Smiling

"Smiling" is about feeling crushed by the demands of daily life. In it, Morissette sings about feeling like a failure but smiling through it all, hiding her pain and self-loathing. She's so lost in her own existence that she doesn't even remember anymore where her feelings of inadequacy come from. And this, my loose recollection of a falling I barely remember who I failed I was just trying to keep it together Outwardly, she keeps smiling and puts on a brave face for the world, but inwardly she's starting to crack up. This is my first wave of the white flag This is the sound of me hitting bottom This my surrender, if that's what I call it In the anatomy of my crash

The feelings in this song are autobiographical but are told through a fictionalized lens. "Smiling" was written to be included on a Broadway adaptation of Morissette's 1995 smash hit album Jagged Little Pill. That musical tells the story of a crumbling suburban mother named Mary Jane Healy. In "Smiling," a pharmacy has just denied Healy her pain medication, forcing Healy to acquire drugs off the street. Morissette herself has admitted to problems with addiction with things ranging from work to food to alcohol. Singing through Healy's character, she's still discussing feelings of which she's intimately aware.

Michael Farrell co-wrote this song with Morissette. He has worked in various capacities with Boy George, Sarah McLachlan, Macy Gray, Morrissey, and many other notable musicians. He does a lot of work in television, as well. His credits include American Idol, America's Got Talent, The Four, and Hollywood Game Night.