Songfacts®:

• This lovelorn ballad finds Jill Scott challenging the understanding of love over a bluesy, horn-laden instrumentation. "'You Don't Know' is a really emotional song for me, because I don't think people know what love is," she told Billboard magazine. "People today are not willing to go through any level of fire. As soon as any fire comes, love just evaporates."
• "You Don't Know" was written by Jerry Ragovoy, who is best known for The Rolling Stones' "Time Is On My Side," Lorraine Ellison's "Stay With Me" and Big Brother & the Holding Company's "Piece Of My Heart." The song was originally recorded by Carl Hall in 1967 under its original title of "You Don't Know Nothing About Love."
• This was the first song made available from Woman. Scott explained to Billboard magazine: "It was a huge statement about the album's title: a female who isn't afraid of the hurt or growth that comes with being a woman."