| "I Should've Known" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byAimee Mann | ||||
| from the albumWhatever | ||||
| B-side | "Jimmy Hoffa Jokes" | |||
| Released | 1993 1994 (re-issue) | |||
| Length | 4:00 (single version) 4:53 (album version) | |||
| Label | Imago | |||
| Songwriter | Aimee Mann | |||
| Producer | Jon Brion | |||
| Aimee Mann singles chronology | ||||
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"I Should've Known" is a song by American singer-songwriterAimee Mann, which was released in 1993 as the lead single from her debut studio albumWhatever. The song was written by Mann and produced byJon Brion. "I Should've Known" reached No. 55 in theUK Singles Chart and No. 16 in the USBillboardModern Rock Tracks chart.[1][2] In 1994, the single was reissued in the UK and Europe, and peaked at No. 45 in the UK Singles Chart.[3]
In the United States, "I Should've Known" received airplay on alternative radio, but failed to generate considerable sales. It saw more commercial success in the United Kingdom after being played frequently onBBC Radio. Mann toldThe Boston Globe in 1993: "When I asked Jonathan Russell [a BBC staffer] why the BBC wanted to play it, he said, 'Just because it's a good song.' Hey, I didn't think that happened anymore."[4]
The song's music video was shot in and around a vacant house nearIthaca, New York in March 1993. It was directed byKatherine Dieckmann and produced by Sandra Tait for Cascando Studios. Dickermann and Mann had originally intended for the video to be shot "down south" with a "spring feeling" but owing to the1993 Storm of the Century, which resulted in heavy snowfall, it was filmed near Ithaca instead.[5]
Dieckmann toldBillboard in 1993: "It's unusual to see a woman in a video who isn't portrayed as a bimbo or as some 'tough chick'. Aimee wanted to break out of the whole'Til Tuesday image of the heartbroken, lovesick girl raging about relationships. So we decided to treat this breakup with some black humor."[6]
In a review ofWhatever, Mark Caro of theChicago Tribune described "I Should've Known" as the best of the album's "upbeat songs" and a "crunching guitar stomp freshened by a breeze of background vocals."[7] Chuck Campbell of theScripps Howard News Service considered it a "liberating song" which is "so well crafted with its thoroughly ingratiating hook, sumptuous backing vocals and intriguing decorations that listeners will be hard pressed to let the album advance to the second track".[8]
Parry Gettelman ofThe Orlando Sentinel wrote: "'I Should've Known' sounds likeSgt. Pepper-eraBeatles viaWorld Party andCrowded House. There's a bit ofthe Kinks viaChrissie Hynde in Mann's vocal, and the coda is shot through with the riff fromGeorge Harrison's 'Something' kinda sideways and upside down."[9] Sam Gnerre ofThe News-Pilot noted: "Mann breathes life into the often-complex songs with her warm, conversational vocal style, which gives mid-tempo songs such as "I Should've Known" a resonant fullness."[10]
In a review of the song's UK single release,Taylor Parkes ofMelody Maker gave a mixed review, calling it "thick in both senses". He considered it "the fattest, most thunderous pop record of this or any other recent week", but also believed there is "more intelligence in a Linus manifesto than this happy, little rip-off" ofBob Dylan's 1973 song "Knockin' on Heaven's Door".[11]
I Should've Known
Production
Other
| Chart (1993) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles (OCC)[12] | 55 |
| UK Airplay Breakers (Music Week)[13] | 7 |
| USAlternative Airplay (Billboard)[14] | 16 |
| Chart (1994) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles (OCC)[12] | 45 |
| UK Airplay Breakers (Music Week)[15] | 16 |
