Hand in My Pocket
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"Hand in My Pocket" is a song by Canadian recording artist and songwriter
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 ...
from her third studio album, ''
Jagged Little Pill ''Jagged Little Pill'' is the third studio album by Canadian singer Alanis Morissette, released on June 13, 1995, through Maverick. It was her first album to be released worldwide. It marked a stylistic departure from the dance-pop sound of her ...
'' (1995). The song was written by Morissette and
Glen Ballard Basil Glen Ballard Jr. (born May 1, 1953) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's 1995 album ''Jagged Little Pill'', which won Grammy Awards for Grammy Award fo ...
and was released as the second single from the album on October 16, 1995, 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 Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...
in the US. The song became Morissette's second number-one hit on the US ''Billboard''
Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...
chart. The song also reached the top 10 in New Zealand and Canada, where it was her first number-one single. An accompanying
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 ...
was released for the single, featuring Morissette at a festival, driving her car in
black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
form, which also received positive reviews.


Background

In 1991, MCA Records Canada released Morissette's debut studio album '' Alanis'', which went
Platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...
in Canada."Search Certification Database"
.
Canadian Recording Industry Association Music Canada (formerly Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)) is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It a ...
.
This was followed by her second album, ''
Now Is the Time ''Now Is the Time'' is the second studio album by Alanis Morissette, released only in Canada on October 20, 1992. It was her final album for MCA Records Canada. Morissette recorded the album with Leslie Howe, who produced her debut album, '' ...
'', but it was a commercial failure, selling only a little more than half the copies of her first album."Transcript: Profiles of Alanis Morissette, Margaret Cho"
CNN '' People in the News''. January 4, 2003.
Wild, David
"Adventures Of Miss Thing"
. ''Rolling Stone''. November 2, 1995.
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 HitQuarters was an international music industry publication and contact database founded in 1999. It was noted for its in-depth interviews with industry figures, as well as its A&R and manager contact directory, free artist promo pages and song ...
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 Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
. Her publisher funded part of her development and when she met producer and songwriter
Glen Ballard Basil Glen Ballard Jr. (born May 1, 1953) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's 1995 album ''Jagged Little Pill'', which won Grammy Awards for Grammy Award fo ...
, he believed in her talent enough to let her use his studio. The two wrote and recorded Morissette's first internationally released album, ''Jagged Little Pill'', and by early 1995, she had signed a deal with
Maverick Records Maverick was an American entertainment company founded in 1992 by Madonna, Frederick DeMann, and Veronica "Ronnie" Dashev, and formerly owned and operated by Warner Music Group. It included a record label (Maverick Records), a film production ...
. According to Welch, every label they had approached had passed on Morissette apart from Maverick.


Writing and composition

"Hand in My Pocket" was written by Morissette and
Glen Ballard Basil Glen Ballard Jr. (born May 1, 1953) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's 1995 album ''Jagged Little Pill'', which won Grammy Awards for Grammy Award fo ...
. Ballard 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 The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...
,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. Ballard also declared to
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
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 song is a mainstream
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
song. The chorus of "Hand in My Pocket" uses a poetry technique, "rhyme juxtaposition", as its primary lyrical structure, as exemplified by the off-set coupling of the first and second stanzas of each chorus. In the first chorus for example, "fine, fine, fine" is coupled with "a high five", when it should, according to traditional rhyming schemes, be instead set against the "a peace sign" which closes the third chorus, and which is in turn, coupled with a first line ending with the phrase, "a cigarette", which is a clear rhyme with the end of the second chorus: "out just yet". Morissette does not carry the scheme consistently throughout the song (there are, for instance, no rhymes for "hailing a taxicab" ''or'' "playing the piano"). "Hand in My Pocket" is written in the key of
G major G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor. The G major scale is: Notable compositi ...
and moves in
common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...
at a
tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
of 92 beats per minute. Morissette's vocals span from G3 to C5 in the song.


Critical reception

While reviewing ''
Jagged Little Pill ''Jagged Little Pill'' is the third studio album by Canadian singer Alanis Morissette, released on June 13, 1995, through Maverick. It was her first album to be released worldwide. It marked a stylistic departure from the dance-pop sound of her ...
'',
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
dubbed "Hand in My Pocket" an album highlight. Steve Baltin from ''
Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' described it as "enticing", noting that it includes "a well-placed harmonica solo from Morissette herself." British magazine ''
Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
'' rated the song four out of five, adding, "The second single from the abrasive and rampantly successful Alanis sees her
Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...
-circa-Wydja Do It attitude coupled with pop metal guitar and loping bass for maximum effect."


