Is Alanis Morissette's You Oughta Know Really About Dave Coulier?
Upon its release in 1995, many speculated that Alanis Morissette's fiery hit song "You Oughta Know" was about her relationship with Dave Coulier, a rumor so strong that Coulier himself even responded to it.
During an interview on SiriusXM, Coulier described hearing the song for the first time. "I'm driving in Detroit and I've got my radio on, and I hear the hook for 'You Oughta Know' come on the radio," Coulier told hosts Jim Norton and Sam Roberts. "And I'm like, wow, this is a really cool hook. And then I start hearing the voice. I'm like, 'Wow, this girl can sing.' And I had no idea, you know, that this was the record. And then I was listening to the lyrics going, 'Ooh, oh no! Oh, I can't be this guy.'"
After hearing the entirety of the song, Coulier revealed that he immediately went to a record store (remember, this was the 1990s) to hear the whole of Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill" album. As he listened, Coulier realized that there were quite a few references that could only have been about his and Morissette's relationship. At this point, Coulier said he understood, "'Ooh, I think I may have really hurt this woman.'And that was my first thought."
The Canadian singer featured some stinging lyrics in the track
Despite the aggressive lyrics of "You Oughta Know," the "Full House" actor doesn't seem to hold a grudge against Alanis Morissette, saying in the same interview that Morissette was nothing but kind to him when they reconnected. He also told the hosts that Morisette didn't appear to be worried about him retaliating against the song and instead told him that he could speak about their relationship freely.
So, has it been explicitly confirmed that the song is about Dave Coulier?
Not by Morisette herself. In a 2004 appearance on "The Howard Stern Show," the singer-songwriter joked that nobody would ever truly know who the song is about due to her being the only one in the studio when it was written. "People talk about who that song's about, and they will continue to, and I never, I never confirm or affirm who it's about, and I never will," she told Stern. However, she did go on to backpedal a little, stating, "Well, I say never, and I really shouldn't say never, 'cause I may very well one day do it."
Speculation about the song still exists over 20 years later
Although Alanis Morissette's dating history doesn't just include Dave Coulier, the timeline of when they dated (from 1992 to 1994) and when "You Oughta Know" came out (in 1995) makes it very likely that the scornful hit is about him.
A few years later, Morrisette went on to date Ryan Reynolds. The pair became engaged in 2004 but ultimately broke things off in 2007. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times a year after the breakup, Morissette described herself as "a full-blown love addict" and discussed how painful she found breakups because of this. Considering how raw the lyrics of "You Oughta Know" are (that lyric about doing something explicit in a theater is a standout line) we can only assume that her breakup with Coulier gave Morissette enough ammo to write such a song.
It doesn't sound as though Morissette will ever explicitly say that her most known hit is about Coulier, but, based on the evidence, we think it's safe to say it probably is.