"Mr. Know It All" is a song recorded by American pop recording artist Kelly Clarkson. It was written by Brian Kennedy, Ester Dean, Brett James, and Dante Jones, with the production handled by Kennedy, Dean, and Jones. Clarkson described the song as a "vocally raw record" and stated that she and her producers strove to record her voice as it is heard at live performances, using as little auto-tune processing as possible. It was released by RCA Records as the lead single from her fifth studio album, Stronger on September 5, 2011.
"Mr. Know It All" is a midtempo song with R&B influences, with its lyrical content dealing with the themes of heartbreak, and relationships with wisenheimers. Upon its release, "Mr. Know It All" has received mostly favorable reception from music critics, who noted the song as significantly different from Clarkson's previous releases. However, some critics compared this song to Alicia Keys' single "Doesn't Mean Anything" (2009) and Bruno Mars' single "Just the Way You Are" (2010). The song became a commercial success, it became her ninth top-ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and topped the Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart. Internationally, the song topped the charts in Australia and in South Korea, and has attained a top-ten position in New Zealand, Poland, Flanders (Belgium), and the United Kingdom. It also became a crossover hit to the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, becoming her first solo single to enter the country chart after 9 years since "A Moment Like This" (2002), prompting RCA to release a country version produced by Dann Huff in 2012.
The song's accompanying music video was directed by Justin Francis and features a "wall of doubt" background in which derogatory headlines about Clarkson are posted. Several of the critics noted the video's informal fallacy approach to mainstream media. Clarkson has performed "Mr. Know It All" in various locations around the world, most notably at the 2011 NRL Grand Final, on the Australian, British and German versions of the television series The X Factor, and on the set-list of her Stronger Tour.
Background and release
During an interview with Ryan Seacrest, Clarkson revealed that "Mr. Know It All" was the last song recorded by her in February 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee. At the live single event, Clarkson then stated that the reason she picked the song as the first single because "it was unlike any other song that I really ever came up with." She later added that "Secondly, just because it's very different from a first single for me. Usually we go with an anthem, guitar-driven song. This is very different... It's just super sassy and it sets up the album nicely," such as "Never Again" (2007) and "My Life Would Suck Without You" (2009). On August 17, 2011, Clarkson revealed that the first single will be "Mr. Know It All," which was set to be released late August. On August 26, 2011, the song leaked online. On August 30, 2011, at 5:30 PM ET, the song was played during a live webcast Clarkson hosted on her official website. The song was available as a digital download from September 5, 2011. Fans who pre-ordered Stronger on Clarkson's official store received the single for free upon its September 5 release. Clarkson recorded an acoustic version of the song for her second extended play iTunes Session in December 2011. In April 2012, a country version, containing re-recorded vocals, of the song, produced by Dann Huff was released.
Composition
Clarkson described "Mr. Know It All" as "different from any of her other singles because the message is not just about relationships. Even though Clarkson admits she has a list of people that have brought her down, she states that the song is also about ignorant people who think they know everything about someone." Monica Herrera of the Rolling Stone remarked, "Clarkson narrows her octave range – no American Idol glory notes here – and sasses a controlling man with double-entendres ("Baby, I ain't goin' down") that up her R&B appeal."