Alanis Morissette kills herself laughing at the question: "What's with that video of you peeing in the elevator?"

The YouTube-accessible clip of the Ottawa singer-songwriter peeing into two paper cups was shot about five years ago, for a mockumentary that never materialized.

Morissette's become quite a master at shooting videos people like to see. After all, her dreamy sendup of the Black Eyed Peas' nonsensical My Humps was one of the first famous video sensations, shot well before Sarah Silverman and her boyfriend Jimmy Kimmel started fake-fighting over who was doing what with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

"It's purely self-entertainment," says Morissette, "and then we share it. One of my best friends is a DP (director of photography) so he's always with me and we're always shooting stuff. So we have a lot of material to play with."

That Humps hit was a genuine surprise -- "I thought maybe 400 people would get a kick out of it, that it would come and go in about a week" -- and Morissette loved the way critics tried to dissect her motivation for weeks after.

"That's part of why I'm in the public eye," she said, "for people to interpret me in their unique way."

Morissette was speaking to the Sun yesterday over the phone from Colorado Springs, Colo., on a tour opening for Matchbox Twenty which wraps later this month. She'll be back above the border this Friday, in Toronto to be inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame and pick up a lifetime achievement award during the Canadian Radio Music Awards.

Lifetime achievement at 33? Well, she has won seven Grammys and 12 Juno awards, recorded one of the most popular records of all time -- 1995's Jagged Little Pill, 30 million sold worldwide -- and used her platform to promote humanitarian issues and artists' rights.

"It's a good challenge for me, to receive recognition. My tendency is to say 'aw shucks' and run away," said Morissette. "I've been encouraged by those who love me to just shut up and take it."

Morissette has wrapped a starring role in a film, started work on a non-fiction book and is just approving the artwork for her first new album in four years, Flavours of Entanglement, due out May 20. A North American tour will follow this fall.

Her last album, 2004's So-Called Chaos served as a love letter to then-boyfriend, now ex-fiance, Vancouver actor Ryan Reynolds (he of the engagement rumours with new girlfriend, actress Scarlett Johansson).

Since Morissette is famous for using her music to explore her love life, Flavours is sure to be scrutinized for residual bitterness or clues as to what went wrong. But when it comes to details, she'll still only spill in song.

"My answer to that is all is well," she said laughing and adding, "in due time it will become self-evident."