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Songfacts:  You can leave comments about the song at the bottom of the page.

This an angry message from a scorned ex-girlfriend directed at her former lover. Morissette has said it is about a specific person, but that person has not contacted her, and probably doesn't know it's about him. Morissette claims she will never say who this is about, just as Carly Simon has done with "You're So Vain."

The song was rumored to be about the actor Dave Coulier, who Morissette went out with for a while when she was 16 and he was 31 (hence the line "an older version of me"). Coulier played Joey on the TV show Full House, and is known for his Bullwinkle impression.

In a 2008 interview with the Calgary Herald, Coulier confirmed that this song is about their rocky former relationship. The actor/comedian said that he first heard the track was when he was driving. "I said, 'Wow, this girl is angry.' And then I said, 'Oh man, I think it's Alanis,'" Coulier revealed. "I listened to the song over and over again, and I said, 'I think I have really hurt this person.' I tried to contact her and I finally got a hold of her. And at the same time, the press was calling and saying, 'You want to comment on this song?' I called her and I said, 'Hi. Uh, what do you want me to say?' And she said, 'You can say whatever you want.' We saw each other and hung out for an entire day. And it was beautiful. It was one of those things where it was kind of like, 'We're good.'"

This was Morissette's first release on Madonna's Maverick Records, the only major label that would sign her in the US.

US radio stations played this with different degrees of editing. The offending lines are "Would she go down on you in a theater" and "Are you thinking of me when you f--k her." Some stations played a version which completely eliminated "down" and "f--k," while others left in "down" and only cut a little of "f--k."

This won Grammys for Best Rock Song and Best Female Rock Vocal. Jagged Little Pill also won for Best Rock Album and Album Of The Year. Along with Bruce Springsteen and U2, Morissette became the only artist to win for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Album in the same year. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)

Morissette performed a slow version of this at the 1996 Grammys. The show was on a 7-second delay so they could bleep out the word "f--k." The Grammy performance was released as the B-side of "You Learn" in 1996.

This was produced and co-written by Glen Ballard, who has also worked with Wilson Phillips and The Dave Matthews Band. Alanis moved to Los Angeles to work with him.

Dave Navarro and Flea from The Red Hot Chili Peppers played on this.

Jagged Little Pill has sold over 16 million copies. A 10-year anniversary acoustic version of the album was released in 2005. It was sold exclusively at Starbucks coffee shops for the first 6 months. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)

Morissette did not have a record deal in the US when she recorded this. She and Ballard finished it before shopping it to labels so they couldn't interfere with the recording process.

This song gained a lot of exposure when Morissette performed it on the MTV Video Music Awards and on Saturday Night Live.

Morissette started as a dance singer. As a teenager, she was a star in her native Canada.

There is a hidden track at the end of Jagged Little Pill that supposedly describes the day she busted her boyfriend. Just let the CD play after the last song and then you will hear "You Oughta Know" again. After it plays, let it run again and then she starts singing a cappella about the "incident." It is a chilling description of that day. (thanks, Scott - St. Louis, MO)

This song was the basis for an episode of the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm. On the show, Larry David tries to get Alanis to tell him who the song is about.

Beyoncé covered the song during her 2009 I Am... World Tour and performed part of it at the 2010 Grammy Awards.

Comments:

The cuss words are the best part of the song. It's Alanis's most beloved anthem but she has written stronger songs since.
- Theresa, Murfreesboro, TN

The day she found happiness with herself was the day her career died. Still love her though.
- Tracy, Tulsa, OK

The 5-track EP by 1000 Mona Lisas has their cover of You Oughta Know hidden at the end. It's kinda cool. I believe it was released only a few months after JLP.
- Joe, Cornwall, NY

Alanis has got to work hard to compare herself to Joni Mitchell...Alanis sucks! Alexandre Albertoni, Santos, Brazil.
- ALEXANDRE, SANTOS, Brazil

Oooh, this song is great for singing at the top of your lungs. Preferably on your balcony when you know your neighbours can hear you.
- Kate, Burnaby, Canada

Alanis Morissette's debut sent shock waves through the music industry. No pop singer had ever laid bare the anger and pain of a relationship gone bad quite so explicitly. "You Oughta Know" clearly touched a nerve and led audiences into the complex, intricate songcraft of the phenomenally successful [b] Jagged Little Pill [b] album.
- Bertrand, Paris, France

"Morissette performed a slow version of this at the 1996 Grammys. The show was on a 7-second delay so they could bleep out the word "f--k." I saw this performance. It was a very heart-felt, emotional performance, very very very very well done! She cried and so did I - I had recently gone through a divorce that left me feeling much as she felt in this song.
- Jenney, BROWNWOOD, TX

As they say, and as Angel mentioned, "Hell hath no fury, like a woman scorned."
- Dominick, New York, NY

Rock On Alannis!!!!!
- Selena, Griffin, GA

Little known fact: Allanis was once on Ed McMahon's Star Search
- Ed, Incognito, IL

