p

    Flag Regicakeon September 01, 2012  

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    That's quite a stretch of the imagination.
    
    Especially since the cover of the album has The Eight Precepts of Buddhism, and another song on the album is about "Baba," a Hindu spiritual teacher.
    
    As for India being "heavily Muslim," India is actually 80% Hindu and only 13% Muslim.
    
    She's actually thanking her personal feelings of disillusionment and terror for wiping out the gloss of her success and making her go deep into spirituality to find a strong foundation to live from. A place of Frailty, of being meek, and the Silence of prayer and meditation.

    Flag acoustic-2on November 06, 2012  

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    If it's about her conversion to Islam, why is she naked?
    

    Flagged bkrebs3on December 01, 2012  
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  General Comment:it's about letting go of anything but being, the energy, the light, the everything & nothingness of the now.
  
  the past, the future, time, it's all just an illusion. hopes, dreams, and desires are the holding on to what we don't have, where we aren't but would like to be... let go of these and realize that the All is in the Now, and that is the only thing that truly ever exists. if the Now is All, then we should choose to embody all of the freedom, weighlessness, love, and light that we are capable of.
  
  attachment is pain. letting go to our illusion of the separation between Us, surrendering to the Unity of consciousness as One (the now!) is freedom... and happiness. we have the choice.

  Flag jewdifulon December 15, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:This got me through back then. :) Thank U ;)

  Flag Thia007on November 30, 2011   Link

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  My Interpretation:how 'bout those 'transparent dangling karats'? = DIAMONDS. She is making a statement about not wearing diamonds since there is so much corruption and pain and blood involved in the diamond industry.

  Flag sharonamoon October 17, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:I agree with mizmiah, except for one detail. "How bout no longer being masochistic?" is my favorite line. Masochism does not equate to or even imply perversion. Masochism is deriving pleasure (sexual OR otherwise) from pain. No longer being masochistic would me no longer allowing yourself to be damaged or even damaging yourself out of an unhealthy desire. How bout that?

  Flag reasonswhyon September 15, 2011   Link

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• -1
  General Comment:
  I have a very different perspective on what this song means. I may not be 100% on, but I think I'm close.
  
  I think the song is about gratitude, which is a great counterbalance to grief or anger.
  
  I think she had a relationship where she was abused - either physically abused, or emotionally abused (like, by a sociopath - somebody who lied to her and cheated on her).
  
  I think she is grieving the relationship, grieving her role in it.
  
  "how about getting off the antibiotics" - this is about her stopping the abuse, and deciding to treat herself well.
  
  "how about them transparent dangling carrots" - this is about the man she loved who falsely projected an image to her that he loved her, and implied he would take care of her. In fact, he abused her.
  
  "thank you India, you terror, thank you disillusionment, thank you frailty, thank you consequence" - here, she is leveraging gratitude rather than anger for all the things that happened to her. Her man cheated on her with a woman from India, he terrorized her with his lies, he stole from her....so all these bad things happened, and rather than being angry, she's being grateful for SEEING and UNDERSTANDING the truth.
  
  "how about me not blaming you" - she is accepting responsibility for her role in accepting the abuse, being a co-dependent
  
  If you think about the song that follows "You Oughtta Know" - it's a song about her lover leaving her, and going to screw another woman. The anger and wish for revenge comes out in that song.
  
  Grief has many stages and they're not linear. One can transition from denial to anger to acceptance all in one day. Her songs reflect that.
  
  Superkid10

  Flag superkidon May 13, 2011   Link

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• +2
  General Comment:"How about getting off of these antibiotics"
  Stop worrying so much about your health, be healthy but not to the point you're making yourself sick.
  "How about stopping eating when I'm filled up"
  Stop comforting yourself with food, have control over your life.
  "How about them transparent dangling carrots"
  How about buying those diamond earrings you've wanted so bad but not brave enough to buy or wear?
  "How about that ever elusive kudo"
  Work on complimenting/praising yourself. (kudo means 'to praise')
  
  "Thank you India
  Thank you terror
  Thank you disillusionment
  Thank you frailty
  Thank you consequence
  Thank you thank you silence"
  (thank you india for enlightening me... thank you terror for reminding me life could stop at any time, thank you dissilusionment for being there when i needed to pretend i wasnt unhappy, thank you frailty for reminding me i am strong, thank you consequence for making me think before i act/speak, thank you silence for letting me breathe and feel calm again.
  
  
  "How about me not blaming you for everything"
  it takes two to tango. i am responsible for things too.
  "How about me enjoying the moment for once"
  i need to stop complaining, worrying every second and actually live.
  "How about how good it feels to finally forgive you"
  i will let go of my anger and hurt.
  "How about grieving it all one at a time"
  i'm going to take one day at a time.
  
  "The moment I let go of it was
  The moment I got more than I could handle
  The moment I jumped off of it was
  The moment I touched down"
  letting go of negativity has helped me feel better.
  
  "How about no longer being masochistic"
  let's stop being perverted.
  "How about remembering your divinity"
  and instead remember what God wants from us - to be good.
  "How about unabashedly bawling your eyes out"
  let's cry without being embarrassed of it.
  "How about not equating death with stopping"
  there is life after death.
  

  Flagged mizmiahon January 15, 2011   Link

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  My Opinion:Well i think she is talking about her love life as well, simple because she talks about How about how good it feels to finally forgive you. My opinion is this, Different songs represent different things to different people, depending on what they are going through at the current time.

  Flag Smarshall0030on December 01, 2010   Link

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