Alanis Morissette's breakthrough success came via the controversial single "You Oughta Know," but the deceptively placid tone of her current single, "Hands Clean," tells a story that's potentially even more controversial.

While "You Oughta Know's" searing denunciation of a former lover (and its graphic language) grabbed attention and headlines, Morissette tells Britain's Q Magazine that the benign-sounding "Hands Clean" -- from her forthcoming album "Under Rug Swept" -- tells the story of her attempts to come to grips with an intergenerational affair that started when she was as young as 14.

In the interview, Morissette says the song is based on her own experience of the relationship, which began when she was 14 and continued until she was about 18 years of age.

"He was about 15 years older than me. There was more than one; whether it was, like, father issues or whatever, when I was younger I used to date men who were ridiculously older than me," she told Q Magazine.

"If it weren't for your maturity none of this would have happened/If you weren't so wise beyond your years I would've been able to control myself," she sings in "Hands Clean," apparently singing in the voice of the unnamed suitor.

"I know you depend on me like a young thing would to a guardian/I know you sexualize me like a young thing would and I think I like it," go the lyrics to the song.

"Just make sure you don't tell on me especially to members of your family/ ... I wish I could tell the world cuz you're such a pretty thing when you're done up properly/I might want to marry you one day if you watch that weight and keep your firm body."

Morissette has previously characterized her early dating history as involving more mature men, but this is the first time she's detailed how much older, and how she has dealt with the emotional fallout from those relationships.

She has in the past acknowledged that she began dating comedian Dave Coulier around the time she was 18, and judging by her explanation of the chronology of these events -- i.e. that the relationship in question ended by the time she was 18 -- Coulier would not be the subject of "Hands Clean."

Fans have long speculated Coulier was the mystery target of "You Oughta Know" and in November 2001, Coulier acknowledged to the Edmonton Sun's Mike Ross that the song is about him, but he and the singer are still friends and have talked about it.

That kind of relationship is apparently not possible with the subject of "Hands Clean," although Morissette said she's still more concerned with her own conduct.

"The grudge I hold is against myself for having been quiet for so long," Morissette told Q Magazine.

"I've covered his ass for so many years. So now it's almost like ... I wanted to liberate myself from not beating myself up any longer. It's almost irrespective of his involvement now; it's more about me and my relationship with my own past."

When asked if the relationship may have qualified as illegal, Morissette answered: "Technically, probably yeah. But the truth of the matter is I believe in consequence, but I don't believe in punishment."