One commonplace that jumped out at me
right away is Alaniz Morrissette's Jagged Little Pill. I lived on an
island when that came out in 1995 (seriously) and I remember there
were a lot of cliqs in the school I went to. But for whatever reason,
that record touched most everyone in school but girls especially.
I'll never forget these two girls, Adrian and Shannon had nothing in
common. They had different friends and a different social circle.
Different lives quite frankly. But Shannon would always borrow
Adrian's Walkman and listen to a tape someone had made of Jagged
Little Pill. It always struck me as funny that a certain record could
make these two girls relate to each other like nothing else could. It
was obvious to me that the name Jagged Little Pill was in reference
to the birth control pill. Adrian and Shannon were both only 15 at
the time so it definitely affected their girlhood in some kind of
positive way. You Outta Know was definitely a breath of fresh air at
the time. I think the record dealt with getting over being used by
other people. Morrissette was clearly upset and vented her spleen
and a large audience of young girls related to that.
This ancedote sounds like great short story, material, Thomas! I hadn't thought of a song as being commonplace, but it makes sense! Especially an angsty song, I think angst itself is an intangible commonplace--it seems like every teenager seems to experience it!
ReplyDeleteAlannis is a great commonplace! I love the idea you pose of music in itself being a commonplace. Your post takes me back to high school parties (I shouldn't have been at) where many of my peers that I had nothing in common with were "rocking out" to the same music. Whether you were a jock, in band, or a stoner, all seemed to be able to mellow out to Metallica's "Fade to Black," and this commonplace erased dividing lines from the school day. I can definitely see "Jagged Little Pill," being a place where teens could "get" each other. Great post. It's so valuable when there are real artifacts that girls can relate to. There's so much false sharing in consumerism and advertising. Refreshing that there's always music for real connection.
ReplyDeleteI KNOW! Music is the coolest!
DeleteI agree - Alannis is a great girlhood/womanhood of the 90s commonplace.
ReplyDelete