Comments on: You Oughta Know

By: Yan Hense

Yan Hense — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:34:51 +0000

Oops site owner you have lots of wierd bugs on your page about parse error unexpected T String in line 15

By: Emily

Emily — Mon, 03 May 2010 03:27:41 +0000

Aw, man! The first few time I listened to this I cracked up, and then… something in my brain just flipped and I started crying. Thanks!

By: Delirium-Zer0

Delirium-Zer0 — Sun, 17 May 2009 17:34:57 +0000

Dude, how did I NOT know about this cover until TODAY? o_O!! Huge alanis fan, huge joco fan, and TODAY I find this. Nice. ~

This is a FANTASTIC cover. If Alanis hasn’t heard it yet, I think she’d actually really like it – she always considered YOK a sad song and this is definitely a very sad interpretation of it.

I disagree with people who don’t like that you left the gender pronouns intact. I think it creates a whole new, very emotional story for the song. I mean, imagine yourself as a very secure homosexual man in a very loving relationship with another (seemingly) secure homosexual man as your partner. Suddenly he decides societal pressures are too much and, being cowardly, decides to pursue a relationship with a woman, pretending he’s not gay and pretending he never really loved you. I mean, that’s enough to just tear your heart out. And comments like “I’m sure she’d make a really excellent mother” become MUCH more scathing in that context.

Anyway, I guess this is my long-winded way of saying I REALLY loved this.

By: Erika

Erika — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:28:40 +0000

This cover is a revelation: maybe not your intention, but not changing any of the pronouns queers the song in the most incredible, thought-provoking way.

(And while this song was actually popular and I was in high school hating Alanis Morissette was quite fashionable, but I’ve secretly loved the song ever since finding out it was about Dave Coulier. Dave Coulier!!)

By: PonderousMan

PonderousMan — Thu, 08 May 2008 04:05:19 +0000

Wow… I ran across this because of the “Covers” entry in JoCopedia, where I was rummaging around for more rickrolling info after last week’s show in Madison…

how I managed to miss an entire song, especially one this good, baffles me, and means I will have to carefully check to see if there’s anything ELSE I’ve missed.

Now I have a new song to request for the next show…! *grin*

By: lisa

lisa — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 03:23:46 +0000

this version is great!! i like it exactly the way it is, it sounds almost like a man speaking about his relationship with a man who left him for a woman to have a child/family with. i love it! you’ve got a great voice!

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 02:07:05 +0000

I personally think it would be a wise decision to re-record the song changing some key words and singing it from a man’s point of view.

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 02:06:01 +0000

I personally think it would sound much better if you changed the words somewhat to make it fit a man’s viewpoint.

By: Tindomiel

Tindomiel — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 05:12:48 +0000

Oh wow. Wow. Plaintive instead of bitter, and a whole new dimension to the lyrics when sung by a guy. Amazing. Devastating. I’m in tears listening to this.

By: Doug

Doug — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 05:49:46 +0000

I just thought I’d mention that this is a beautiful cover. Granted, it sounds a little strange being sung by JC from Alanis’ point-of-view, but it’s still very well done.

By: Brie

Brie — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 19:24:05 +0000

Dude. Your cover of this song is awesome–although it is rather disconcerting to hear a man singing this particular song. Especially the bit about nails scratching down someone’s back.

By: Helene

Helene — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 20:36:33 +0000

the song has a bit of a bitter feeling in it, you missed that but you bring it as a peacefull soft song and your voice is absolutely brilliant!!!! So that makes up for the missing feeling

By: Helene

Helene — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 20:35:26 +0000

OMG! you have a great voice 0.0

By: ouija repair

ouija repair — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 15:21:02 +0000

Thanks for that one. Wonderful performance, and great to hear that tune in a whole different context.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 03:52:22 +0000

BRILLIANT!

By: rosemary

rosemary — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 14:49:44 +0000

Is there anyway I can download this? I would love to listen to it away from the computer. Please let me know!