Very powerful song. Alanis poured her heart out on this. Sadly she has never been able to top it or even come close although her other music is o.k.
- Scott, Palm Desert, CA

Alanis used to be on a show on Nickelodeon called "You Can't Do That On Television!" She was also a well known "pop singer" in Canada before she hit here in the US.
- Shay, Bridgeton, MO

When this came out I was about 6 or 7 years old. My mom and sister both listened to Little Jagged Pill, and at the time I didn't get the lines "Would she go down on you in a theater" and "Are you thinking of me when you f--k her." I get those lines now that i'm older and know more than I did then.
- Stefanie, Rock Hill, SC

well this is directed towards Dirk of nashville...her parents let her date him cuz of course they wouldnt have all that money coming in if it werent for her!
- Vanessa, grand blanc, MI

i heard this song was about Mike Peluso, the hockey player
- blair, Peterborough, Canada

What sort of sh*t parents would allow their 16 year old daughter to "go out with" a 31 year old man? Didn't somebody--Mom, Dad, Uncle Fred, Grandma-- think to take the gentleman aside and suggest he focus his romantic feelings on someone who's already had a chance to grow up?
- dirk, Nashville, TN

Apparantly the guy who she's singing about is the same guy who's house she goes to in the hidden track on jagged little pill. not sure if it's true.
- christine, sunderland, England

During the Grammy awards broadcast in Canada, they didn't bleep out the F word. Rock on Canada!!!
- Ron, Malone, NY

The chorus of this was used in Weird Al Yankovich's "Alternative Polka", but sung quite a lot faster
- Kathy, N-U-L, England

Dennis of Remeoville, Illinois, is winding you all up. This song was never the state song of Mississippi. The state song of Mississippi is "Go Mississippi" by William Houston Davis, who was born in Oklahoma in 1914 but moved to Mississippi during WWII. As if a song called "You Oughta Know" about a failed love affair would have been made a state song! And if they were going to change their state song, perhaps they would have picked a slightly more famous Mississippian songwriter than Glen Ballard: for instance John Lee Hooker, Faith Hill, Bo Diddley or Sam Cooke. They might do well to steer clear of infamous wife-beater Ike Turner, or paedophilic double wife-murderer Jerry Lee Lewis, however. Or Britney Spears.
- Richard, Newport, Isle of Wight, England

This ENTIRE album was EXTREMELY overplayed when it was released...got very happy not to hear it everywhere anymore. NO offense Alannis...
- Julie, Marquette, MI

On the comment that it started a "copy cat faze of angry women singers." Alanis did not start that phase, nor would she claim to have. It goes back to the earliest recordings of Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey in the 20's. Alanis just popularized it. Before she came along there was the Riot Grrl sub-revolution, and Liz Phair's "Exile in Guyville"--one of the best albums of the last 25 years (which many have said inspired "Jagged Little Pill"). But towering above them all as the angriest broken heart song (male or female) is Marianne Faithfull's musical disembowelment of an unfaithful lover "Why'd Ya Do It." Not for the faint of heart. Coming out in 1979, it still is entirely frightening, and hasn't lost any of it's apocalyptic fury. Check it out. Due respect to Alanis, but it makes "You Oughta Know" sound merely pouty.
- craig, madison, WI

contrary to the message posted below, this was never even considered to be made the state song of MS. although it is a very good song and i like it very much there are many many much more talented singer songwriters from the state of MS than glenn ballard that would have been considered long before him.
- John Mark Lawler, Hattiesburg, MS

you can really feel her anger when she sings this.....its great.....can't wait for JLP re-release!!!
- Emma, Auckland, New Zealand

It is about Dave Coulier, they broke up only a little while after this was performed.
- Kieran, Harlow, United States

who'da thought this song was about that dude from full house???!!!
- Olivia, Los Angeles, CA

this is such a great angry chick song....alanis morisette is really good at doing those...they're good to cool down to.
- Rachel, Upper Darby, PA

Also that on the you oughta know versian at the end if u let the cd play,the beginning actually uses a bass.
- Scott Baddwin, edmonton, England

started a copy cat faze of angry women singers.....at least alanis sung it from the heart!
- marlow, perth, Australia

I remember that I played this song like 100 times a day after I found out that my ex-boyfriend had cheated on me with another girl. It felt really good at the time to take all my anger and frustration out, while singing this song and driving around in my car.
- Holly, Pensacola, FL

yeah watch out guys.....beware of a woman scorned..
- Angel, Tauranga, New Zealand

Since Glen Ballard is originally from Mississippi, the state legislature made this the state song in honor of a Mississippi boy doing good. However, none of the legislatures knew exactly what the lyrics were. When a public uproar occurred as angry parents said a song with the F word in the lyrics should not be the state song, they revoked the law that made it the state song.
- Dennis, Romeoville, IL

well this song should be a lesson to all men evrywhere dont mess with your girl or she will sing about you and make you look really bad.
- David, Modesto, CA