Garbage frontwoman chats with Robyn, Alanis Morissette, Patti Smith, and more on ‘The Jump with Shirley Manson’
If you enjoy music and in-depth interviews, add “The Jump with Shirley Manson” to your podcast queue. This Mailchimp presentation is hosted by Garbage frontwoman, Shirley Manson, whose band’s records have rocked since the ’90s. On each episode, Shirley invites artists to pick one song they believe was fundamental to their career, whether as a turning point sonically, or one that profoundly resonated with the artist content-wise. Shirley asks stellar questions, as she, too, is an artist.
In 1995, 19-year-old Alanis Morissette released Jagged Little Pill, which has sold over 33 million copies to date. The record was chock-full of empowerment anthems, and its first watershed single, “You Oughta Know,” connected with fans worldwide. Shirley wanted to know if the lyrics were a projection of a future or true life-based material. Alanis said she loves exploring the cathartic nature of revenge fantasy through art. But she says these lyrics were pulled from her cabinet archive of journals at home. One day, she was crying in her room, looking through her journals, and burned one. One of her journal’s entries stood out, which contained the first draft of lyrics.
Alanis explains her rage-fueled lyrics that share empowered devastation filtered through fire in contrast with sorrow. Shirley was one of many folks who remember instantaneously vibing with the track. Alanis name-checks fellow musicians of the ’90s who also embodied powerful expressionism from the female perspective, such as Tori Amos and Sinéad O’Connor. Initially, “You Oughta Know” faced radio stations’ rejections due to their absurd female artist airplay quotas of the ’90s that were already filled with Sinéad’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.”
Alanis said there was a wave happening in the ’90s where women artists were being more honest about their experiences, and she was emboldened to contribute. When writing Jagged Little Pill, Alanis recognized “You Oughta Know’s” single potential right away. Other people on her team voted for “Ironic” and “Hand in Pocket,” yet Alanis rallied for her chosen song. Listeners learn that Alanis didn’t even want “Ironic” on the record at first.
In its third season, Shirley speaks with Robyn, Thundercat, Kelsey Lu, Run the Jewels, Patti Smith, Rapsody, Joe Talbot (IDLES), and David Byrne (Talking Heads). The second season featured George Clinton, Brittany Howard, Liz Phair, Angel Olsen, Laura Jane Grace, and more amazing songsters.
Music is interwoven through Shirley’s conversations, and you might find yourself getting lost in the series and binging several episodes at a time. Episodes are often under 25 minutes in length.
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