Story of the song: You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette

From The Independent archive: Robert Webb on one of the most angst-ridden break-up songs ever

Despite rumours, Morissette has never revealed who the song is about (Getty)

Some people like to get their lips around a choc-ice at the cinema. Not Alanis Morissette. In “You Oughta Know”, her debut British hit, she recalls how she performed oral sex on a boyfriend, who then cheated on her. She sees the boy out with the girl he dumped her for. So begins one of the most angst-ridden break-up songs ever. And Morissette was singing from experience. “I did do that, it’s true,” she said. She was a little worried about including the detail in her song, but wrote honestly. “I don’t believe in censoring anything,” she said. “So I used it.”

Born Nadine Morissette in Ottawa in 1974, Alanis relocated to Los Angeles aged 19, with two Canada-only albums to her name and the idea of meeting a musical collaborator. She fell in with Glenn Ballard, and the pair began writing and recording what would become Jagged Little Pill. Morissette is tangled up in blue and seeing red on “You Oughta Know”, a key track on the album. US radio stations bleeped the offending lines, especially, “Are you thinking of me when you f*** her?” Flea and Dave Navarro, from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, provide the track with a fluid groove.

And who is the song about? Despite rumours, Morissette has never publicly owned up, and claims she never will.