"Head over Feet" is a song written by Alanis Morissette

Alanis Morissette

Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...

 and Glen Ballard

Glen Ballard

Glen Ballard is an American songwriter and record producer, best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill , which won Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album", and "Album of the Year" amongst others, and is ranked by the Rolling Stone amongst The 500 Greatest Albums of...

, and produced by Ballard for Morissette's third album, Jagged Little Pill

Jagged Little Pill

Jagged Little Pill is the third studio album by Canadian recording artist and songwriter Alanis Morissette. It was Morissette's first internationally released album, and her first studio album after the three year hiatus following her break with MCA Records. The album marked a shift from her style...

(1995). It was released as the album's fifth single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 (sixth in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

) in 1996 (see 1996 in music

1996 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1996.-January:* January – At the trial of two American teenagers, Nicholaus McDonald and Brian Bassett, for the murder of Bassett's parents and young brother, defense lawyers attempt to lay the blame for the murders on the fact...

) and presented a softer sound than the previous singles from the album. "Head over Feet" became Morissette's first number-one hit on Billboard's U.S. Adult Top 40 chart and topped the Top 40 Mainstream chart, but it was her first song not to enter the top 20 on the Modern Rock Tracks

Modern Rock Tracks

Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...

 chart. In the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, it was her first top ten single, and it reached the top 20 in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

A live version of "Head over Feet" is featured on the album Alanis Unplugged

Alanis Unplugged

- Personnel :* Alanis Morissette - vocals, guitar, harmonica and flute* Nick Lashley - guitar* Joel Shearer - guitar* Deron Johnson - keyboards, background vocals in "King of Pain"* Chris Chaney - bass* Gary Novak - drums and percussion* Brad Dutz - percussion...

(1999), and an acoustic

Acoustic music

Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...

 version of the song was recorded for the album Jagged Little Pill Acoustic

Jagged Little Pill Acoustic

-Credits:*All lyrics written by Alanis Morissette*Music written by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard*Produced by Glen Ballard*Mixed and Recorded by Bill Malina*Alanis Morissette: Vocals, Harmonica*David Levita: Guitars, Marxophone, Perapaloshka, Mandolin...

(2005).

Track listing

1. Head Over Feet

2. You Learn

You Learn

"You Learn" is a song by Canadian recording artist and songwriter Alanis Morissette, for her 1995 breakthrough album Jagged Little Pill . The song was written by Morissette and Glen Ballard for the album...

 (live)†

3. Hand in My Pocket

Hand in My Pocket

"Hand in my Pocket" is a song by Canadian recording artist and songwriter Alanis Morissette, for her third studio album Jagged Little Pill . The song was written by Morissette and Glen Ballard, and was released as the second single from the album. "Hand in My Pocket" is a rock song. The song was...

 (live)†

4. Right Through You (live)†

†recorded on March 6, 1996 at Wings Stadium

Wings Stadium

Wings Stadium is a 5,113-seat multi-purpose arena, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The arena opened in 1974 and is home to the Kalamazoo Wings, an ice hockey team in the ECHL....

, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Kalamazoo, Michigan

The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...

Music video

There are two versions of the single's video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

: the "Head" version and the "Feet" version (played in Europe and Asia). Clips of both videos are featured on the DVD Jagged Little Pill, Live

Jagged Little Pill, Live

Video chronicling Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill world tour from 1995 to 1996. It was primarily filmed in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, but it features clips from various other tour stops, including Morissette's hometown of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada....

(1997).

Harmonic structure

"Head over Feet" has a harmonic structure that is unusual for its genre. The choruses are in a different key than the verses. Each verse is in the key of C major, whereas each chorus is in the key of D major. As a result, at the end of each chorus the song is forced to modulate down a major second (which is uncommon in rock music).

Alanis' vocal range in this song spans from a G3 to a B4.

Charts

Chart (1996)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	7
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay Hot 100 Airplay The Hot 100 Airplay chart is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It measures radio airplay, and is one of the three component charts, along with the Hot Singles Sales and the Hot Digital Songs charts, that determine the chart positions of singles on the Billboard...	3
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	27
U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40	1
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...	25
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	1
Canadian Singles Chart	1
Chart (1997)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... Singles Chart	12

Certifications

Country	Certification	Sales
Australia	Gold	35,000+