There are few performers capable of captivating the world’s attention like Liza Minnelli. Some of that attention has been good (her Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards; her “Single Ladies” cameo earlier this year in Sex and the City 2), some of it bad (her stint at the Betty Ford Center in 1984; her serious bout of viral encephalitis in 2000), and some of it downright ugly (her nasty divorce from concert promoter David Gest in 2007, just five years after the three-ring circus that was their wedding). But Minnelli’s devout followers have always stood by her, and it’s easy—or pleasing—to imagine that their emphatic support has gotten the 64-year-old icon through it all. Minnelli, the daughter of Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli, returns this month with Confessions, a collection of cover songs she insists work equally well at a dinner party or in the bedroom.

Hi, Ms. Minnelli. How are you? Oh, please, Nick, call me Liza! I’m curious to know if you have any weird obsessions. I have always loved and been fascinated by lyrics, ever since I was a kid, especially words that rhyme. They were like my poetry, like collecting stamps, like anything else. All of the songs on this new album are ones that I’ve known most of my life.

How did you curate the songs that appear on Confessions? Well, they’re all love songs. I was fascinated by their lyrics, like the lyrics to “Confession” itself: “I never kissed a man before.” I loved that part. I was crazy about all of these damn songs, especially “You Fascinate Me So” and “I Hadn’t Anyone ’Til You.” I have a song called “He’s a Tramp” on the album. Do you know what that’s from?

No? Lady and the Tramp!

In “You Fascinate Me So,” you sing, “Will the end result deflate me or will you annihilate me/ You fascinate me so.” What are you thinking when you sing those lyrics? I’m thinking about what it feels like when someone fascinates me, whether it’s intellectually, artistically, or whatever. You just get caught up in their way of thinking, and it’s sexy.

What about the song “All the Way”? There’s a line in that one that goes, “When somebody needs you it’s no good unless he needs you—all the way.” Can you relate to that type of all-consuming, insatiable love? I think anybody who falls in love for the first time can relate to that.

Do you remember the first time you fell in love? Oh sure, but I’m not going to talk about it! Let’s just say I was about 14, and he was Bobby Darin.

You have so many devout fans, but there’s a line that can be easily crossed, where fandom becomes obsession. Have you ever experienced that? No, I’m lucky. My fans have always been really nice. They’re all ages: grandparents who were fans of my mom, who loved watching me come up, and then their children and their children.

There are few entertainers who attract that level of diversity. I’m kind of like a modern vaudevillian, if you know what I mean. I do a little bit of everything. This album is the kind of thing I do when I’m at home, when we have a musical night or friends come over.

Do you think that you are two different people when you’re on and off stage? I think I’m the same person, but it depends on the content of the song. It depends on the lyrics, because each song to me is a movie.

A movie? In which you are the star? Yes! I know where the woman is, what she’s looking at, what city she’s in. I question everything: Is she walking down the street? Is she standing, looking into a window when this thought passes through her mind? It’s almost like I’m method acting to each song.

Although they sound like happy love songs, a lot of them are about desire and yearning. I think everybody has felt those feelings, and my point is to remind them of that when I sing them—but not too closely. This is the kind of album you put on in the bedroom. There’s a difference between where a song is going and where it comes from.

You come from New York, even though you were born in Hollywood. Do you love it as much today as you did when you were younger? Oh, completely. When Fred [Ebb, lyricist] and John [Kander, composer] wrote “New York, New York” for me, I thought I was going to die. And I remember running over to Sammy Davis’ house with my tape recorder in my hand, saying, Listen to this! Listen to this! [Beat] Oh, honey, look at the time! I gotta go! When will I see you?

I don’t really know how to answer that question. If I have upcoming shows in New York, please come backstage—and tell ’em Liza sent you.