Like Prince's 'Purple Rain', 'Forgiven' starts out with a suitably atmosperic feeling of adoration, only to upset it at once with barbed lyrics aimed directly at the Catholic system that warped her childhood moral attitudes. Most of the track is sung in a very conventional voice, adding to the image of a free-spirited child trapped by conventions. "I confessed my darkest deeds to an envious man," she sneers. "My brothers they never went blind for for what they did/But I might as well have," 'Forgiven' explores her upbringing and observers offen comment on the response the song gets when it's played live. "It's comforting and bittersweet to know that I'm not the only one who's gone through these things,' Alanis says. "At the same time, it's a little disturbing that, apparently, there's a lot of people out there having gone through such painful things. The reaction has been pretty intense." Alanis rejected the "concept of organized religion" years ago in reaction to the indoctrination at her Catholic
school, but says she is Christian: "When I'm on stage, it's very spirtual. I feel very close to God when I'm up there."
