Thank U
Encyclopedia
"Thank U" is a song by Canadian recording artist and songwriter Alanis Morissette
, for her fourth studio album
Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie
(1998). The song was written by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard
, who produced her previous album. Morissette wrote the song after she came back from India
.
"Thank U" is an experimental rock
song, which features instrumentals like guitars and synthesizers. It also features very small portions of synthpop
music. The song received generally positive reviews from music critics. The song also received acclaim in the record charts, peaking in the top ten in different countries. An accompanying music video
was released for the single, featuring Morissette nude in different streets in New York City
. It received generally positive reviews from music critics, but received mild controversy, due to nudity
in the video. It was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2000 Grammy Awards.
to India
in 1997. The song expresses the heartfelt gratitude which she felt at the time. The lyrics, such as "thank you terror" and "thank you frailty", lend the song a sense lyrical reflection on cynicism
, despair, personal triumph
and hope
.
"Thank U" is a pop rock
song composed in the key of C major
. It is written in common time
and moves at a moderate tempo of 80 beats per minute. The song uses a simple chord progression
alternating between a tonic
C major chord, dominant
G major
chord, and the subdominant
F major
chord.
chart almost immediately and helped the song peak at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100
; this was strong, but not as successful as the multiple hits from Jagged Little Pill
(1995), Morissette's previous album. (The eligibility rules for the Hot 100 were changed midway through the single's chart run.)
"Thank U" is Morissette's most commercially successful post-Jagged Little Pill single. In the Oceania
region, the song had peaked at number two in New Zealand
becoming Morissette's highest number in that country, and number fifteen in Australia
. It also had success in the European side, peaking at number three in Norway
and number eight in the Netherlands
. It had international succes, peaking in the top twenty in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, United Kingdom, Austria and Switzerland. The song, however was unsuccessful in Sweden
, peaking at number forty-nine there.
The single was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2000 Grammy Awards.
and premiered on October 12, 1998.
It featured a nude
Morissette, with long hair shrouding her breast
s and her vulva blurred out, walking around and being embraced by strangers in a variety of public locations, such as in the street, at a supermarket
, and on a subway
car.
Slight modifications to the video were made before broadcasting by MTV
in India
and certain other Asia
n countries. Subsequent replays, however, aired the video in its original format. In May 2001, the video was voted #66 on VH1
's 100 Greatest Videos.
, of Porcupine Tree
fame (who jokingly changed the line "How about them transparent dangling carrots" to "How about changing a line 'cause it don't make sense"). Blackfield
, one of Steven Wilson's bands, has regularly played the song on tour.
On an episode of Saturday Night Live
, Jimmy Fallon
appeared on the "Weekend Update" segment in which he sang various parody songs about Halloween. One such song was a parody of "Thank U", in which he thanks all of the candy he had received Trick-or-Treating.
On MadTV
there was a parody, "Wash Me", starring Mo Collins
which takes place in a laundromat.
On French & Saunders
, Jennifer Saunders
parodied Morissette with a song called "Bless U", a tribute to thesaurus, dictionaries, spell check and other word referencing methods. The clip showed Saunders as a singer called Aimless Morris Minor
, dressed in a flesh-coloured body-suit to make it appear as if she were naked. At the end of the sketch Dawn French stuck the pubic hair of the suit onto Saunders's face. This clip was shown as a sketch on French and Saunders
1999 Bank Holiday Special.
"Weird Al" Yankovic
debuted an unreleased spoof of "Thank U" entitled "Fast Food" on his 1999 Running with Scissors
tour.
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
, for her fourth studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie
Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie
Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie is the fourth album and second internationally released album by singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, released by Maverick Records in the United States on November 3, 1998...
(1998). The song was written by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard
Glen Ballard
Glen Ballard is an American songwriter and record producer, best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill , which won Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album", and "Album of the Year" amongst others, and is ranked by the Rolling Stone amongst The 500 Greatest Albums of...
