Songoftheday 1/17/20 - I'm broke but I'm happy I'm poor but I'm kind, I'm short but I'm healthy yeah...

"Hand In My Pocket" - Alanis Morissette
from the album Jagged Little Pill (1995)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: ineligible to chart
Billboard Hot 100 Airplay peak: #15 (one week)
Weeks in the Hot 100 Airplay Top-40: 22

Today's song of the day comes from Canadian singer/songwriter Alanis Morissette, who with one swoop went from children's television actress to emo-rock queen with her kiss-off to Dave Coulier (allegedly), "You Oughta Know". That song reached the top-20 on the airplay chart in the fall of 1995, but was unable to appear on Billboard magazine's official American pop chart, the Hot 100, since rules at that time only allowed commercially-available singles to place on the list. The case was the same with her second offering from the album, "Hand In My Pocket", but clearly her record company (Madonna's Maverick Records) was counting on the fact that people will just go ahead and buy the entire album, which they did in droves, keeping the set at #1 for 12 non-consecutive weeks throughout 1995 and 1996. "Hand In My Pocket", written by Alanis with producer Glen Ballard, was built on a mid-tempo beat and excellent wordplay, and features a music video filmed at a (possibly gay) parade...

"Hand In My Pocket" was Alanis' second song to reach the top-20 of Billboard magazine's Hot 100 Airplay chart in October of 1995. The song topped their Alternative Rock chart for a week, while peaking at #8 on their Mainstream Rock radio list. It was her first entry on the Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") chart at #30, while appearing at #34 on the newly-created Adult Top-40 format tally. Internationally, the song topped the singles chart in her native Canada for five weeks, while reaching the top-40 in New Zealand (#7), Australia (#13), Iceland (#16), the UK (#26), and France (#39).

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The first bonus clip here is from a TV appearance in 1995, where you can tell this exposure is all new to her and the song seems really fresh...