Issue Number 1010 | Alanis Morissette | Advocate.com Alanis Morissette  |  | Advocate.com

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Alanis Morissette
For purely selfish and superficial reasons, we took Alanis Morissette’s split last year from longtime fiancé Ryan Reynolds especially hard—that is, until we remembered how well she’s been turning personal pain into bittersweet beauty since her seminal 1995 breakthrough album, Jagged Little Pill. Sweeping that former infatuation under the rug with her eclectic new Flavors of Entanglement, the seven-time Grammy winner detailed what you oughta know about her life’s many lesbian twists—including an “awkward” kiss with Sarah Jessica Parker—and exposed the naked truth behind her “Humps.”
A shorter version of this story appeared in The Advocate  July 1, 2008
Alanis Morissette

Looking back, Alanis, you’ve had quite a gay-friendly career.
Really? That’s true, actually. I don’t even think about it, but yeah. 

When did you first feel a connection with the gay community?
I’ve felt love from the gay community since I was really young because all my friends were gay. My first manager was gay, and I used to go to nightclubs with him in New York when I was 14. There’s a passion, a presence, and a curiosity with a lot of gay people that I meet, and that aliveness is such a special quality to me. 

Flavors of Entanglement was produced by Guy Sigsworth, known for his work with Björk, Britney, and Madonna. Were you catering to your gay fan base on this record?
To be honest, my goal was catering to my own artists within. I wrote the record for myself, and the act of sharing it publicly turns it into an invitation, really, for the gay community or any community to make it their own. 

Which theme on the album may resonate deepest with gay fans?
A couple of my gay friends have a habit of jumping from relationship to relationship—not unlike myself. I’ve been known to be somewhat of a serial monogamist, without taking much breaks between relationships, so I very much married my own self for a full year, and promised myself not to commit to anything. I not only declare it but celebrate it as well. 

Are you afraid of being alone?
I’m a recovering codependent and a recovering love addict, so that explains everything. 

When I heard about your and Ryan’s breakup, I said, “Well, that sucks, but at least some incredible music will come out of it.” Did you have a similar realization?
Wow. Once the record was finished, it dawned on me that so much beautiful art comes from transmuting pain. It’s always been the case. But there are two great life forces that have the power to move worlds: anger and love. For me to become empowered postdepression, I have to move through anger. So [the new track] “Straitjacket”? Angry. 

Is that your “You Oughta Know” for Ryan?
I don’t speak about him or anybody specifically, but I do speak about my own personal experience. I wouldn’t say it’s a “You Oughta Know” per se because I don’t compare songs, but there’s similar emotion.

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Voss is editor in chief of HX magazine.

Reader Comments

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  • Name: Larry
    Date posted: 2008-06-06 11:07 AM
    Hometown: Columbia

    Comment:

    I love Alanis and have since she raged on You Oughta Know, oh so many years ago. I wait for each album with baited breath because I always feel that our journeys in life run in tandem. And Flavors of Entanglement is just a beautiful continuation of that journey. I've cried, laughed and and stewed not only in her emotions on this album but my own too, while discovering a couple of new layers of my own relationships. Being black, gay and being an Alanis fan are three of the things I'm most proudest of in this world.


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