Thank U

"Thank U" is a Grammy-nominated song written by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard for Morissette's fourth album, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (1998). It was released as the album's lead single on October 6, 1998 (see 1998 in music).

Background and writing

Morissette wrote "Thank U" after returning from a trip 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 mingled sense of cynicism, hope, and worldliness.

"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 and dominant G major chord.

Chart performance

The excitement generated sent the single to number two on the U.S. Hot 100 Airplay chart almost immediately and helped the song peak at number seventeen 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. The single was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2000 Grammy Awards.

Cover versions and parodies

"Thank U" was covered by British musician Steven Wilson, 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"), and sold as the limited-edition single Cover Version 1. Blackfield, one of Steven Wilson's bands, has regularly played the song on their tour in support of their second album. It also appears on their Live DVD Blackfield-NYC

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 Touring with Scissors tour.

Music video

The music video featured a nude Morissette, with long hair shrouding her breasts, walking 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 Asian 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 .

Track listing

"Thank U" (album version) – 4:19
"Pollyanna Flower" (unreleased bonus track) – 4:07
"Uninvited" (demo) – 3:04

Charts

Chart (1998)	Peak position
Australia	15
Austria	10
Canadian Singles Chart	1
Netherlands	8
New Zealand	2
Norway	3
Sweden	49
Switzerland	18
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	17
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	12
U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40	1
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	2
UK Singles Chart	5
United World Chart	2