Alanis Morissette was about as big as any artist has ever been in the ’90s. Her cutting lyricism earned her many ears, thanks to the era’s affinity for punchy realism. She released one of her name-making songs in 1996, “Ironic.” Despite its massive success, there was some lyrical controversy surrounding it. According to Morissette, fans missed the real irony behind this thematically questionable track.
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The Real Irony of Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic”
You might be saying to yourself, “What’s controversial about ‘ironic’?” For most listeners, absolutely nothing. But some listeners have pointed out that the lyrics, built around the idea of ironic circumstances, aren’t actually ironic—at least not in the strictest sense.
The chorus reads: It’s like rain on your wedding day / It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid / It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take / And who would’ve thought? It figures.
The list of “ironic” situations Morissette puts together in this song is more plainly unfortunate than truly ironic. Many naysayers have pointed out this fact, over the years, using this song as a punchline for Morissette’s lack of understanding.
According to the singer herself, there’s an even greater irony at play that fans have missed.
“Not Wildly Precious About It”
There are greater offenses in lyricism than Morissette missing the mark of irony. Countless artists have made up words or forced a meaning for the sake of rhyme. Lyricism isn’t always graded on grammatical correctness. This is a fact that Morissette knows and doesn’t think about too hard.
“People got really triggered by the malapropism, or whatever the word is,” Morissette said on MGM+’s Words + Music. “I am a linguist. I’m obsessed with linguistics. I also love making up words, and I also don’t care.”
“Where I go when people are triggered by anything is I quickly go to ‘what’s at the epicentre of this, what is everyone really up in arms about,’” she continued. “‘Why is everyone laughing?’ And I think we’re afraid to look stupid.”
She went on to say that she knows the irony in “Ironic” isn’t strong, but that she wasn’t being too precious about the writing process.
“I think a lot of lyrics around the planet, many, many artists, most of us aren’t being wildly precious about it,” she continued elsewhere. “So I’m 90% grammar police, which is the real irony. And then 10%, I really couldn’t care less. So I think the 10% won over on that song.”
In the end, “Ironic” has many shades of irony. And, all in all, it doesn’t matter if this song was ironclad in its use of language; it became a hit all the same. Revisit it below.
(Photo by Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images)
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