I can’t claim the title as mine. It is a quote from the end of the video, below.
I’m lauging outloud at the moment. The fact that Alanis morissette would put this song on an album entitled “Feast On Scraps” (an album she admittedly said was full of leftover songs that got cut from another album) blows my mind. This song is not a leftover. It is, in my humble opinion, a monumental accomplishment in her consistently impressive career. “Offer” makes me think of a few people I hold dear to my heart, including myself. I think at least a small part of each of us can relate to her plea to remember to count herself among the list of people and places she serves.
Please excuse the amateur nature and quality of this video. I felt it was a better offering than the official video.
Watch a live performance of the song “Offer” here: http://youtu.be/PnDQKSb0pIU
Alanis has been a figure of inspiration for me since I was sixteen-years-old, a kindred spirit, I would dare to say. Though I’ve gone in and out of following her career, her contribution has always remained a source of comfort for me to return to. To steal a line from one of her songs, it’s as though we are cut from the same cloth. At times, when I listen to her songs it actually feels like I have a sister I somehow simultaneously grew up with, yet never met. It makes sense, then, that she would headline the soundtrack section of this blog.
When I listen to this song, I feel an overwhelming desire to be kind to myself. No matter where I am or what I’m doing, hearing these words—along with the gentle guitar melody—transports me into a world of compassion that fills my core with a warm glow. It’s powerful stuff. I could go on about it, but I think perhaps this is a perfect opportunity to let someone else’s artistic expression speak for itself.
“I feel like, when you’re taking care of yourself, you’re taking care of God.” ~Alanis Morissette
Here are the lyrics to the song “Offer”:
Who?
Who am I to be blue?
Look at my family and fortune
Look at my friends and my house
Who?
Who am I to feel deadened?
Who am I to feel spent?
Look at my health and my money
And where,
Where do I go to feel good?
Why do I still look outside me?
When clearly I’ve seen it won’t work
Is it my calling to keep on when I’m unable?
And is it my job to be selfless extraodinairre?
And my generosity has me disabled
By this, my sense of duty to offer
And why?
Why do I feel so ungrateful?
Me who is far beyond survival
Me who’s seen life as an oyster
Is it my calling to keep on when I’m unable?
And is it my job to be selfless extraodinairre?
And my generosity has me disabled
By this, my sense of duty to offer
And how?
How dare I rest on my laurels?
How dare I ignore an outstreched hand?
How dare I ignore a third world country?
Is it my calling to keep on when I’m unable?
And is it my job to be selfless extraodinairre?
And my generosity has me disabled
By this, my sense of duty to offer
Who?
Who am I to be blue?