"You Oughta Know" is a Grammy-winning song written by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard, and produced by Ballard for Morissette's third album Jagged Little Pill (1995). The song, the lyrics of which describe Morissette's fouled relationship with an unnamed lover, introduced her harsh, angst-ridden lyrics to the public.
| "You Oughta Know" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
History
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It reached number one on Billboard magazine's Modern Rock Tracks chart in the U.S. and charted at number four in Australia and number twenty-two in the United Kingdom. Launching Morissette's career (and Jagged Little Pill) to the top, the coarse language, violent revenge scenarios, and piercing vocals were a jolt to mainstream pop music. "You Oughta Know" was not eligible for the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1995 because a retail single was not released, but it reached number thirteen on the Hot 100 Airplay chart and the top ten on the Top 40 Mainstream chart. A live version of the song, recorded at the 1996 Grammy Awards ceremony on February 28, was a B-side on the retail single for "You Learn", and Billboard credited the single's Hot 100 number-six peak position to "You Learn"/"You Oughta Know".
Flea, from the band Red Hot Chili Peppers, played the bass on the song, and former Peppers member Dave Navarro was on the guitar. The single's music video was directed by Nick Egan and features a dimly lit Morissette hitchhiking across a desert. Morissette has reimagined the song numerous times, most recently on her 2005 album Jagged Little Pill Acoustic, which featured mellowed vocals and chord progressions; the lyrics, however, were not softened. It is widely considered Morissette's most recognizable song.[citation needed]
Subject
A common rumor about the song is that it was written about Morissette's one-time boyfriend Dave Coulier of the television sitcom Full House. The Urban Legends Reference Pages have not endorsed this rumor as true,[1] and in fact there are other celebrities who have been rumored to be the lover in the song, including:
- Bob Saget, Coulier's co-star on Full House[1] (appearing on the Opie & Anthony show on June 28 2006, Saget denied ever having a relationship with Morissette and tended to agree with speculation that the song was about Coulier)
- Hockey player Doug Gilmour of the Toronto Maple Leafs. When Keith Olbermann used to work for the ESPN program SportsCenter, he would say during Toronto highlights relating to Gilmour, "Here's this for Alanis's pain."[1]
- Hockey player Mike Peluso of the Ottawa Senators[1]
- Actor Matt LeBlanc, who appeared in the video for Morissette's single "Walk Away" (1991)[1]
- Musician Leslie Howe, the producer of Morissette's first two albums in the early 1990s[1]
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]
The topic of the song is 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. Morissette appeared with the two in the 1999 film Dogma.
On an AL-TV special "Weird Al" Yankovic joked that he and Morissette "used to date. I especially liked it when we went to the movies", a reference to the songs lyric about Alanis performing oral sex in a theater. Yankovic included the song in his polka medley "The Alternative Polka", on his 1996 album Bad Hair Day. A parody of the song by Lounge act Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine appeared on the 2005 album Aperitif for Destruction. The Killing Moon covered the song for the Punk Goes... series on the album Punk Goes '90s.
Charts
| Chart (1996) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia ARIA Singles Chart | 4 |
| UK Top 75 Singles[2] | 24 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay | 13 |
| U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks[3][4] | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks[3][4] | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream[4] | 7 |
| U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40[5] | 2 |
| Chart (1996) | Peak position |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[3] 1 | 6 |
1 "You Learn"/"You Oughta Know"
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g "You Oughta Know". Urban Legends Reference Pages. January 10 2000. Retrieved December 16 2006.
- ^ "Alanis Morissette". Mariah-charts.com. Retrieved December 16 2006.
- ^ a b c "Alanis Morissette - Artist Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved December 16 2006.
- ^ a b c "Alanis Morissette - Billboard Singles". Billboard and All Music Guide. Retrieved December 16 2006.
- ^ "Alanis Morissette". Rock on the Net. Retrieved December 16 2006.