Head over Feet

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“Head over Feet”
Single by Alanis Morissette from the album Jagged Little Pill
Released	1996
Format	CD single
Genre	Rock
Label	Maverick
Writer(s)	Alanis Morissette, Glen Ballard
Producer	Glen Ballard
Alanis Morissette singles chronology
"Ironic" (1996) "Head over Feet" (1996) "All I Really Want" (1997)

"Head over Feet" is a song written by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard, and produced by Ballard for Morissette's third album, Jagged Little Pill (1995). It was released as the album's fifth single (sixth in the United States) in 1996 (see 1996 in music) and presented a softer sound than the previous singles from the album. "Head over Feet" became Morissette's first number-one hit on Billboard's U.S. Adult Top 40 chart and topped the Top 40 Mainstream chart, but it was her first song not to enter the top twenty on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. In the United Kingdom, it was her first top ten single, and it reached the top twenty in Australia.

There are two versions of the single's video: the "Head" version and the "Feet" version (played in Europe and Asia). Clips of the latter are featured on the DVD Jagged Little Pill, Live (1997). A live version of "Head over Feet" is featured on the album Alanis Unplugged (1999), and an acoustic version of the song was recorded for the album Jagged Little Pill Acoustic (2005).

[edit] Harmonic structure

This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (November 2007)

"Head over Feet" has a harmonic structure that is unusual in a number of ways. First, the choruses are in a different key than the verses. Each verse begins and ends in the key of C major, whereas each chorus begins in the key of D major. As a result, the end of each chorus the song modulates down a major second. It is common for pop and rock songs to modulate up a second or a third as a way to heighten excitement, but it is very rare for a song to modulate down.

Second, the song uses a common chord modulation at the end of each chorus to modulate back to the key of C major. The common chord modulation is a type of modulation that is common in classical music but rare in popular music. It involves shifting from one key to another via one or more chords that can be analyzed as being in either key. The end of the chorus of "Head over Feet" uses several chords borrowed from the key of C Major to create common chords with the key of D major and prepare the ear for the new key. The progression is a follows: [D: I, vi, IV, V, bIII, bVII, IV=C: V, I]. This is an unusually sophisticated and subtle modulation for a rock and roll song. By way of contrast, "Head over Feet" also uses simpler, more common direct modulations at the beginning of each chorus. Direct modulations are the type of modulation most common in popular music, and involve simply ending one phrase in one key and beginning the next (here, the beginning of each chorus) in a different key. The progression, starting with the end of the verse, is: [C: I, V, vi, IV, D: I, vi, IV, V, etc.].

[edit] Charts

[edit] References

• "Alanis Morissette - Artist Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved August 23, 2006.
• "Alanis Morissette - Billboard Singles". All Music Guide. Retrieved August 23, 2006.
• "Alanis Morissette". Mariah-charts.com. Retrieved August 23, 2006.