Song · Alanis Morissette
“You Learn” by Alanis Morissette
From the album Jagged Little Pill (1995)
“You Learn” by Alanis Morissette appears on 20 radio countdowns from 11 stations between 1996 and 2023. It was first released in 1995 on the album Jagged Little Pill. Its best result is #7 on the Virgin Radio Top 10 Songs of 1996. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #45 alternative song of 1996, #2,753 alternative song of all time and #492 of the '90s.
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"You Learn" is the gentle heart of Alanis Morissette's third album, Jagged Little Pill, from 1995, and the song that gave the record its name. She wrote it with producer Glen Ballard, and where much of the album seethes, this one shrugs and smiles: a song about the useful lessons buried in bad decisions.
Ballard handles the guitar and keyboards, Benmont Tench's organ warms up the edges, and Morissette's voice swoops and yelps with loose, conversational wit. Chris Fogel mixed it. It first came out in Japan in September 1995 and rolled out around the world the next year, going top 40 in the UK, the US and beyond. At home it topped Canada's RPM chart and was the country's most successful single of 1996, and many critics picked it as one of the album's standouts.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 32 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1996 | 107 |
| 1996 | 21 | Live 105 San Francisco, CA | Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1996 | 25 |
| 1996 | 51 | Q101 Chicago, IL | Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1996 | 101 |
| 1996 | 54 | WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD | WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1996 | 99 |
| 1996 | 62 | 107.7 The End Seattle, WA | The End Top 107 Songs of 1996 | 107 |
| 1996 | 7 | Virgin Radio United Kingdom | Virgin Radio Top 10 Songs of 1996 | 10 |
| 1996 | 43 | Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) | Radio & Records Top 96 Songs of 1996 | 96 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 147 | WNEW-FM | WNEW Firecracker 500 (1996) | 500 |
| 1999 | 481 | Q101 | Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1017 |
| 1999 | 590 | 107.7 The End | The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1077 |
| 1999 | 1502 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 2000 |
| 2000 | 1502 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) | 2001 |
| 2001 | 1509 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 2002 |
| 2002 | 1507 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) | 2003 |
| 2003 | 1511 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) | 2004 |
| 2003 | 80 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio VR10x10 (April 2003) | 100 |
| 2004 | 1511 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 2005 |
| 2005 | 1510 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 1994 |
| 2020 | 1955 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2023 | 231 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
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