"So Unsexy" is a song written by

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with tw ...

, and produced by her for her fifth album, ''

Under Rug Swept ''Under Rug Swept'' is the fifth studio album and third internationally released album by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette. Released by Maverick Records in the United States on February 26, 2002, and in the United Kingdom a day earlier ...

'' (2002). It was released in Brazil as the seventh and final single in November 2003.

Background and theme

According to Morissette, "So Unsexy" "basically speaks of the process of how loving myself can affect everything and change everything. Why when I don't take care of myself, or love myself or feel connected to my definition of God, everything's very painful and disjointed and disconnected and ... depressing, to be totally honest."van der Kooy, Dan and Cook, Shanon
"Alanis not about to be swept under the rug"

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

. July 5, 2002. Retrieved April 5, 2002. Morissette said that when she wrote the song, she was trying to investigate "the underbelly of some of my insecurities and why little tiny things that are innocuous and inconsequential are translated in my own mind as to be taken so personally. And that has happened and still happens a lot, and while I think it's very human, it's exhausting. But as long as I have my own back, it's not as scary and it's not as horrifying.""Alanis Morissette talks about songs from 'Under Rug Swept'"
. MSO. Retrieved April 5, 2007.

Release

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' wrote that "So Unsexy" "show Morissette proudly wearing her affection for concise, pure-pop

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

s".Flick, Larry. "Alanis Excels On Her Own". ''

''. January 19, 2002, vol. 114, iss. 3, pg. 1. A separate review in the magazine of ''Under Rug Swept'' described it as "

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

y ... truly an every (wo)man's tale". The ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

'' said that it "pleases, spilling a guitar wash over the hip-hop beat of

Biz Markie Marcel Theo Hall (April 8, 1964 – July 16, 2021), known professionally as Biz Markie, was an American rapper, singer, songwriter, DJ, and record producer. Markie was best known for his 1989 single "Just a Friend", which became a Top 40 hit in ...

's 'Nobody Beats the Biz'". At the

2003 Juno Awards The Juno Awards of 2003 were presented in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on 6 April 2003. The primary awards ceremony was hosted that evening by Shania Twain at the Corel Centre (now Canadian Tire Centre) and televised on CTV. Ceremony highlights ...

, "So Unsexy" and "

Hands Clean "Hands Clean" is a song recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, for her fifth studio album, ''Under Rug Swept'' (2002). It was written, composed, and produced by Morissette and released as the album's lead single in January 2 ...

", another song on ''Under Rug Swept'', won Morissette the "

Jack Richardson Producer of the Year The Juno Award for "Producer of the Year" has been awarded since 1975, as recognition each year for the best record producer in Canada. It was renamed the "Jack Richardson Producer of the Year" award in 2003, after Jack Richardson (record producer ...

" award."2002 33rd Juno Awards"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

''. Retrieved January 28, 2007. "So Unsexy" was considered for commercial release as the album's third

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, but other songs were chosen as radio- and promo-only releases instead; the song was, however, promoted in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. This is because the promotion for ''Under Rug Swept'' ended in North America and Europe in early 2003.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the single, derived from the DVD release ''

Feast on Scraps ''Feast on Scraps'' is an Alanis Morissette CD/DVD package released on December 10, 2002. The DVD was filmed during a concert in Rotterdam, Netherlands and the CD contains B-sides and unreleased studio tracks left off Morissette's album ''Und ...

'', is a performance of the song at Ahoy in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

on August 13, 2002, during Morissette's Toward Our Union Mended Tour.

Notes

{{Alanis Morissette songs 2003 singles Alanis Morissette songs Songs written by Alanis Morissette