The reason her work and life were even mentioned in the same sentence is also the reason her music is so enrapturing: they are inseparably entertwined.
Her song, "Possession," from
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, is a perfect, if somewhat disturbing, example. For three years she was stalked by a computer programmer from Ottawa named
Alfredo Mamaní. Eventually she was forced to get a restraining order against him, after which she wrote "Possession." This was not the end of the story, however. The stalker filed a lawsuit against McLachlan regarding the song, claiming "breach of confidence." The suit was dismissed, and the man subsequently committed suicide in December, 1994.
In an interview in Rolling Stone three years later, Ms. McLachlan adds, "And this one person wasn't the only guy ... there were a lot of letters from other people saying the same kind of thing ... Writing the song 'Possession' was very therapeutic."