Experience I have been a fan since 1995. Met her a few times. Run a web site devoted to her. Run a mailing list as well.
Be sure to visit my website:
http://www.alanis.nadine.morissette.com
Question Hia Dana... I would like to know if you have an idea of the meaning of the
song " Purgatorying" Her performance on the DVD in three parts is
Amazing..makes me get goosbumps!
Thanks in advance,
Gabriel
Answer Hi Gabriel,
I am sooo sorry, I did not see this in the inbox, and I hardly log-in unless someone sends me a question, please forgive me.
Lyrics:
Entertain me for the tenth hour in a row again
anesthetize me with your gossip and many random anecdotes
and fill every hour with activity or ear candy
drop me off at intersections in any city metropolitan
and keep me in this state
and keep me purgatorying
and sing me back to sleep
this is far more than I had bargained for
start every week with a break-neck urgent design
and end every speed day with my briefcase representing free time
spending my fruits my purchases become my lifeline
please give my love to my family
I'll doubtfully be home at Christmas time
don't disturb me in this state
please leave me purgatorying
I'll be damned if I'm to wake
this is far more than I am equipped for
I've held you up like a deity
like you're the sole owner of wings
this unrequited tunnel vision
and I wonder why I've not been writing
please keep me in this state
please keep me purgatorying
please rock me back to sleep
this love is more than - than I have bargained for
I'll be damned if I'm to wake
this is far more than I'm equipped for
Honestly, I do not have any idea, besides what we can read from the lyrics. But I can say she sounds fed up and overwhelmed with life.
I am glad to see she is currently back on track and looks to be a very happy person now.
I am sorry for not really having any ideas more than that.
Below is a post from a fan, with some ideas of their own:
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I think it's highly possible that the whole song speaks about the aftermath of a break-up.
When she sings "Entertain me for the tenth hour in a row again....Drop me off at intersections in any city metropolitan", I feel her being at a lost; having to turn to friends or engage herself in activity in order to escape the hurt she's experiencing. I think "Anaesthetize me with your gossip and any random anecdotes..." reinforces it. She's in the underbelly of misery and is willing to do anything, just anything to stave off her demons, even if that means hurling herself into a whirlwind of relentless activity. " Drop me off at intersections in any city..." verifies this further. In fact, I feel as though she's hopeless, almost dazed and bereft of life when she sings that line.
"Start every week with a break-neck urgent design" Again, supporting her need to immerse herself in recreation/activity. "End every speed day with my briefcase representing free time" may be insinuating her dread when she finally runs out of things to do. "Spending my fruit...please give my love to my family...I'll doubtfully be home at Christmas time." She's progressing on to retail therapy now and gradually isolating herself from people, ie friends and family.
In the third verse, we come to the cause and this is where I stutter slightly. So be kind. "I've held you up like a deity like you're the sole owner of wings" she speaks of her idolizing the ex-lover as if on bended knee, like he was a God. "This unrequited tunnel vision", I feel, represents an unreciprocated hopeful yearning for resolution which she harboured during the course of the relationship. "And I wonder why I've not been writing" could well be sarcasm-tinted. She's always been penning her thoughts to help her cope in times of crisis or sadness and here she is, caught in the middle of one, and not doing just that. Most probably because she was too busy trying to make the relationship work or actually trusting that he was as eager as she was to see this through. So she's now saying, "Damn, how foolish was I to think I could rely on you to pull me through this." Slight amelioration.
Lastly, the haunting chorus sheds more light on her plight. "Please keep me in this state, please leave me purgatorying, please sing me back to sleep, this life's been far more than I had bargained for" She's saying, "Just forget about me for awhile, let me dwell for a bit, let me shut out the light, let me indulge in some self-pity". And she'll recover in her own time.
I find it funny how some of things seem to be in conflict. The "come here, let's talk, shop, anything, just please rivet me to prevent me from pining and glissading back into sadness" in verse 1 & 2 and "please leave, no one can help much, I need to do this on my own" in the chorus. (By verse 3, she's come to sense slightly, as adumbrated in the previous paragraph.)
But, you know, at the same time, having been through something so much like this, I totally understand the purported contradictions and truly empathize with this girl.
Maybe I'm totally wrong. But I guess an attempt never hurt any1.
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