, who produced her previous album. Morissette wrote the song after she came back from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
"Thank U" is an experimental rock
Experimental rock
Experimental rock or avant-garde rock is a type of music based on rock which experiments with the basic elements of the genre, or which pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique....
song, which features instrumentals like guitars and synthesizers. It also features very small portions of synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
music. The song received generally positive reviews from music critics. The song also received acclaim in the record charts, peaking in the top ten in different countries. An accompanying music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
was released for the single, featuring Morissette nude in different streets in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. It received generally positive reviews from music critics, but received mild controversy, due to nudity
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...
in the video. It was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2000 Grammy Awards.
Background and writing
Morissette wrote "Thank U" after returning from a tripTourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in 1997. The song expresses the heartfelt gratitude which she felt at the time. The lyrics, such as "thank you terror" and "thank you frailty", lend the song a sense lyrical reflection on cynicism
Cynicism
Cynicism , in its original form, refers to the beliefs of an ancient school of Greek philosophers known as the Cynics . Their philosophy was that the purpose of life was to live a life of Virtue in agreement with Nature. This meant rejecting all conventional desires for wealth, power, health, and...
, despair, personal triumph
Triumph
-Business:* Triumph , a defunct German motorcycle manufacturer* Triumph Cycle Co. Ltd., a British bicycle brand* Triumph Engineering Co Ltd, a defunct British motorcycle manufacturer* Triumph Group, an aerospace manufacturing and repair company...
and hope
Hope
Hope is the emotional state which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. It is the "feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best" or the act of "look[ing] forward to with desire and reasonable confidence" or...
.
"Thank U" is a pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
song composed in the key of C major
C major
C major is a musical major scale based on C, with pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature has no flats/sharps.Its relative minor is A minor, and its parallel minor is C minor....
. It is written in common time
Common Time
"Common Time" is a science fiction short story written by James Blish. It first appeared in the August 1953 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and has been reprinted several times: in the 1959 short-story collection Galactic Cluster; in The Testament of Andros ; in The Penguin Science Fiction...
and moves at a moderate tempo of 80 beats per minute. The song uses a simple chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
alternating between a tonic
Tonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
C major chord, dominant
Dominant (music)
In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale, called "dominant" because it is next in importance to the tonic,and a dominant chord is any chord built upon that pitch, using the notes of the same diatonic scale...
G major
G major
G major is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp, F; in treble-clef key signatures, the sharp-symbol for F is usually placed on the first line from the top, though in some Baroque music it is placed on the first space from the bottom...
chord, and the subdominant
Subdominant
In music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance "below" the tonic as the dominant is above the tonic - in other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdominant. It is also the note immediately...
F major
F major
F major is a musical major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat . It is by far the oldest key signature with an accidental, predating the others by hundreds of years...
chord.
Chart performance
The excitement generated sent the single to number two on the U.S. Hot 100 AirplayHot 100 Airplay
The Hot 100 Airplay chart is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It measures radio airplay, and is one of the three component charts, along with the Hot Singles Sales and the Hot Digital Songs charts, that determine the chart positions of singles on the Billboard...
chart almost immediately and helped the song peak at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
; this was strong, but not as successful as the multiple hits from Jagged Little Pill
Jagged Little Pill
Jagged Little Pill is the third studio album by Canadian recording artist and songwriter Alanis Morissette. It was Morissette's first internationally released album, and her first studio album after the three year hiatus following her break with MCA Records. The album marked a shift from her style...
(1995), Morissette's previous album. (The eligibility rules for the Hot 100 were changed midway through the single's chart run.)
"Thank U" is Morissette's most commercially successful post-Jagged Little Pill single. In the Oceania
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
region, the song had peaked at number two in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
becoming Morissette's highest number in that country, and number fifteen in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It also had success in the European side, peaking at number three in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and number eight in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. It had international succes, peaking in the top twenty in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, United Kingdom, Austria and Switzerland. The song, however was unsuccessful in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, peaking at number forty-nine there.
The single was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2000 Grammy Awards.
Music video
The music video was directed by Stéphane SednaouiStéphane Sednaoui
Stéphane Sednaoui is a French-American photographer, director and producer whose work includes music videos, art projects, photographic essays, portrait photography, fashion photography and photojournalism....
and premiered on October 12, 1998.
It featured a nude
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...
