Hand in My Pocket

"Hand in My Pocket"

Cover art for UK and European editions of the 1995 single release
Single by Alanis Morissette
from the album Jagged Little Pill
Released October 31, 1995
Format CD single, cassette single, 12" single
Genre Rock
Length 3:41
Label Maverick, Feedback Records[1]
Writer(s) Alanis Morissette, Glen Ballard
Producer(s) Glen Ballard
Alanis Morissette singles chronology
"You Oughta Know"
(1995)		 "Hand in My Pocket"
(1995)		 "Ironic"
(1995)

"Hand in my Pocket" is a rock[2] 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 U.S. The song became Morissette's second number-one hit on Billboard's U.S. Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song also went in the top ten in New Zealand and the U.S. An accompanying music video was released for the single, featuring Morissette at a festival, driving her car in black and white form. That received positive reviews as well.

Background and musical structure

"Hand In my Pocket" was written by Morissette and Glen Ballard, and was released on October 31, 1995 as the second single from Morissette's third album, Jagged Little Pill (1995). The song is a mainstream rock 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").

Critical reception

Allmusic had highlighted the song as an album highlight.[3] But for a solo review, they had given the song two-and-a-half stars out of five stars. G-Pop.net had personally said "This is not exactly my favorite track, but if you listen to it enough times, you’ll get the meaning and the lyrics can sometimes be fun to play with."[4]

Chart performance

"Hand in My Pocket" had peaked at number one in her native Canada, becoming Morissette's first number one single. The song also peaked at number one on the U.S. Alternative Songs and number four on the U.S. Pop Songs. The song became successful through North America. The song debuted at number forty-nine in Australia, and peaked at number thirteen, staying there for two consecutive weeks. The song debuted at number thirty-nine in New Zealand, the only country in the top ten outside of America, and peaked at number seven. The song had moderate success in Europe, debuting at number fifty-six in Sweden, and only managed to peak at number forty-five on the charts. It also peaked at number thirty-nine in France, only staying there for five weeks and number eighty-six in the Netherlands for five weeks.

Re-release

In 2005, Morissette released Jagged Little Pill Acoustic, an acoustic version of Jagged Little Pill. "Hand in My Pocket" was its first U.S. single, and its video premiered in July 2005 (see 2005 in music).[5] It did not manage to chart worldwide as the original.

Music video

The single's video features Morissette among a homecoming parade in Brooklyn, New York City. It was directed by Mark Kohr and filmed in black-and-white and slow motion.

In popular culture

"Hand in My Pocket" served as the theme song in the unaired pilot episode of the television show Dawson's Creek, but Morissette decided not to have it used as the theme after the show was picked up.[6]

Track listing

Promo CD single
  1. "Hand in My Pocket"
CD single
  1. "Hand in My Pocket"
  2. "Right Through You" (Live Acoustic)
  3. "Forgiven" (Live Acoustic)
Australian/European CD single
  1. "Hand in My Pocket"
  2. "Head Over Feet" (Live Acoustic)
  3. "Not the Doctor" (Live Acoustic)
2005 CD single
  1. "Hand in My Pocket" (Jagged Little Pill Acoustic version)

Covers and parodies

The song was covered by Rolf Harris on his 1997 album Can You Tell What It Is Yet. It was parodied by ' Rockin Jock' but credit for this parody, 'Trouble', is usually wrongly accredited to Billy Connolly under the title 'Evil Scotsman'. The song has also been parodied by Amateur Transplants on the album Fitness to Practice as part of the song "Snippets". It was also covered by alt-country band The Cowlicks on their album Psychedelic Service Station. American Idol contestant Crystal Bowersox covered the song as a short cut in an early round of her Idol performances. It was also parodied by Bob Rivers under the title "Hand in a Lightsocket".

Charts

Chart (1995–96) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[7] 13
Canadian Alternative 30 (RPM)[8] 4
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[9] 1
France (SNEP)[10] 39
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[11] 86
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[12] 7
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[13] 45
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[14] 26
US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay 15
US Billboard Adult Contemporary 30
US Billboard Adult Top 40 Tracks 25
US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 1
US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 8
US Billboard Mainstream Top 40 4
Preceded by
"Name" by Goo Goo Dolls		 Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single
October 14, 1995 		Succeeded by
"Lump" by The Presidents of the United States of America

Notes

  1. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/hand-in-my-pocket-r235321
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/alanis-morissette-p144717/songs
  4. ↑ http://www.g-pop.net/jaggedlittlepill.html
  5. ↑ "Alanis Morissette's 'Hand In My Pocket' Video". Popdirt.com. July 27, 2005. Retrieved August 23, 2006.
  6. ↑ "Featured Artist Of The Week - Alanis Morissette". Dawson's Creek Music Guide. Retrieved August 23, 2006.
  7. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Alanis Morissette – Hand in My Pocket". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  8. ↑ "Rock/Alternative - Volume 62, No. 12, October 23, 1995". RPM. Retrieved 2011-03-07.
  9. ↑ "Top Singles - Volume 62, No. 18, December 04 1995". RPM. RPM Music Publications Ltd. Retrieved 2011-06-14.
  10. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Alanis Morissette – Hand in My Pocket" (in French). Les classement single.
  11. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Alanis Morissette – Hand in My Pocket" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  12. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Alanis Morissette – Hand in My Pocket". Top 40 Singles.
  13. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Alanis Morissette – Hand in My Pocket". Singles Top 60.
  14. ↑ "Archive Chart: 1995-10-28" UK Singles Chart.

References