Diva of alternative rock thanks India

The song, acknowledged by critics as the best single among the 17 tracks in the album, is already flooding the airwaves of alternative rock stations in the country. Morissette, 26, wrote the song as a tribute to India after a trip there last year to find meaning in her life which was buffeted withfame and celebrity status after the unprecedented success of her first big album, “Jagged Little Pill”, a monster hit that has sold over 28 million copies worldwide since its release in 1995 and made her the undisputed diva of alternative rock.

An angst-driven collection of songs compounded of superb writing skills and youthful anxiety, “Jagged Little Pill” is now counted as a landmark in the music industry, the biggest selling album ever by a female artiste. It is seen as an anthem by many young women across the world.

Morissette, a Canadian by birth, began her career as a modest pop singer in the late ’80s and made two unspectacular records which sank without trace.

In 1994, “Jagged Little Pill” was produced by Maverick Records, a company headed by Madonna.

The sultana of hype promoted Pill as the voice of an angry young woman and the album became a runaway hit. It was nominated for six Grammies, won four, achieved a multi-platinum status, and launched a bevy of feisty women rockers likeJewel, Bjork and Joan Osborne among others.

Today, Morissette is a cult figure among women, both soccer moms and generation Xers. Typically, Morissette concerts, including one in Washington’s 9.30 Club last week, has many mothers and teenaged daughters in attendance, singing along the songs of solidarity, hope and anger.

But as her fame and fortune soared in 1996, Morissette turned increasingly depressed and began to question the meaning of her existence. She said she wondered whether she would ever write again and “not throw in the towel and open up a coffee shop somewhere, which was definitely an option at one point.”

In 1997, she went on trips to Cuba and India. While on a month-long visit to India, she fell sick but recovered to rediscover poise and purpose. “I looked for it in other people, in a different culture. I went to India… But the conclusion I came to is we don’t have to go anywhere. We just have to stop and find the answer inside ourselves,” she later said.

In “Thank You” shesays: “How about no longer being masochistic/ How about remembering your divinity/ How about unabashedly bawling your eyes out/How about not equating death with stopping.” Critics are raving about the song.

“ `Thank You’ shows her still soul-searching and pondering the ills of human nature. However, her angry edge has been replaced with a decidedly more compassionate and philosophical lyrical hand…This all adds up to an instantly memorable single that will saturate radio airwaves at all possible formats within a split-second,” the authoritative Billboard magazine said in a review last week.

Newsweek called “Junkie” probably the most anticipated album of the decade.Music industry experts say Morissette’s latest album will be a test case for the business, in which artistes lately are rapidly losing the ability to retain loyalty because of the pressure to produce quick hits. Morissette has waited far longer than most other artistes to build on her success.