By: Kodamakitty

Kodamakitty — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 05:12:14 +0000

Just adding to what everyone else says here – what a great cover. I was listening to Alanis’s Jagged Little Pill Acoustic and had to flip back to this site and listen to the JoCo version. Both of them are pretty amazing – especially when you consider that the song is over 10 years old (ack!).

Not all the arrangements on JLPA are fantastic – for being acoustic, there’s a lot of additional production (“Perfect” has a lot of echo on the mic and “Right Through You” has an oddly over produced intro), but if you are a fan I would recommend hunting down a copy.

^_^ Liza

By: Matthew C

Matthew C — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 22:16:53 +0000

That song takes on a whole different meaning when a guy sings it.
Esp. the line about making an excellent mother.

I think it is fantastic.

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 20:43:46 +0000

Another home run, JoCo. I downloaded this the day it came out, but I didn’t get a chance to listen until today because i forgot to bring headphones to work. Glad I saved it for today. how awesome, it went well with what I had going on.

By: Justin Kistner

Justin Kistner — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 19:02:44 +0000

I really like this cover. It’s beautiful.

By: M_Pony

M_Pony — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 23:04:52 +0000

That is 9 pounds of wonderful.

By: Wilson Fowlie (aka CuriousMind)

Wilson Fowlie (aka CuriousMind) — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 16:23:12 +0000

As a friend of mine pointed out, if Fergie covers “Code Monkey” (say), then we’d have a complete cycle!

And how awesome would that be, anyway!

By: "links for 2007-04-23" by Bob Plankers, The Lone Sysadmin

"links for 2007-04-23" by Bob Plankers, The Lone Sysadmin — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 06:17:41 +0000

[...] Jonathan Coulton Â» Blog Archive Â» You Oughta Know Weird coincidence, I first listened to his music on Friday. And I love covers, especially good ones, like this. The links he has to those other covers are worth following, too. I love “Straight Outta Compton” sung by a guitar-wielding white lady. [...]

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 03:05:42 +0000

http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/oughta.htm

Ewwwww…

From the “Like it matters…” dept.: I met Alanis a few times when she was in Halifax, NS. I was a DJ and she was doing the rounds on a promo tour for her “Too Hot” single… She was nice.

By: Eric Ginsberg

Eric Ginsberg — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 22:19:24 +0000

Dave Coulier must be reeling. Man, you told him.

By: mom on a wire

mom on a wire — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 19:41:08 +0000

Ohhh, that’s lovely. Good job!

By: esther

esther — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 17:48:43 +0000

i’m madly in love with this song. where can i download it?

By: Chase

Chase — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 14:46:07 +0000

After listening to this thing for a few days, I really find myself bewitched by the sweet guitar and mouthing the lyrics. Beyond its obvious humor level, I’m really starting to enjoy it independently (which makes it among your best). Nicely done.

By: kitty

kitty — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 05:52:26 +0000

i really love this. thank you for making it & sharing it!

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 01:01:48 +0000

Wheras Alanis was the angry young woman, JoCo sings from a perspective of “Hey, I’m a little pissed off…but uh nevermind.”

Beautiful! I love it…

By: Scott Haley

Scott Haley — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 00:46:18 +0000

Woo hoo! Sounds good.

By: sillybean » Jonathan Coulton covers ‘You Oughta Know’

sillybean » Jonathan Coulton covers ‘You Oughta Know’ — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 18:47:41 +0000

[...] Jonathan Coulton covers ‘You Oughta Know’ — you might remember his delightful ‘Codemonkey’ 12:47 pm comment [...]

By: Ben Brown Says » Blog Archive » In a theatre?!

Ben Brown Says » Blog Archive » In a theatre?! — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 18:06:35 +0000

[...] The internet is ironic cover CUHRAZY! Jonathan Coulton covers Alanis’ You Oughta Know [...]

By: dregina

dregina — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:15:15 +0000

Lovely & weird. Thank you.

By: Batshua

Batshua — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:06:32 +0000

Does anyone else think the lyric sounds like “I hate to fuck you in the middle of dinner”? It keeps making me giggle. Good think I don’t listen to the song while I’m eating, ’cause then it might choke me in the middle of dinner.

By: Darias

Darias — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:42:09 +0000

Woot! New JC stuff!

