Song Lyric Sunday – Hand In My Pocket

The prompts today for Song Lyric Sunday, hosted by Jim Adams, were Ankles, Hands, Feet, Fingers, Toes and Wrists. The first song that came to mind was The Hokey Pokey but I wasn’t sure how that would be received! Instead I chose Hand In My Pocket by Alanis Morissette.

Hand in My Pocket” is a song by Canadian recording artist and songwriter Alanis Morissette, for her third studio album, Jagged Little Pill (1995). The song was written by Morissette and Glen Ballard, and was released as the second single from the album. The song was released on October 31, 1995, nearly five months after the album release. “Hand in My Pocket” received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who applauded Morissette’s songwriting. “Hand in My Pocket” also received substantial success through radio airplay in the US. The song became Morissette’s second number-one hit on Billboard‘s US Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song also went in the top ten in New Zealand and the US. An accompanying music video was released for the single, featuring Morissette at a festival, driving her car in black and white form, which also received positive reviews.

In 1991, MCA Records Canada released Morissette’s debut studio album Alanis, which went Platinum in Canada.  This was followed by her second album, Now Is the Time, but it was a commercial failure, selling only a little more than half the copies of her first album. With her two-album deal with MCA Records Canada complete, Morissette was left without a major label contract. In 1993, Morissette’s publisher Leeds Levy at MCA Music Publishing introduced her to manager Scott Welch. Welch told HitQuarters he was impressed by her “spectacular voice”, her character and her lyrics. At the time she was still living with her parents. Together they decided it would be best for her career to move to Toronto and start writing with other people. After graduating from high school, Morissette moved from Ottawa to Toronto. Glen Ballard, her co-writer on the song, met Morissette on March 8, 1994, after his publishing company matched them up. According to Ballard, the connection was “instant”, and within 30 minutes of meeting each other they had begun experimenting with different sounds in Ballard’s home studio in San Fernando Valley, California.  Ballard also declared to Rolling Stone that, “I just connected with her as a person, and, almost parenthetically, it was like ‘Wow, you’re 19?’ She was so intelligent and ready to take a chance on doing something that might have no commercial application. Although there was some question about what she wanted to do musically, she knew what she didn’t want to do, which was anything that wasn’t authentic and from her heart.” The two wrote and recorded Morissette’s first internationally released album, Jagged Little Pill, and by the spring of 1995, she had signed a deal with Maverick Records. According to Welch, every label they had approached had passed on Morissette apart from Maverick.

Back story courtesy of Wiki

Lyrics

Hand In My Pocket

I'm broke but I'm happy, I'm poor but I'm kind
I'm short but I'm healthy, yeah
I'm high but I'm grounded, I'm sane but I'm overwhelmed
I'm lost but I'm hopeful, baby
What it all comes down to
Is that everything's gonna be fine, fine, fine
'Cause I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is giving a high five
 
I feel drunk but I'm sober, I'm young and I'm underpaid
I'm tired but I'm working, yeah
I care but I'm restless, I'm here but I'm really gone
I'm wrong and I'm sorry baby
 
What it all comes down to
Is that everything is going to be quite alright
'Cause I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is flicking a cigarette
 
What it all comes down to
Is that I haven't got it all figured out just yet
'Cause I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is giving a peace sign
 
I'm free but I'm focused, I'm green but I'm wise
I'm hard but I'm friendly, baby
I'm sad but I'm laughing, I'm brave but I'm chicken shit
I'm sick but I'm pretty baby
 
And what it all boils down to
Is that no one's really got it figured out just yet
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is playing the piano
 
And what it all comes down to, my friends, yeah
Is that everything is just fine fine fine
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is hailing a taxi cab
 
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Alanis Nadine Morissette / Glen Ballard
Hand In My Pocket lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group,
The Bicycle Music Company