You Oughta Know
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| "You Oughta Know" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Alanis Morissette | ||||
| from the album Jagged Little Pill | ||||
| Released | July 7, 1995 | |||
| Format | CD single, cassette single, 12" single | |||
| Recorded | 1994 | |||
| Genre | Post-grunge | |||
| Length | 4:09 | |||
| Label | Maverick | |||
| Writer(s) | Alanis Morissette, Glen Ballard | |||
| Producer | Glen Ballard | |||
| Alanis Morissette singles chronology | ||||
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"You Oughta Know" is a Grammy Award-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 are rumored to describe Morissette's fouled relationship with Dave Coulier of Full House, introduced her harsh, angst-ridden lyrics to the public.
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[edit] History
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The song 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 the album, 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 played the bass on the song, while Dave Navarro played guitar (both were in the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the time). Matt Laug played drums on the 1995 release of "You Oughta Know". 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 won two Grammy Awards, Best Rock Song and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. Also was nominated for Song of the Year, losing to "Kiss from a Rose" by Seal, at the Grammy Awards of 1996.
The song is a playable track in the 2008 music/rhythm video game Rock Band 2, developed by Harmonix.
"You Oughta Know" was ranked #12 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90's in December 2007.
[edit] Track listing
- "You Oughta Know" (The Jimmy the Saint clean version)
- "You Oughta Know" (The Jimmy the Saint Blend)
- "Perfect" (acoustic version)
[edit] Music video
The music video was directed by Nick Egan and features a dimly lit Morissette hitchhiking across a desert.
[edit] 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. According to an ABC News web article, "ex-girlfriend Alanis Morissette revealed that her angst-ridden hit 'You Oughta Know' was about her relationship with Coulier".[1] The Urban Legends Reference Pages has this rumour as undecided.[2]
There are many other celebrities who have been rumored to be the lover in the song, including:
- Bob Saget, Coulier's co-star on Full House[2] (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 Mike Peluso of the New Jersey Devils (he played for the Ottawa Senators in 1992-93)[2]
- Actor Matt LeBlanc, who appeared in the video for Morissette's single "Walk Away" (1991)[2]
- Musician Leslie Howe, the producer of Morissette's first two albums in the early 1990s[2]
The topic of the song is discussed in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Morissette told star Larry David whom 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 as God in the 1999 film Dogma and again in 2001's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
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 song's lyric about the singer performing oral sex in a theater. Yankovic also included the song in his polka medley "The Alternative Polka", on his 1996 album Bad Hair Day.
The mystery surrounding the song brought comparison to Carly Simon's "You're So Vain".
In October of 2008, Morissette reiterated her refusal to identify the subject, commenting to a CanWest News Service journalist, "Well, I've never talked about who my songs were about and I won't, because when I write them they're written for the sake of personal expression. So with all due respect to whoever may see themselves in my songs, and it happens all the time, I never really comment on it because I write these songs for myself, not other people."
[edit] Charts
| Chart (1995) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart | 4 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 20 |
| UK Singles Chart[3] | 24 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay | 13 |
| U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks[4][5] | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks[4][5] | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream[5] | 7 |
| U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40[6] | 2 |
| Chart (1996) | Peak position |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[4] 1 | 6 |
1 "You Learn"/"You Oughta Know"
[edit] Cover versions
- A lounge music style cover of the song was recorded by Canadian band Jaymz Bee and the Royal Jelly Orchestra for their 1997 album Cocktail: Shakin' and Stirred.
- Beyoncé Knowles covered the song during her 2009 I Am... World Tour.
- Britney Spears performed a cover of the song at select North American concerts on her 2009 world tour, The Circus Starring: Britney Spears.
- Another lounge music cover of the song was recorded by Richard Cheese for his 2005 album Aperitif for Destruction.
- The Killing Moon covered the song for the 2006 compilation Punk Goes 90's.
- Covered by Jonathan Coulton as a response to Alanis' cover of "My Humps" being compared to his cover of "Baby Got Back". He also stated it made him "feel guilty to be a man." [1]
- 1000 Mona Lisas, as a hidden track on their EP 1000 Mona Lisas. The track is hidden at the end of the last track on the CD. The cover starts after 5 minutes of silence.
- Lauren Street, a contestant on the seventh season of Australian Idol, sang her own arrangement of the song for her semi-final performance. Despite excellent praise from the judges, she failed to advance and was later called back for the wildcard show.
Simple Plan closely references a line in their song Your Love is a Lie with a small difference.
[edit] Notes
- ^ 'Full House': 20 Years Later
- ^ a b c d e "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 Allmusic. Retrieved December 16, 2006.
- ^ "Alanis Morissette". Rock on the Net. Retrieved December 16, 2006.
| Preceded by "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" by U2 |
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single July 22, 1995 – August 19, 1995 |
Succeeded by "J.A.R. (Jason Andrew Relva)" by Green Day |