Chart performance

"Hand in My Pocket" peaked at number one in her native Canada, becoming Morissette's first number one single there. The song also peaked at number one on the US
Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...
(Alternative) chart, at number four on the US
Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...
chart, at number 15 on the
Hot 100 Airplay The Radio Songs chart (previously named Hot 100 Airplay until 2014 and Top 40 Radio Monitor until 1991) is released weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine and measures the airplay of songs being played on radio stations throughout ...
chart and at number eight on the
Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...
chart. The song was successful throughout North America although the single was not released as a CD Single. Therefore, it did not reach the Hot 100. Elsewhere, the song debuted at number 49 in Australia, and peaked at number 13, staying there for two consecutive weeks. The song debuted at number 39 in New Zealand and peaked at number seven, the only country outside of North America where it reached the top ten. The song had moderate success in Europe, debuting at number 56 in Sweden, and only managing to peak at number 45 on the chart. It also peaked at number 39 in France, staying on the chart for five weeks, and number 86 in the Netherlands with five weeks on that chart. "Hand in My Pocket" received moderate to major success worldwide. In New Zealand the song peaked at number seven and was certified gold by
Recorded Music NZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded Mus ...
(RMNZ), for shipments of 15,000 copies. The song saw some success in the United Kingdom, debuting and peaking at number 26 on the week ending of October 28, 1995, over the course of the next two weeks "Hand in My Pocket", fell to number 37 then number 54, spending a total of three weeks on the chart.


Promotion

The single was added in the
set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...
for Morissette's concert tour, Jagged Little Pill World Tour (1995). The song was added to the tour's
video album A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
'' Jagged Little Pill Live'' (1997). Since then, the song has been included in her albums ''
MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...
'' (1999), ''
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 ''Under ...
'' (2002), and ''The Collection'', as well as 1997 Grammys and the ''
MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...
'' compilation albums.


Music video

Directed by Mark Kohr and filmed in
black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
and
slow motion Slow motion (commonly abbreviated as slo-mo or slow-mo) is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger in the early 20th century. This can be accomplished through the use o ...
, the song's
video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...
features Morissette among a
homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States, Canada and Liberia. ...
parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...
. It was filmed in the Windsor Terrace neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. As well as censoring the song's
profanity Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, rud ...
, the video features extra guitar 'licks' on the lead-up to the bridge.


In popular culture

"Hand in My Pocket" served as the
theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...
in the unaired
pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...
of the television show ''
Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...
'', but Morissette decided not to have it used as the theme after the show was picked up. In 2015, the song was covered in an episode of season six of the American television series ''
Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...
'', called " Jagged Little Tapestry", by actresses
Naya Rivera Naya Marie Rivera (; January 12, 1987July 8, 2020) was an American actress, singer, and model. Recognized for her work on the popular musical comedy-drama series ''Glee'', she received various awards, including a Screen Actors Guild Award and ...
and
Heather Morris Heather Elizabeth Morris (born February 1, 1987) is an American actress, dancer, singer, and model. She played the role of Brittany Pierce, Brittany S. Pierce in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox musical comedy-drama series ''Glee (TV series), G ...
as part of a mashup with
Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...
's "
I Feel the Earth Move I, or i, is the ninth letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''i'' (pronounced ), plural ...
"—Rivera's character
Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...
sings the song as a prelude to her proposal to Morris's character
Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
. "Hand in My Pocket" featured prominently in the final scene of the third season of Amazon's ''
Transparent Transparency, transparence or transparent most often refer to: * Transparency (optics), the physical property of allowing the transmission of light through a material They may also refer to: Literal uses * Transparency (photography), a still, ...
'', when the character Shelly Pfefferman performs a cabaret version of the song aboard a cruise ship while her family looks on. In 2017, the song was used in the American film '' Lady Bird''.


