To play bass guitar in a rock band is to choose a profession whose legitimacy and necessity are constantly under question. Bass parts in 60% of all rock songs are actually mind-numbing. Often times the bass player is viewed as the person who just wasn't good enough at guitar.
Even worse, bands like the White Stripes and Guster find success without employing a bass player whatsoever, and that's why they'll always suck just a little bit. It's enough to make one turn towards nihilism.
A sort-of-known fact about Alanis Morissette's first album is that Flea, of Red Hot Chili Peppers fame and one of the best in the business, actually laid down the bass track for "You Oughta Know" while the bass on "You Learn" comes from someone uncredited, probably a producer. Here are the tracks for comparison.
You Oughta Know (embedding disabled, sorry)
Now, the bass playing on "You Learn" is quite proficient. It's very even, measured, but creative as well. It aptly serves its function. On "You Oughta Know," though, Flea almost takes over the entire song. He's always exactly on the beat, but he's all over the place, doing stuff that 85% of bass players would never even think of.
More importantly though, he elevates the song as a whole. His seemingly random octave jumps and rhythmic variations add an extra air of uncertainty to the song; he makes Alanis sound crazier. But also, especially in the chorus, he is throwing down on the chorus, his sound has an authority and intensity that can only come out of his approach to the instrument, and you can feel it even if you're listening on cheap-ass headphones with the treble turned up, and it really sells the level of anger Alanis is trying to bring to the song. Does it get nominated for Song of the Year and become a '90s rock staple if the bass player was the dude from "You Learn"? Probably not.
Just think about that the next time you marvel at the musical genius of bass-less Explosions in the Sky.
