Song · Alanis Morissette
“Head Over Feet” by Alanis Morissette
From the album Jagged Little Pill (1995)
“Head Over Feet” by Alanis Morissette appears on 13 radio countdowns from 6 stations between 1996 and 2023. It was first released in 1995 on the album Jagged Little Pill. Its best result is #29 on the Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1996. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #102 alternative song of 1996 and #3,188 alternative song of all time.
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After the scorched-earth fury of the earlier singles from Jagged Little Pill, "Head Over Feet" came as a surprise: a soft, sweet thank-you note. Alanis Morissette wrote it with Glen Ballard, who produced and recorded it and played the guitar and keyboards, while Morissette adds a wheezing harmonica of her own. It went out as a single in July 1996, and Chris Fogel's mix keeps everything light and uncluttered.
The song is about falling for someone who is already your best friend and being grateful for how well they treat you, and it holds the earliest known use of the phrase "friend with benefits". It gave her a first UK top-10, topped the US Adult Top 40 and Top 40/Mainstream charts, and spent eight weeks at number one in Canada, her longest run there from the album.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 40 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1996 | 107 |
| 1996 | 29 | Q101 Chicago, IL | Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1996 | 101 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 400 | 102.3 WBAB | WBAB Top 1,023 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time (1997) | 1023 |
| 1999 | 514 | Q101 | Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1017 |
| 1999 | 1022 | 107.7 The End | The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1077 |
| 1999 | 1614 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 2000 |
| 2000 | 1614 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) | 2001 |
| 2001 | 1614 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 2002 |
| 2002 | 1606 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) | 2003 |
| 2003 | 1600 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) | 2004 |
| 2004 | 1600 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 2005 |
| 2005 | 1599 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 1994 |
| 2023 | 322 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
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