You Learn

Morissette and Ballard wrote it, and the album title comes from its line about swallowing a jagged little pill. Morissette has explained that when she is deep in something hard she often cannot see the lesson in it until later, and that the line that follows, about swallowing it down, points to some kind of payoff, though not always right away. Benmont Tench played organ and Chris Fogel recorded and mixed it. The drumbeat samples Mr. Loverman by Shabba Ranks.

It was the album's fourth single in North America. Because the CD single carried the live You Oughta Know from the 1996 Grammy Awards as an A-side, Billboard credited the chart position to You Learn and You Oughta Know together, and the pair reached number six on the Hot 100. It topped the RPM chart in Canada and was the country's most successful single of 1996, and it reached number one on the Pop Songs chart in the US and number seven on Modern Rock. Liz Friedlander directed the original video, shot in New York's Meatpacking District in 10 degree weather over 23 hours. An MTV Unplugged version opened that 1999 album and was released as a single in France and elsewhere in Europe.

The Bacon Brothers covered it on their 2014 release 36 Cents.