"Scotty Doesn't Know" is a song written and performed by the American rock band Lustra. Originally written for the 2004 film '' EuroTrip'', the song contains numerous lewd and humorous references to how Scotty's girlfriend, Fiona, has been cheating on him with other partners for an extended period of time, although Scotty remains oblivious. Lyrically, the song is inspired by the real-life story of the band's high school friend Sheridon, whose middle name was Scotty, and is written from the perspective of the person with whom she is having the affair. The song was eventually released on Lustra's 2006 album '' Left for Dead''. The song peaked at #53 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Pop chart, #39 on the Digital Songs chart and at #75 on the Hot 100, mainly due to the high number of digital downloads.

''EuroTrip''

In the film ''EuroTrip'', Scotty ( Scott Mechlowicz) is dumped by his girlfriend Fiona (

Kristin Kreuk Kristin Laura Kreuk (; born December 30, 1982) is a Canadian actress. Debuting on teen drama '' Edgemont'', she became most known for her television roles as Lana Lang in the superhero television series ''Smallville'' (2001–2011), Catherine ...

) for a band's lead singer (

Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon ( ; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. He was ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars in 2007, and in 2010 was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has received va ...

). The band performs the song at a party Scotty is attending and the song is praised by many characters in the film (including Scotty's parents and eventually Scotty himself) as being "catchy". The song becomes something of a popular phenomenon, appearing on the radio and across the world; in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

, the song has been

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

ed and is playing in a popular

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

. By the end of the film, it has become so widespread and popular that Scotty's best friend Cooper is able to use it as his

cell phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This radio ...

ring tone (The) Ring(s) may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

Writing

''EuroTrip'' film director

Jeff Schaffer Jeff Schaffer (born 1970) is an American film and television director, writer, and producer. Early life and education Schaffer and his brother Greg (also a film and TV writer and producer) were raised in the Warren– Howland, Ohio area, abou ...

described "Scotty Doesn't Know" as "what's the most embarrassing thing you could do that could happen to you after graduation?" Film writer

David Mandel David Mandel (born ) is a writer, actor, director, and producer. He was an executive producer and showrunner of '' Veep'', and also an executive producer and director of ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' and ''Seinfeld''. He is also a comedian, and one ...

, members of Lustra, and Damon attended

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

together. The producers chose Lustra's version over another song written by

Matt Mahaffey Matt Mahaffey is an American multi-instrumentalist, record producer, composer, and recording engineer best known for his band Self (band), Self and his composer collective Cake in Space. Early and personal life Mahaffey grew up in Kingsport, T ...

Self In philosophy, the self is an individual's own being, knowledge, and values, and the relationship between these attributes. The first-person perspective distinguishes selfhood from personal identity. Whereas "identity" is (literally) same ...

, in which "Scotty Doesn't Know" also repeats in the chorus.

Legacy

While ''EuroTrip'' was not successful in theaters, "Scotty Doesn't Know" helped the film to become popular on

home video Home video is recorded media sold or Video rental shop, rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD and Blu-ray. ...

as a

cult classic A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...

. In 2006 "Scotty Doesn't Know" hit the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...

, making Lustra among the first unsigned bands, other than Lisa Loeb, to appear on a

record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, ofte ...

. On October 18, 2018, the

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party and was ...

, had his personal website taken over as a prank after his ownership of it was apparently allowed to lapse. Instead of displaying information about the Prime Minister and his policies, the page displayed an image of Morrison with the song "Scotty Doesn't Know" playing on repeat. The man behind the website claimed to have paid for the

domain name In the Internet, a domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services, and more. ...

Chart positions

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2003 songs 2006 singles Lustra (band) songs Practical jokes Scott Morrison Songs about fictional male characters Songs about infidelity Songs written for films