Jewel
a.k.a.
Jewel Kilcher
ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE
Jewel Shines on a New Album with a Familiar Sound
During a teleconference with music writers, Jewel discussed her sixth solo album,
Goodbye Alice in Wonderland, and much more, including her new life in Texas, her newfound freedom in the studio, and the moment when the women's movement hit the pop charts.
Question: What brought you to finally record some songs that we've grown to love from your live performances such as "A Thousand Miles Away" and "Long Slow Slide"?
Jewel: I'm so glad you know them. Well, there are some songs I've really loved, even l like "Satellite" and "I've Prayed for Years." They've become underground favorites. I think they've been requested as much as any of the hits I've ever had, if not more. But this was finally the record that it just seems like they really fit on. This record sort of chronicles my life going from Alaska, to living in my car to singing in Hollywood the first time, to getting signed for record deals to now. We're at full circle and I live on a ranch again, this time in Texas. So I was actually able to use some of the songs from those different periods in my life to explain those periods in my life.
Question: To follow that up, what did make this the right time, not only to release these songs, but to take this personal and very autobiographical course on an album?
Jewel: I really see this record as a bookend to my first record, Pieces of You, and I think it's because it was a really similar time in my life, [but] in a completely different way -- meaning that I was turning 20 during my first record. Those decade birthdays always kind of cause me, it seems, to reflect, look back, and then look forward. I just was closing this period of my life where I was living in a car and scrambling my whole life to then signing a six-record deal with Atlantic. On this record I was turning 30. I'm now at the end of that six-record deal. My life has changed so and I was able to come full circle. Now I live my life in a way that I did in the beginning, where I live on a ranch and have a really simple life.
Question: What cut on the new album do you think was very emotional for you to do, and which cut on the album do you think will connect most with your audience?
Jewel: I think the title track, "Goodbye Alice in Wonderland," [was the most emotional for me]. That's actually why I released it about six months ahead of the rest of my record. I had a photographer shoot a super-8 video of me at the ranch singing it, and I released it to my fan site. Then it just sort of virally spread across the Internet. I did that because it best sums up the record. I thought fans would like it, even though it probably would never make it as a radio single.
Question: Tell me a little bit about the album title and how your life parallels the story of Alice in Wonderland?
Jewel: Goodbye Alice in Wonderland refers to a willingness to let go of the fairy tales [women] were told growing up. The fairy tales that we start to then tell ourselves, the lies that we tell ourselves, the little fictions we create, and a willingness to look at the truth. I don't consider myself Alice in Wonderland, except in summer. Certainly, my life has been a fantastical ride, but I'm more talking about the little fantasies that we kid ourselves with. Like when we're children we're told love is going to be great: Just fall in love, the rest will take care of itself -- and then we fall in love and we realize, Okay, this is actually really, really hard work. This guy doesn't just tell me I'm great every day, you know? So, you either become disillusioned, because you want that fairy tale and you think real love is disappointing, or you find a way to find romance within the truth. You can find poetry in the struggle and enjoy it, and that's what the record is about . It deals with the fairy tales I've told myself [about] fame, love, [my] career, and all sorts of things.
Question: There seems to be a greater level of emotion on this record, as opposed to 0304. Was it particularly difficult to have to draw upon painful experiences for some of these songs?
Jewel: My last record is every bit as autobiographical. It was just talking about where I was then. Songs like "Run to You," "Haunted," and "Sweet Temptation" were heartbreakingly honest. But there was a lot of rhythm and dance. It was like my interpretation of modern dancehall music, but with a really strong narrative. [The album] still talked a lot about my life and what I was trying to escape from, what I was trying to run towards. But, it was layered, so if you wanted to just hear the rhythm, you could just hear the rhythm of it. If you wanted to hear the lyrics, you [hear those]. I've never found it difficult to be autobiographical in a song. I always thought writing should tell the truth.
Question: How are you inspired to write such lovely, whimsical songs? Jewel: Some of my favorite poets had a tremendous sense of whimsy, so it's a writing style I guess I admire. [Pablo] Neruda has some stuff that's like that. [That style] seems to match my personality. I'm a Gemini and I have a lot of different moods. Sometimes I'm very serious and introspective and pensive, but other times I'm completely goofy and girlie. So, I like my songs to cover all my moods.
Jewel: Are there any more poetry books in your future? Jewel: I did do a book of love poems I wrote just for my boyfriend, Ty. But his mom lives at the ranch, and I've been afraid to publish it, because I don't want her to read it. So, I'll put it on hold for now.
Question: How do you feel about your career now compared to the mid-to- late '90s when you, Sarah McLachlan, and Alanis Morissette were all over the radio?
Jewel: Everything has cycles. I never expected the female "movement" to last very long. People do what serves them. Radio didn't play two women back-to-back for a long time. They barely did during the height of the female "movement," but it wasn't because they liked us or because they cared about females. It's because it was helping them sell, and they were able to get advertising for it. I never took it personally, is what I'm getting at. I never expected it to last because there was some kind of loyal love for women in music. A second answer to that is that I always felt uncomfortable about there being such a fuss made over women in music, because there were Josephine Baker, Nina Simone, and Joni Mitchell and so many women before us. We still had a lot to prove. It was all of our first records. We were completely wet behind the ears, and it was almost blasphemous to me to be taken so seriously. The real proof in the pudding of a career is how well can you keep writing, how well can you keep creating. I've always tried to concentrate on good work, and I think good work is rewarded. So is pop sensation. Going to the right parties and being followed around by paparazzi, getting in a magazine and helping people sell records -- that isn't necessarily about music, but that's okay too. I don't feel like it affects my job or my living. I've had unbelievable success on every record, and it's been thrilling for me. I just keep focused on what I think good writing is and what I think good art is. I hope that in 40 years, that will pay off.
April 20, 2006
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