There are many rock ballads on the You Tube website. Of all the rock ballads on You Tube, Alanis Morisette’s You Oughta Know describes the person I was in my late teens and early twenties most succinctly. In fact, I think it is one of those rock ballads that speaks for a whole generation. When this song was released in the mid 1990s, it was very popular with the crowd I associated with. You Oughta Know is a song that describes the bitterness and angst a young person feels when a relationship ends. The lyrics to the song are a very honest description of the raw anger and hurt a person who hasn’t quite matured feels at the end of a relationship. The lyrics show that the betrayed individual doesn’t quite know how to process the hurt, which therefore manifests itself as a bitterness that is not psychologically healthy. This song differs from most rock ballads because it candid and outspoken. The sting in the lyrics reflects reality. Unlike other rock ballads about lost love, there is nothing sappy or sentimental about this song.