Story Behind The Song: How Alanis Morissette created ‘You Oughtta Know’
Alanis Morissette’s 1995 album Jagged Little Pill propelled the musician into a new and unparalleled level of fame. A worldwide success, topping the charts in various countries around the planet, Morissette had duly arrived. Setting the artist on the meteoric journey to the top was the lead single ‘You Oughtta Know’, a daggered anthem of angsty heartbreak.
The lyrics are snappy, and the delivery is sharp and filled with a sense of overwhelming unease. What’s not to love? Even though Morissette’s songs often remain a mystery in terms of subject matter, it can be enthralling to try and picture the person who stirred her up enough to write this number.
But what might surprise you, however, is that upon looking into the possibilities, there is one person that prevails. What does the face of the man who broke her heart and tore her to pieces look like? Is he a badass movie star? A rock musician? Or uncle Joey from Full House? Yep, the last entry appears to be the most reliable. There is strong evidence to suggest that ‘You Oughtta Know’ was written about comedian Dave Coulier, who the singer dated before the release of the single.
Over the years since the single’s release, the pair have bounced back and forth when it comes to their claims, as Coulier has both denied and speculated that the song was written about him. Coulier was quoted: “I said, ‘Wow, this girl is angry.’ And then I said, ‘Oh man, I think it’s Alanis. I listened to the song over and over again, and I said, ‘I think I have really hurt this person.'”
Morissette, on the other hand, prefers not to reveal the subjets and inspirations behind her songs directly, even denying that the song was written about him in a documentary. However, since this came into play long after the fact, there remains a strong chance that Coulier could have been the muse after all.
Amid the strong and somewhat murky history of the song’s inception, there have been a few other suitors that have been linked to the song, but none as clearly as Dave Coulier. Morissette herself has said of her songwriting process: “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.”
Even though many of the details of their relationship remained relatively private, Coulier and Morisette were a highly publicised couple throughout the 1990s. The primary public drama seemed to be surrounding the song itself. Even long after, Morissette has said, “No revealing, but I am intrigued at the thought—or at the fact—that more than one person has taken credit for it. I’m thinking, I don’t know if you want to take credit for being the person I wrote ‘You Oughta Know’ about.”
At least six different men have taken credit for the song being written about them, so it seems that Coulier wasn’t the only one who felt the sting of those lyrics.
