"So Pure" is a song written and produced 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

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 ...

for Morissette's fourth album, '' Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie'' (1998). It was released internationally 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 ...

on June 14, 1999. One line in the song, "supposed former infatuation junkie", inspired its album's title. A special "radio friendly remix" was featured on US promotional singles and was only commercially released on the Australian domestic single. "So Pure" peaking outside the top 20 on the US ''

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 ...

'' Adult Top 40 and Top 40 Mainstream charts, but it did peak inside the top 20 in Canada. "So Pure" failed to chart on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and performed moderately in the United Kingdom, where it reached the top 40. In 2000, the song was nominated for

Best Female Rock Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for works (songs or albums) conta ...

at the

43rd Annual Grammy Awards The 43rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 21, 2001, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Several artists earned three awards on the night. Steely Dan's haul included Album of the Year for ''Two Against Nature''. U2 took ...

but lost to

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three li ...

's " There Goes the Neighborhood". The music video won the award for Best Video at

2000 Juno Awards The Juno Awards of 2000 were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada during the weekend of 11–12 March 2000. The primary ceremonies were hosted by The Moffatts at the SkyDome (now Rogers Centre) on 12 March 2000 and broadcast on CBC Television. Thi ...

Music video

The single'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 ...

, directed by Morissette, featured her and (then boyfriend) actor Dash Mihok as

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

partners transitioning through time and style, from

ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially historic man ...

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: A ...

swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing rid ...

, tap, contemporary and

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

. It was filmed over two days in

Toronto, Canada 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 anchor ...

. Morissette said of the video, "Over the last year, I'd become enamored with the dancing styles of the '40s in particular, and intrigued by the evolution of dancing throughout the last five decades and the spirit and different kinds of attitudes that fuel them. When it came time to create this video, there was no question that there would be dancing in it and that these different eras needed to be referenced!" The video world-premiered on

AOL AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo (2017� ...

on June 25, 1999, and was the first from a major artist to debut on the internet.

Track listings

Canadian CD single # "So Pure" (album version) – 2:49 # "I Was Hoping" (acoustic modern rock live) – 4:34 # "So Pure" (Pure Ecstasy extended mix) – 6:04 # "So Pure" (acoustic modern rock live) – 2:42 US promo CD # "So Pure" (radio friendly remix) – 2:39 # "So Pure" (Pure Ecstasy mix) – 6:04 # "So Pure" (album version) – 2:49 UK CD1 # "So Pure" (album version) – 2:49 # "I Was Hoping" (acoustic modern rock live) – 4:34 # "So Pure" (Pure Ecstasy extended mix) – 6:04 UK CD2 # "So Pure" (album version) – 2:49 # "Would Not Come" (live) – 4:13 # "So Pure" (acoustic modern rock live) – 2:42 Australian CD single # "So Pure" (album version) # "I Was Hoping" (acoustic modern rock live) # "So Pure" (Pure Ecstasy extended mix) # "So Pure" (Guido's radio friendly mix) Japanese CD single # "So Pure" (album version) # "Your House" (BBC/Radio One live) # "London" (Bridge School Benefit live)

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1999 singles 1998 songs Alanis Morissette songs Juno Award for Video of the Year videos Maverick Records singles Reprise Records singles Song recordings produced by Glen Ballard Songs written by Alanis Morissette Songs written by Glen Ballard