Morissette, with long hair shrouding her breast
Breast
The breast is the upper ventral region of the torso of a primate, in left and right sides, which in a female contains the mammary gland that secretes milk used to feed infants.Both men and women develop breasts from the same embryological tissues...
s and her vulva blurred out, walking around and being embraced by strangers in a variety of public locations, such as in the street, at a supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
, and on a subway
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
car.
Slight modifications to the video were made before broadcasting by MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and certain other Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n countries. Subsequent replays, however, aired the video in its original format. In May 2001, the video was voted #66 on VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's 100 Greatest Videos.
Cover versions and parodies
"Thank U" was covered by British musician Steven WilsonSteven Wilson
Steven John Wilson is an English musician, best known as the founder, lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of progressive rock band Porcupine Tree...
, of Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...
fame (who jokingly changed the line "How about them transparent dangling carrots" to "How about changing a line 'cause it don't make sense"). Blackfield
Blackfield
Blackfield is a collaboratory musical group between Porcupine Tree founder and lead singer Steven Wilson and Israeli rock singer Aviv Geffen.-Formation, self-titled debut :...
, one of Steven Wilson's bands, has regularly played the song on tour.
On an episode of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy Fallon
James Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon, Jr. is an American actor, comedian, singer, musician and television host. He currently hosts Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, a late-night talk show that airs Monday through Friday on NBC...
appeared on the "Weekend Update" segment in which he sang various parody songs about Halloween. One such song was a parody of "Thank U", in which he thanks all of the candy he had received Trick-or-Treating.
On MadTV
MADtv
MADtv is an American sketch comedy television series. It licensed the name and logo of Mad, but otherwise had no connection with the humor magazine outside the animated Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts and images of Alfred E. Neuman that the show featured during the late 1990s. Its first...
there was a parody, "Wash Me", starring Mo Collins
Mo Collins
Maureen "Mo" Ann Collins is an American actress and comedian. Collins is perhaps best known for being a member of the ensemble on FOX's sketch comedy series MADtv. She became well known for several characters during her tenure on the show...
which takes place in a laundromat.
On French & Saunders
French & Saunders
French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television show written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act....
, Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Jane Saunders is an English comedienne, screenwriter, singer and actress. She has won two BAFTAs, an International Emmy Award, a British Comedy Award, a Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival Award, two Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards, and a Peoples Choice Award.She first came into...
parodied Morissette with a song called "Bless U", a tribute to thesaurus, dictionaries, spell check and other word referencing methods. The clip showed Saunders as a singer called Aimless Morris Minor
Morris Minor
The Morris Minor was a British economy car that debuted at the Earls Court Motor Show, London, on 20 September 1948. Designed under the leadership of Alec Issigonis, more than 1.3 million were manufactured between 1948 and 1971...
, dressed in a flesh-coloured body-suit to make it appear as if she were naked. At the end of the sketch Dawn French stuck the pubic hair of the suit onto Saunders's face. This clip was shown as a sketch on French and Saunders
French and Saunders
French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television show written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act....
1999 Bank Holiday Special.
"Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
debuted an unreleased spoof of "Thank U" entitled "Fast Food" on his 1999 Running with Scissors
Running with Scissors (album)
Running with Scissors is the 10th studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on June 29, 1999. The album contains the hit single "The Saga Begins", a parody of Don McLean's song "American Pie".-Details:...
tour.
Track listing
- "Thank U" (album version) – 4:19
- "Pollyanna Flower" (unreleased bonus track) – 4:07
- "UninvitedUninvited (song)In October 2007, a new Freemasons electro/house version was released, featuring a vocal by Bailey Tzuke. This version is shorter than their earlier mix and arranged in a more radio-friendly way....
" (demo) – 3:04
| Chart (1998) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA Aria An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment... ) |
15 |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 75) | 10 |
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100 Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... ) |
1 |
| Netherlands (Mega Single Top 100 Mega Single Top 100 The Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales and legal downloads and composed by MegaCharts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Dutch Top 40 and the Mega Top 50. The difference is that these charts also include airplay data.The list is... ) |
8 |
| New Zealand (RIANZ) | 2 |
| Norway (VG-lista VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... ) |
3 |
| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... ) |
49 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... ) |
18 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
17 |
| U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs... |
12 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | 2 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
5 |