ALI: You were totally in charge on this album. Was that empowering or terrifying? MORISSETTE: There were moments of scariness–baptism by fire. But I’m always in over my head. As soon as I’m not, I go somewhere else. If I’m scared of something, that’s a pretty good indication that I should do it–except for heroin and sky-diving.

You took a lot of risks here. “Hands Clean” is about being taken advantage of by an older man when you were still a teen. I did it for the sake of my being liberated at long last. Whether you call it statutory rape or inappropriate behavior by an adult–it doesn’t matter. I didn’t do it to have him charged or called out on the carpet. I wanted to tell the truth to myself. I felt at the time I had only two choices–I pick either working with this person or not doing music at all. Hopefully some 16-year-old can think of me for even 10 milliseconds and realize they’re not alone or crazy.

This all comes up inside the larger context of a recent breakup. Right. I knew once I started writing songs, the relationship I was in would end. I was terrified of that happening. Part of me just didn’t want to write, but what was I going to do? Wait 20 years and marry this person and never write again and die of depression? I started writing and within two weeks, the relationship was over.

Did the guy know that once you started writing he’d be toast? No, he hadn’t been with me long enough to see The Pattern [laughs]. Writing songs is like a conceptual chiropractor for me–everything in my life straightens out.

Here’s my vapid girl question. Does all your soul-baring scare off potential dates? There’s a ton of guys who wouldn’t touch me with a 10-foot pole. But for whatever reason, I continue meeting people who have no qualms about dating me. At this point, they must know what they’re getting into; what comes with the package. It’s the ultimate dating filter.

You were held up as the angry young woman of the ’90s. Have you changed your style? My response to women being objectified used to be hiding my body, wearing overalls. But now it’s like, “Why can’t I wear these hysterical high heels?” And if I have to catch the subway, I can whip ’em off and run barefoot.