Uninvited (song)

"Uninvited" is a song written and recorded by Alanis Morissette, and co-produced by Morissette and Rob Cavallo for the soundtrack of the 1998 film City of Angels (see City of Angels: Music from the Motion Picture). Morissette's first new recording since her international debut album Jagged Little Pill (1995), it was released as a single from the album in March 1998 (see 1998 in music). The song, which was prominently featured in the film's trailer, is driven by four piano notes and builds to an instrumental climax.

History
Although never officially released as a single to retail outlets, it became a hit for Morissette. "Uninvited" was Morissette's fourth number-one single on the U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream chart and it reached the top five on the Adult Top 40 and the top forty on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. Its success was largely because of fans who anxiously anticipated Morissette's new album, which was finally released in November 1998. "Uninvited" was not included on that album, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, but a demo version was included on the Australian release and the UK CD single for "Thank U". Morissette's compilation album Alanis Morissette: The Collection (2005) was her first album to include the song in its original studio format; she had performed an acoustic version of the song during her 1999 MTV Unplugged appearance, which was released on the album Alanis Unplugged.

"Uninvited" was nominated for three 1999 Grammy Awards: "Best Female Rock Vocal Performance", "Best Rock Song" and "Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television". It won in the former two categories, and it also won an ASCAP Film and Television Music Award for "Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures". It received a Golden Globe nomination for "Best Original Song - Motion Picture". No music video accompanied the single's release, but two videos of performances of "Uninvited" were released: one on the Morissette CD/DVD release Feast on Scraps (2002), and another on the 2005 extended cut of VH1 Storytellers: Alanis Morissette. This performance of "Uninvited" was not included in the original Storytellers broadcast in 1999.

The song was covered by the band Westworld on their 2002 album Skin. Theirs was a slightly heavier version with heavy metal influences. Halfway through the song, Bruno Ravel (bass guitar) and Mark Reale (electric guitar) join in, and their version closes with a long guitar solo. Gregorian performed a Gregorian chant inspired version on their 2004 album The Dark Side. In October 2007 the Freemasons remixed the Morissette vocal as a dance music track which entered the UK singles chart at number 8 and the Dutch single charts at number 4.

Freemasons version
In October 2007, a new Freemasons electro/house version was released, featuring a vocal by Bailey Tzuke. This version is shorter than their earlier mix and arranged in a more radio-friendly way.

This version experienced success across the United Kingdom and Europe dance scene. The single became the dance group's highest charting single to date in the UK, peaking at #8. So far the song made its greatest impact in the Netherlands, where it became a top 5 hit, peaking at number 4 in the Dutch Top 40.

Charts
a: "Uninvited" was released in 2008 in Argentina.