Alanis Morissette has taken her brand of confessional songwriting to the very top of the charts. When she began her career, Morissette was very young and making music that didn’t speak to her personally. When she changed the course of her music career, however, Morissette saw an increase in her worldwide fame.

That fame has led to many digging into her dating history, given the songs Morissette has written about her breakups. This has also led to many trying to decide who she has written her songs about.

Despite this, Morissette has always refrained from revealing the specific inspiration behind certain tracks. In 2020, she revealed the one tool which has helped her remain grounded despite the intense level of scrutiny she faces.

Alanis Revealed Therapy Is One Of The Ways She Has Remained Unscathed From Fame

In 2020, Morissette spoke to Forbes and was asked how she remains unscathed from fame. The singer-songwriter revealed that it was actually therapy which helped her stay grounded.

“The first thing I would say is I just kept doing copious amounts of therapy because there were too many things going on that most of my friends and those who were around me couldn’t relate to,” she said. “So while they might have been empathic or said, ‘Oh, that sucks,’ I wasn’t in the Beatles with three other people I could process with. Not that they even did, I have no idea.”

Morissette continued, “But I didn’t have anyone to bandy things about with, so therapists basically saved my life. And then my propensity for going within, like going to India after the ‘Jagged Little Pill’ tour I did, the idea that interiority was the antidote.”

Morissette also told the outlet that she sees nothing wrong with reaching out to someone else for help.

“Part of the feminist movement sent the message post second World War that autonomy was the way. They were just like, ‘Oh, we can do anything a man can do, only better,’ all that stuff. That’s lovely and it contributed to the empowerment of the female body, but it really brought havoc on relationships because there was this air of autonomy that somehow we are more powered if we don’t need help, if we don’t need people. And that’s just a survival strategy for being neglected and abandoned (laughs).”

Morissette’s fame grew following the release of her “Jagged Little Pill” album. The album’s lyrical content sparked speculation about the songs’ subjects. This is something Morissette has insisted she would not reveal.

Alanis Told Howard Stern That She Will Never Reveal Who She Wrote ‘You Oughta Know’ About

When Morissette first started out, she was signed as a teenager to MCA Records in Canada. Her first two albums featured dance pop music. At one point, Morissette even toured with Vanilla Ice.

When appearing on The Howard Stern Show in 2015, Morissette spoke about her transformation from dance pop to alternative rock. She admitted her record label wasn’t happy with her new creative direction.

“When I started to write autobiographically, really it was more self-led so-to-speak, I just stopped wanting to be presentational,” Morissette said. “I love performance. I mean, bring the glitter, bring the lights. But I need it to be conversational and I wouldn’t stop until I met someone who was sitting across from me collaboratively, who would say, ‘Who are you?'”

As Morissette’s artistic vision grew stronger, her record label decided they no longer wanted to work with her.

“They dropped me from MCA in Canada, because I was making the move towards self and they said, ‘No, no, no, no. I don’t think anyone around you wants this from you,'” Morissette remembered.

Morissette would eventually meet her dream collaborator when she began working with Glen Ballard. When speaking to The Independent in 2020, Morissette spoke about a conversation she had with Ballard over the lyrics of the song “You Oughta Know.”

“You know, I’m Canadian to the core of my core, so I said to him, ‘We’ll probably have to change some of those lyrics, some of them are a little intense,’” she said, “and he goes, ‘Wait a minute, did you mean everything you wrote?’ And I said, ‘Well, of course,’ and he said, ‘Well, we should keep it.’”

When Stern asked Morissette if “You Oughta Know” is about actor Dave Coulier in 2004, she didn’t confirm or deny the song’s subject.

“People talk about who that song’s about and they will continue to,” Morissette said. “I never confirm or affirm who it’s about and I never will.”

“Well, I say never and I really shouldn’t say never, because I may very well one day do it.”

Alanis Said She Enjoys Hearing Other People’s Interpretation Of Her Song Lyrics

When Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill” album was released in 1995, it was a huge success. The album took Morissette to a level of fame she had not otherwise experienced as a singer in Canada. She crossed over to many parts of the world who were now listening to and identifying with her music.

In 2022, Morissette spoke to Datebook about the personal nature of the songs and how other people interpret them.

“I often tell people that when I write my songs initially, they are for myself, not unlike a journal entry,” she explained. “Then once I share them, they are not mine anymore. People can interpret them in whatever way they want to. It becomes sort of macro in a way. And I love hearing people’s interpretations of the songs because 99% of the time in a way that might be obvious, it has nothing to do with my personal experience. It’s just sort of adopted by them and marks a certain time, so I live for it.”

The album also won big at the 1996 and 1997 Grammy Awards. The album won five of the nine awards it was nominated for. Morissette even took home the Album of the Year trophy, making the then-21 year-old the youngest artist to win the honor at the time.