You Oughta Know

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"You Oughta Know"
"You Oughta Know" cover
Single by Alanis Morissette
from the album Jagged Little Pill
Released 1995
Format CD single
Cassette single
12" single
Recorded 1995
Genre Rock
Length 4:09
Label Maverick
Writer(s) Alanis Morissette Glen Ballard
Producer(s) Glen Ballard
Alanis Morissette singles chronology
"(Change Is) Never a Waste of Time"
(1993)		 "You Oughta Know"
(1995)		 "Hand in My Pocket"
(1995)

"You Oughta Know" is the title of Alanis Morissette's first single from her 1995 album Jagged Little Pill. It would end up as a number one song on Billboard's modern rock chart, while also charting at #4 in Australia. The song's lyrics describe Morissette's fouled relationship with an unnamed lover, introducing her harsh, angst-ridden lyrics to the public. Launching her career (and her Jagged Little Pill album) to the top, the coarse language, violent revenge scenarios and piercing vocals were a jolt to mainstream pop music. A music video featuring a dimly lit, hitchhiking Morissette was also created. [citation needed]

The song has been "re-created" by Morissette numerous times, most recently on her 10th anniversary Jagged Little Pill Acoustic album, which featured mellowed vocals and chord progressions; the lyrics, however, were not softened. It is still widely considered Morissette's most recognizable song.

While "You Oughta Know" was not eligible for the Billboard Hot 100 at the time it was released because it was not a retail single, it did reach #13 on the Hot 100's Airplay Monitor chart and received a good amount of airplay on CHR radio. [citation needed] A live version of the song, recorded at the 1995 Grammy Awards ceremony on February 28, 1996, showed up as the B-side of Morissette's retail single for "You Learn" (Hot 100 #6) in the summer of 1996.

Contents

[edit] Peak chart positions

[edit] Rumors

A common rumor about the song is that it was written about her one-time boyfriend Dave Coulier of the sitcom Full House. The Urban Legends Reference Pages have not endorsed this rumor as true, and in fact there are other celebrities who have been rumored to be the lover in the song, including

In 1997, the Boston Herald reported that Coulier "admitted the lines are very close to home. Especially the one about 'an older version of me' and bugging him in 'the middle of dinner.' He said she used to do that all the time." [1]

Speculation in her hometown of Ottawa, Canada, is that the person the song was written about was a former boyfriend from Ottawa that had broken up with her, though not anyone famous. [citation needed]

The topic of the song is also discussed in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Morissette told star Larry David who the song is about (then David to a disappointed friend), but the audience never hears who Morissette said the song was about.

In one of the Jay and Silent Bob promos created for MTV Jay told Silent Bob that he was the boyfriend that inspired the song. Jay told the story of the break up and after he finished Silent Bob wiped a tear from his eye while Jay laughed at him confessing to have been lying the whole time. Alanis would later appear with the two in Dogma.

On an AL-TV special, "Weird Al" Yankovic joked that "Alanis and I actually used to date. I especially liked it when we went to the movies."

[edit] Bass

Flea from the band Red Hot Chili Peppers played the bass for this song and Dave Navarro, previously part of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, was on the guitar.

[edit] Covers

[edit] See also

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