Can anyone explain this Alanis Morissette lyric from "Not The Doctor" to me

Ever since 1995 I've been confused by this lyric from Alanis Morissette's "Not The Doctor" from her Jagged Little Pill album, and I thought maybe you guys could offer some insight (or guesses!).

It's the chorus of the song:

What would an empty bottle with holes on the bottom be or be used for in this context? Is it some kind of drug reference?

Here's the whole song if it helps any (which it probably won't):



Does it mean anything, or is Alanis just being deliberately mysterious here? Thanks for any help in advance.

 

I can't help you much, not being a native English speaker, but the lyrics are:

(Not sure it makes more immediate sense, though)

 

Oops, I guess I misheard. Thanks for the correction.

 

You got me curious and I found this: http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/12447/

Happy reading

 

That is very interesting!

 

(What would an empty bottle with holes on the bottom be or be used for in this context? Is it some kind of drug reference?

Here's the whole song if it helps any (which it probably won't):



Does it mean anything, or is Alanis just being deliberately mysterious here? Thanks for any help in advance.)[/quote]

Paul, Hi!! I joined this site just so I could reply to you!! even if this post is a year old, this is one of my favorite songs that resonates so much with me.

I don't think she is being mysterious at all. Please let me explain in my view point, it feels like I could have written this song, yes I wish. I feel like I am singing this to my past relationships and the friends I let go.

"mind the empty bottle with the holes along the bottom"
People can be a bottomless pit of pain and needy, they keep trying to fill a void with alcohols food or even victim stories but their hole is way too deep to fill. I can't stand it when people come at me having their huge emotional gaping holes and need me to fill them. People have all this pain in their lives and then reach for a strong person, or a close person to save them!
I have an ex who texts me 20 years later and is not at all responsible for their emotional state. He wants me to fill the emptiness that he feels inside. He thinks that marrying me will make him happy. (I'll marry him if he learns how to be happy on his own as I am not a bandaid to his pain)! He drinks to kill his pain, don't most people that hang out in bars? Yes they really do. He has wounds from childhood from a very abusive father and he thinks being with me can take it away. He tells me how much he adores me but he is in love with what I represent to him.......

"I don't wanna be the filler if the void is solely yours
I don't wanna be your glass of single malt whiskey
Hidden in the bottom drawer and
I don't want to be a bandage if the wound is not mine
Lend me some fresh air, ah

I don't wanna be adored for what I merely represent to you
An' I don't wanna be your babysitter, you're a very big boy now
I don't wanna be your mother
I didn't carry you in my womb for nine months
Show me the back door"

One friend wrote me 6 emails and left me 5 voicemails in one week, because she wanted me to help a friend of hers. I politely declined and felt stalked. Those friends of her's have to be strong and ask for their own help. I'm not their doctor! That feels suffocating. Why do people come to me? I'm an upbeat, confident person and I live my life like a leader rather than a follower. Yet, I don't want people to follow me, I want them to follow themselves! My friend accused me of breaking her heart. Seriously, "I didn't carry her in my womb for 9 mnts so why come to me.... "with they fractured hearts and it's wounded beat?" People seriously think others have the power to break our own hearts! Honestly we break our own hearts with our attachment to a belief system!
Show me the back door! or lend me some fresh air.... I had to get rid of her for she was dependent on my for validation! Yeah, breathing room.

"Visitin' hours are nine to five and if I show up at ten past six
Well I already know that you'd find some way to sneak me in
And oh mind the empty bottle with the holes along the bottom
You see it's too much to ask for and I am not the doctor"

This is about peoples co-dependance and addictions to people or substances to kill the sadness that they have within. I know people become addicted to others. They will beak their own boundaries (show up at ten past six....well I..) because you become their addiction. They think they need their approval or validation to be happy. We just need ourselves!!

"I don't wanna be the sweeper of the eggshells that you walk upon
And I don't wanna be your other half I believe that one and one make two
I don't wanna be your food or the light from the fridge
On your face at midnight, hey what are you hungry for?"