Track listings

* US promo CD # "Hand in My Pocket" (clean album version) – 3:37 # "Hand in My Pocket" (album version) – 3:38 * UK CD1 and Australian CD single # "Hand in My Pocket" – 3:37 # "
Head over Feet "Head over Feet" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, taken from her third (and first outside Canada) studio album '' Jagged Little Pill'' (1995). Written by Alanis and Glen Ballard, and produced by Ballard, it was release ...
" (live acoustic) – 4:07 # "Not the Doctor" (live acoustic) – 3:57 * UK CD2 # "Hand in My Pocket" – 3:37 # "Right Through You" (live acoustic) – 3:03 # "Forgiven" (live acoustic) – 4:23 * UK cassette single # "Hand in My Pocket" – 3:37 # "Head over Feet" (live acoustic) – 4:07 * Japanese CD single # "Hand in My Pocket" (album version) # "Not the Doctor" (live in Japan)


Charts and certifications


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


Covers and parodies

* It was parodied by 'Rockin Jock' but credit for this parody, 'Trouble', is usually wrongly accredited to
Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...
under the title 'Evil Scotsman'. * The song has also been parodied by
Amateur Transplants Amateur Transplants was a parody music band fronted by London-based, British comedian Adam Kay and Suman Biswas (born 1978). Amateur Transplants came to prominence in 2005 with a song about the London Underground, parodying the Jam song "Going ...
on the album '' Fitness to Practice'' as part of the song "Snippets". * It was parodied by Bob Rivers under the title "Hand in a Lightsocket". * The song was covered by Canadian pop-punk band Seaway, released as a single on July 15, 2016. *
Judith Light Judith Ellen Light (born February 9, 1949) is an American actress. She made her professional stage debut in 1970, before making her Broadway debut in the 1975 revival of ''A Doll's House''. Her breakthrough role was in the ABC daytime soap opera ...
performed the song in the third-season finale of ''
Transparent Transparency, transparence or transparent most often refer to: * Transparency (optics), the physical property of allowing the transmission of light through a material They may also refer to: Literal uses * Transparency (photography), a still, ...
'' as part of her character's one-woman show. Light's performance was universally praised. *
Atom Smash Atom Smash is a Miami, Florida-based hard rock band consisting of Serg Gabriel Sanchez (vocals), Mark "Taco" Annino (drums), Luke "Cowboy" Rice (guitar, vocals) and "Crazy" Dave Carrey (bass) Formerly signed to Jive Records. History The group f ...
covered the song on their 2013 album "Passage to the Sun". * ''
Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...
'' covered this song in a mashup with
Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...
's "
I Feel The Earth Move I, or i, is the ninth letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''i'' (pronounced ), plural ...
". It was sung by
Naya Rivera Naya Marie Rivera (; January 12, 1987July 8, 2020) was an American actress, singer, and model. Recognized for her work on the popular musical comedy-drama series ''Glee'', she received various awards, including a Screen Actors Guild Award and ...
(
Santana Lopez Santana Lopez is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series ''Glee''. The character was portrayed by Naya Rivera, and has appeared in ''Glee'' from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Santana was developed by ...
) and
Heather Morris Heather Elizabeth Morris (born February 1, 1987) is an American actress, dancer, singer, and model. She played the role of Brittany Pierce, Brittany S. Pierce in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox musical comedy-drama series ''Glee (TV series), G ...
(
Brittany Pierce Brittany Susan Pierce is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series ''Glee''. The character is portrayed by actress Heather Morris, and first appeared in the show's second episode, "Showmance". Brittany was developed by ''Gle ...
). *
MacKenzie Porter MacKenzie Lea Porter (born January 29, 1990) is a Canadian country music, country singer, songwriter, and actress. She has released one self-titled album and achieved four Canada Country number ones with "About You (MacKenzie Porter song), About ...
, a Canadian country musician, did a cover of this song as a single under her Loft Sessions on January 24, 2020.


References


External links

* "Alanis Morissette – Artist Chart History" ''
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 ...
''. Retrieved August 23, 2006. * "Alanis Morissette – Billboard Singles"
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
. Retrieved August 23, 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hand In My Pocket 1995 singles 1995 songs Alanis Morissette songs Black-and-white music videos Maverick Records singles Reprise Records singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Glen Ballard Songs written by Alanis Morissette Songs written by Glen Ballard Warner Music Group singles