As always, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve boasts an impressive list of performers. Airing tonight, December 31, on ABC, the lineup includes a celebratory performance from Alanis Morissette.
Morissette is not only ringing in the new year, but also the 30th anniversary of her lauded album, Jagged Little Pill. Her performance promises to include a host of her top songs, including “You Oughta Know” alongside Reneé Rapp. The pair will perform remotely from the west coast.
I want you to knowThat I’m happy for youI wish nothing, but
The best for you both
Though we don’t know much about Morissette and Rapp’s performance, knowing the anthemic appeal of “You Oughta Know,” we can surmise it’ll be a crowd favorite. The lyrics see Morissette deliver a scathing rebuttal to an ex who did her wrong.
“When I hear that song, I hear the anger as a protection around the searing vulnerability,” Morissette once said. “I was mortified and devastated. It was a lot easier for me to be angry and feel the power from that anger versus the broken, horrified woman on the floor.”
This song has been attributed to actor Dave Coulier, who played Uncle Joey on Full House. The pair dated in the early ’90s, lining up with the writing of this song.
And I’m here, to remind youOf the mess you left when you went awayIt’s not fair, to deny meOf the cross I bear that you gave to me
You, you, you oughta know
“You Oughta Know” appeared on Jagged Little Pill. The album peaked at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 200 chart in the mid-’90s. It remains Morissette’s most recognizable work. As a testament to the album’s success, a namesake musical debuted nearly 30 years after its release.
“I often tell people that when I write my songs initially, they are for myself, not unlike a journal entry,” Morissette once said. “Then once I share them, they are not mine anymore. People can interpret them in whatever way they want to. It becomes sort of macro in a way. And I love hearing people’s interpretations of the songs because 99% of the time in a way that might be obvious, it has nothing to do with my personal experience. It’s just sort of adopted by them and marks a certain time, so I live for it.”
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Audacy)