And since someone else mentioned what they thought the first time they heard your Baby Got Back cover, I too thought of Tori Amos. Except for me it was her cover of Smells Like Team Spirit. BGB worked as-is…but the gender bend on this sounds like a gay man who’s partner left him and “went straight”.

Fantastic job though. With the potential litigation from Ms. Morissette’s attorneys asking you to take it down, this is now safely tucked into my song library.

By: D.J.

D.J. — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 08:33:40 +0000

So great to find a new tune on the site! Gives me hope that there could be a TAW 5 some day …

By: Talorat

Talorat — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 06:19:56 +0000

YES MORE MUSIC!

Could this be a sign of things to come? only time will tell.

By: Andrine

Andrine — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 05:47:30 +0000

“First of all, she most likely has never heard of me…” She most likely has now. Be looking for the ‘cease and desist’ letter in the mail

Will you forgive me, Love?

By: Jennifer F.

Jennifer F. — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 03:12:49 +0000

oh sweet begezus, Len….. do NOT draw a picture of this song!! as much as we all love the man – no offense, Jonathan – we really don’t need to see the fingernails, the scratching, the slapping, the jon-on-dave coulier action…. all things best kept within locked boxes hidden in the darkened recesses of our collective fan consciousness.

By: BobCat

BobCat — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 02:46:11 +0000

That song was way cooler before I found out it’s about Dave Coulier from “Full House”.

By: Derek C. F. Pegritz

Derek C. F. Pegritz — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 02:28:58 +0000

You, sir, are an effin’ genius. I didn’t think anything could touch your cover of “Baby Got Back,” but this is just…beautiful. You took one of my LEAST favorite songs of all time and made it freakin’ beautiful. It sounds like a lost John Prine/Kansas collaboration, and anything even close to that is just wonderful.

By: Justin

Justin — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 00:16:22 +0000

I’m glad to hear the gear has been dusted off once again!

Great job. Playing this back-to-back with her version makes it feel like some rip in the fabric of space and time is about to happen.

By: BucketHatBobby

BucketHatBobby — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 23:11:19 +0000

Oh my god. Jon, you just completed my life.
I always used to play this song (not publicly, of course) and always felt weird, being a guy singing this.
I’ve always loved the song, and you made this song so much more awesome for me.

I’m glad you pulled out your recording crap again.

By: winegeek

winegeek — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 22:09:37 +0000

A big THANK YOU to you, Jonathan! Nice choice of song, pretty arrangement, and your vocals…sheesh! Really sounds great. Hey, if you banged this one out in just a day, you’ve still got “it,” so why not try to throw us a few other ditties, eh? You’ve got us on a pretty thin reinforcement schedule here, dude.

By: Gle3nn

Gle3nn — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 21:47:34 +0000

I was wondering what was up when I couldn’t get through earlier. It was like a black fly in my chardonnay not being able to get through but I was able to pull myself together and try again and now I’m here…
woohoo a new song! This made my day.

By: Sujin

Sujin — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 21:04:03 +0000

This song made my day. No, not my day. My week.

By: Katie FL

Katie FL — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 19:34:52 +0000

Oh man, that cover’s great

I’d never heard or seen the original “My Humps” song — it’s pretty disgusting. I really like Alanis Morissette’s version, though

By: Glenn

Glenn — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 19:31:54 +0000

Oh man! I got so used to skimming that a friend actually notified me that there was a new song before I’d heard it! I’m a failure as a Coulton evangelist!

By: Today’s 5ive : Tinkr.net

Today’s 5ive : Tinkr.net — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 18:21:19 +0000

[...] You Oughta Know – You gotta love Jonathan Coulton. This is is cover of the Alanis Morissette song. Here is the blog link of him explaining why he did it. [...]

By: David King

David King — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 18:08:24 +0000

So what are our chances of seeing this come to your Thing a Week podcast? Even if it’s not a thing a week, it’s still nice to see things on it sometimes

By: Luke M

Luke M — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 17:54:14 +0000

Say there, Mr. C, while you’ve got the studio warmed up, how about recording “Vienna” just for the heck of it?