You Oughta Know

"You Oughta Know"
Single by Alanis Morissette
from the album Jagged Little Pill
B-side
  • "Perfect" (acoustic version)
  • "Wake Up"
ReleasedJuly 6, 1995 (1995-07-06)
RecordedJune 1994 – February 1995[1]
Genre
Length4:09
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Glen Ballard
Alanis Morissette singles chronology
"(Change Is) Never a Waste of Time"
(1993)
"You Oughta Know"
(1995)
"You Learn"
(1995)
Music video
"You Oughta Know" on YouTube

"You Oughta Know" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, released as the lead single from her third studio album, Jagged Little Pill (1995), on July 6, 1995. After releasing two studio albums, Morissette left MCA Records Canada and was introduced to manager Scott Welch. Morissette began working on new music after moving from her hometown of Ottawa to Toronto, but made little progress. In Los Angeles, she met producer Glen Ballard, with whom she wrote songs including "You Oughta Know". Despite much speculation concerning whom the song is about, Morissette has never disclosed the person's identity and has never indicated an intention to do so.

"You Oughta Know" signaled Morissette's departure from bubblegum pop to alternative rock, and features guitarist Dave Navarro and bassist Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers. It outperformed the label's expectations and received positive reviews. After the influential Los Angeles modern rock radio station KROQ-FM began playing it, the single reached the top ten in Canada, Australia and the United States. It was a multiformat hit in several US genre charts, and made the top 40 in Belgium, Iceland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

A music video was directed by Nick Egan. The single was added in the set list for Morissette's 1995 world tour; since then, it has been included in her albums MTV Unplugged (1999), Feast on Scraps (2002), and The Collection, as well as 1997 Grammys and the MTV Unplugged compilation albums. It has received numerous accolades; in 1996, the single was nominated for three Grammy Awards, winning the awards for Best Rock Song and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. In 2021, the song was listed at #103 in the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[3]

  1. ^ "Entertainment Weekly October 9, 2015" – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ "You Oughta Know - Alanis Morissette | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  3. ^ "Alanis Morissette, 'You Oughta Know'". September 15, 2021.