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Jewel: ELLE celebrity profile
Sorting the truth from the lies gave her a new-found sense of peace. It's been a wild ride, but the poetic songstress is finally happy.
By Mary Dickie
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Turning 30 is often a time when a woman looks back and re-evaluates her life -- both her achievements and her setbacks. That was certainly the case for Jewel. While her list of accomplishments may be impressive -- she has sold more than 25 million albums worldwide, written a bestselling book of poetry and starred in director Ang Lee's American Civil War movie, Ride With the Devil -- the Alaska-raised singer-songwriter has also had her share of disappointments. When the time came to start working on her sixth album last year, Jewel decided that it would be interesting to document the twists and turns of her life in song. "It's natural to be reflective when you come to the three-decade milestone," she says. "I lived this bizarre, tumultuous life until I was 18. Then I made Pieces of You, and it has been another wild journey ever since. I see this album as a bookend to that one."
Holed up at the Texas ranch she shares with her boyfriend of seven years, rodeo rider Ty Murray, Jewel sorted through her stack of nearly 500 unrecorded songs and wrote some new ones to bring the saga up to date. What eventually emerged was an introspective song cycle about innocence and maturity called Goodbye Alice in Wonderland. "I knew the story I wanted to tell, and I tried to put it together like a novel: with a beginning, a middle and an end," explains Jewel. "The narrative is loosely based on the story of my life -- from living in Alaska and being homeless to seeing Hollywood for the first time and getting signed. And I used songs from those times in my life to help tell the story."
The song "10,000 Miles Away" -- written when Jewel was just 17 -- deals with her feelings of loneliness on the road. "Satellite" describes the then 19-year-old's first impressions of the California scene. In "Stephenville, TX," Jewel sings about falling in love with Murray and moving to Texas, and in the title song, "Goodbye Alice in Wonderland," she explores the subtle but crucial difference between dreaming ("A good thing 'cause it brings new things to life") and pretending ("An ending that perpetuates a lie"). "I think growing up is being able to recognize the lies we tell ourselves, especially about love," says Jewel. "When we're young, we're told we just have to find the right guy and everything will work out. But it doesn't. Love is harder than anyone tells us, and the danger is that we think ‘Love isn't hard, so this can't be love.' I think there's a whole generation of people who have a sort of sneaking dissatisfaction with their lives because they can't find romance in the struggle. For me, Goodbye Alice in Wonderland reflects my willingness to say goodbye to the fictions I tell myself. I want to know the truth."
Visit www.ellecanada.com for the latest on all the hottest celebs, like Gwen Stefani and Jennifer Aniston!
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