I am no ones "other half" I want a whole person partner! And my ex, well it is like walking on eggshells of his emotions. One guy told me he liked me because I had a bright personality, I told him I am my own bright light and want people to find their own light inside themselves. He needed someone to to be bright but what about finding our own lights and not needing others! Needy people are clingy and draining. Learning to only need your own approval. That is unconditional love. ❤❤ What are you truly hungry for? Meaning, What is your real passion?!! ...Find it for yourself and don't seek it from others!

"I don't wanna be your idol
See this pedestal is high and I'm afraid of heights
I don't wanna be lived through a vicarious occasion
Please open the window"

People idolize anyone with direction or some personal strength. Past friends idolized me, and I'm sure when Alanis followed her passion in music, she got these needy co-dendent people doing it to her all the time!
I am no ones idol, look at me, not up to me! That means if they look up, they are in love with an illusion of me and not the real flawed me! People they idolize can do no wrong! That is a HUGE responsibility to live up to, I don't want to be placed on a pedistal and I am not their doctor! Go to therapy. Give me freedom to be me, and don't try to live vicariously though me, because you think my life is interesting!! Build your own life and your own dreams!! And for god sake please leave the window open (stop emotionally projecting onto me that is suffocating) I need breathing room to fly. So always leave the doors and the windows open, in other words don't place expectations on me).. that is like being in small room with all the doors and windows closed with no where to run. All those references to do window and air in the last lines are for personal freedom not being taken.

"You see it's too much to ask for and I am not the doctor"

Too much to ask anyone to validate you or alleviate your pain. Learn to do that on your own, please!
Get rid of these emotional vampires from your life!
"I don't wanna be the filler if the void is solely yours"
I will help you if I did wrong but your other pain is your problem.

Sorry, I didn't go in perfect order, but I hope I got my message across.
Kyra

The whole song:
I don't wanna be the filler if the void is solely yours
I don't wanna be your glass of single malt whiskey
Hidden in the bottom drawer and
I don't want to be a bandage if the wound is not mine
Lend me some fresh air, ah

I don't wanna be adored for what I merely represent to you
An' I don't wanna be your babysitter, you're a very big boy now
I don't wanna be your mother
I didn't carry you in my womb for nine months
Show me the back door

Visitin' hours are nine to five and if I show up at ten past six
Well I already know that you'd find some way to sneak me in
And oh mind the empty bottle with the holes along the bottom
You see it's too much to ask for and I am not the doctor
Oh, oh am not the, oh

I don't wanna be the sweeper of the eggshells that you walk upon
And I don't wanna be your other half I believe that one and one make two
I don't wanna be your food or the light from the fridge
On your face at midnight, hey what are you hungry for?

I don't wanna be the glue that holds your pieces together
I don't wanna be your idol
See this pedestal is high and I'm afraid of heights
I don't wanna be lived through a vicarious occasion
Please open the window

Visitin' hours are nine to five and if I show up at ten past six
Well I already know that you'd find some way to sneak me in
And oh mind the empty bottle with the holes along the bottom
You see it's too much to ask for and I am not the doctor
Oh, oh I am not the, oh

I don't wanna live on someday when my motto is last week
And I, I don't wanna be responsible for your fractured heart
And it's wounded beat
An' I don't wanna be a substitute for the smoke you've been inhalin'
Well, what do you think me, what do you think me for?

Visitin' hours are nine to five and if I show up at ten past six
Well I already know that you'd find some way to sneak me in
And oh mind the empty bottle with the holes along the bottom
You see it's too much to ask for and I am not the doctor
Oh, oh I am not the, I



Read more: Alanis Morissette - Not The Doctor Lyrics | MetroLyrics

 

Ah! Thank you for replying (and welcome!).

 

And I left out the one line that many wonder about... goes with the other post.....
" I don't wanna live on someday when my motto is last week"

Alanis's motto is last week, she gets things done! She is a "doer"... As in when she says she will do something it is already done, That is strength. The other person is a procrastinator, "someday" needing her strength. Again Co-dependance, frustrating for a doer.

Yes thank you for posting this and welcome. Nice to see you got to read it. Night!