A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Alanis Morissette was barely in her 20s when her album "Jagged Little Pill" was released in 1995. It went on to become one of the bestselling albums of all time.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "YOU OUGHTA KNOW")
ALANIS MORISSETTE: (Singing) It's not fair to deny me of the cross I bear that you gave to me. You, you, you ought to know.
MARTÍNEZ: Before this, she'd been a sprightly teenage pop singer in Canada. But this song is how most of the world got to know her, holding an ex-boyfriend accountable for his exploits and ticked off over it. It made an impression. Tonight begins a series of concerts at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles, where Morissette serves as both singer and storyteller. And she's got stories for days. I joined her at a rehearsal. And thanks to her team for providing us with this recording.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IRONIC")
MORISSETTE: (Singing) It's like rain on your wedding day. It's a free ride when you've already paid.
MARTÍNEZ: Morissette is now 52 years old, and she says that life keeps getting better, and that includes reaching menopause. She's titled the concerts Butterfly with a Machete. Butterfly because menopause represents a beautiful transformation.
Why is it holding machete, though?
MORISSETTE: Because it'll kill you.
MARTÍNEZ: Oh, because it'll kill you.
MORISSETTE: You know, I like to call it discernment. But there's also the low hormones, low estrogen, low progesterone. All those feel-good hormones are gone, so there is a directness. The hormones are such that I don't have that sort of procreative imperative, induced tolerance that just obliterates the female self. So that's gone. And now it's getting quite interesting. My relationships are getting more intimate. My writing is getting more terrifying, if that were even possible.
MARTÍNEZ: I mean, is there anything that you love about menopause?
MORISSETTE: I love everything about it.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
MORISSETTE: I even love when I'm a weeping mess for 24 hours in the fetal position, because all it is doing, it is burning away everything that is not me.
MARTÍNEZ: Whenever I'd hear about menopause, it was this awful thing that happens to women.
MORISSETTE: Well, yeah, because patriarchy doesn't want to have some...
MARTÍNEZ: Well, so that's what I was going to say (laughter).
MORISSETTE: ...Rite of passage turning point where things blast open and confetti is flying and wisdom is flying and the whole world changes, and the indoctrination effects start going away. That sounds terrifying to them.
MARTÍNEZ: That's just one of the stories that she has to tell. And onstage, she uses props to make her point. At rehearsal, I got to see a few accoutrements, as she calls them - a statue of Buddha, a holographic mirror, even a whiteboard.
MORISSETTE: I have three whiteboards in my bedroom, and they're chock-full. They look like this, like, mad scientist. I love it. I used to teach my stuffed animals in the laundry room from the time that I was probably 6 years old onward. So teaching and student, to me, they're the same - opposite side of the same coin.
MARTÍNEZ: Morissette will teach everyone about her life and career, all the highs and all the lows.
Do you think that when "Jagged Little Pill" came out...
MORISSETTE: Yes.
MARTÍNEZ: ...That you were apologizing for it being what it was?
MORISSETTE: No.
MARTÍNEZ: No, not at all? OK.
MORISSETTE: No. Zero (laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: Because I remember when it came out, and you were labeled as this angry woman.
MORISSETTE: Which is a compliment to me.
MARTÍNEZ: Is it really?
MORISSETTE: Oh, yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah?
MORISSETTE: I mean, for it to be the reductive element of it of the super complicated person being reduced to one thing is a misogynistic murder. But if you're going to pick one out of the one...
MARTÍNEZ: That's the one (laughter).
MORISSETTE: If you're going to pick one out of the 100 billion, yeah, sure, let's start with anger.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
MORISSETTE: Also, easier to bring in the other colors later. You know, I just wanted to start on a note of jugular for my own self, too.
MARTÍNEZ: Because that album is more than just "You Oughta Know." I mean, there's so much more to it, but that song became the thing that everyone focused on. That was your third album. You were a different artist before that.
MORISSETTE: I mean, I was a younger artist.
MARTÍNEZ: Younger artist, OK.
MORISSETTE: Yeah. Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: I don't think anybody could remember anyone that came out swinging the way you did with...
MORISSETTE: Right.
MARTÍNEZ: ..."Jagged Little Pill."
MORISSETTE: Nice, nice. Oh, that's a really beautiful way of putting it. Did come out swinging. There's this sort of alley cat, feral fire that is very, very hard to quell. And I think a lot of people in Canada went, wait, you have this people pleasing persona vibe going, the appeasement survival strategy. And now this "You Oughta Know" energy feels different, you know? What's up? Please, explain. You know, I was just like, well, it's actually allowing - "Jagged Little Pill" allowed me to emancipate from whatever circumstance felt confining artistically.
And then I went to a space where there was more room to be angry, sad, horrified, lonely (laughter), shame-riddled, excited, infatuated. Like, all of it was allowed, you know? And then lyrically, I had been underestimated as a writer - shocker - as a teenager. So then when I moved to Los Angeles, all of a sudden, there was a clean slate of, I actually love linguisticism. I love words. I use them as paint responsibly, irresponsibly. And, you know, I was able to be who I was versus move around within a sort of limited perception of me, which I just can't do anymore, especially in menopause.
MARTÍNEZ: So can I tell you a quick story about...
MORISSETTE: Yes.
MARTÍNEZ: ..."Head Over Feet"?
MORISSETTE: Yes.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. So at the time, I was dating a single mother with two kids. I liked her a lot. I wasn't quite sure if I loved her, but I'm pretty sure.
MORISSETTE: OK.
MARTÍNEZ: Didn't know how she felt about me.
MORISSETTE: OK.
MARTÍNEZ: We were driving on the freeway and "Head Over Feet" comes on. And I could tell that she's looking at me as the song is playing. And she keeps looking out the window, then looking at me, looking out the window, looking at me. I'm like, all right. When the song's over, she looked at me. She goes, you know that song we just heard? I was like, yeah. She's like, I think that's how I feel about you right now, I think. She goes, I think. I'm not sure. We'll see.
MORISSETTE: Oh.
MARTÍNEZ: We've been together...
MORISSETTE: I was like, what happened?
MARTÍNEZ: ...Thirty-something years now.
MORISSETTE: Aw, the humble beginnings.
MARTÍNEZ: So I'm wondering, like, how often does that happen, when someone tells you about a song of yours that has had a very long-lasting effect on their lives?
MORISSETTE: I am so happy about it, just to think that my music could be sort of threaded into the tapestry of someone else's story, whether it be by soundtracking it or an era marking or a burgeoning romance marking, it's - I get super tickled.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HEAD OVER FEET")
MORISSETTE: (Singing) You've already won me over, in spite of me. And don't be alarmed if I fall head over feet. And don't be surprised if I love you for all that you are. I couldn't help it. It's all your fault.
MARTÍNEZ: That is Alanis Morissette. Her residency in Los Angeles is called Butterfly with a Machete. Alanis, thank you very much for talking with us.
MORISSETTE: Thank you so much for your questions and your quality of listening.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HEAD OVER FEET")
MORISSETTE: (Singing) Thanks for your patience. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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