The Song That Alanis Morissette Wants Played At Her Funeral
Alanis Morissette has certainly made an indelible mark on the world of music. According to Britannica, she seemed destined to do so from a very early age. The Ontario-born musician was learning to play the piano at just 6 years old, and it was only a year later that she was playing her own compositions. At the tender age of 10, she was a songwriter and TV star in the making, featuring on Nickelodeon's "You Can't Do That."
Needless to say, the fame that has surrounded Morissette all her life has proven a jagged little pill indeed at times. "At the time, I didn't know what it meant to be true to yourself musically," she stated of her earlier work in an MTV interview from 1995 (via YouTube). Clearly, this was an issue that she overcame later in her career, with personal and frank messages characterizing the music she would create as an adult.
The official website for the Grammy Awards (of which she has incidentally won seven) quotes Morissette as saying, "the thing I always default to is that I'll always be here to write songs." With music being such an integral part of her life, then, it's only natural that Morissette will have spent considerable time pondering her songs and those of others. Which would she like to have played at her funeral?
Alanis Morissette chose a very traditional song
As part of its Six Songs of Me Project, The Guardian interviewed the Canadian singer in September 2012. She was asked six questions, and could only choose a single song each as the answer. It's illuminating enough to learn that the first album Alanis Morissette purchased was The Smurfs' "The Smurfs All Star Show." Yet, her selection of a funeral song is poignant, touching, and oh-so-appropriate: "Ave Maria."
She specified that she meant the version by Aaron Neville. Of the 25 different takes on the song she has heard, Neville's is the one she likes the best. She chose the song, she told The Guardian, because she had it played at her grandmother's funeral, per her wishes, and would like to follow her lead. It's a song that has been tackled by many musicians, not to mention adapted and attempted by several composers (19th century musical maestro Frank Liszt, per Interlude, wrote multiple takes on it, for piano and voice), noted for its emotional resonance and iconic nature.
Morissette even went so far as to decide when her funeral will be. "I've decided I'm going to [live to] be 108," she joked to The Guardian.