"Ironic"
Single by Alanis Morissette from the album Jagged Little Pill
Released	1996
Format	CD single
Genre	Rock
Length	3:49
Label	Maverick
Writer	Alanis Morissette, Glen Ballard
Producer	Glen Ballard
Alanis Morissette North America singles chronology
"All I Really Want" (1995) "Ironic" (1996) "You Learn" (1996)
Alanis Morissette European singles chronology
"You Learn" (1996) "Ironic" (1996) "Head over Feet" (1996)

"Ironic" is a song written by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard, and produced by Ballard for Morissette's third album Jagged Little Pill (1995). It was released as the album's fourth single in 1996 (see 1996 in music). Image File history File links Ironic_single_cover. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... Alanis redirects here. ... Jagged Little Pill is the third studio album and the first internationally released album by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette. ... A CD single is a music single in the form of a compact disc. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Rock music (disambiguation). ... In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. ... Maverick Recording Company, is an American record label owned and operated by Warner Music Group, and distributed through Warner Bros. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... All I Really Want for Christmas is the second Christmas album by Steven Curtis Chapman, released in September 2005. ... You Learn is a 1995 song by Alanis Morissette and was the seventh track (and the third of six singles) from her Jagged Little Pill CD. A music video, featuring a cart-wheeling, back-flipping, dread-locked Morissette, was created. ... Head Over Feet is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, featured on her American debut album Jagged Little Pill. ... Alanis redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Jagged Little Pill is the third studio album and the first internationally released album by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... See also: 1996 in music (UK) Musical groups established in 1996 Record labels established in 1996 // January 8 - Madonnas stalker, Robert Hoskins is found guilty and convicted on five charges of assault, stalking, and threatening to kill the singer. ...

Style and theme

Musically, the song is a glossy take on a basic grunge music format, with delicate, sparsely-instrumented verses alternating with loud, aggressive chorus sections. Lyrically, it comprises a series of vignettes describing situations, each ending in the question "Isn't it ironic?" For example: Image File history File links Ironic. ... “Grunge” redirects here. ...

"A traffic jam when you're already late

A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break

It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife

It's meeting the man of my dreams

And then meeting his beautiful wife

And isn't it ironic... don't you think?"

In 2004 Morissette amended a lyric as a show of her support for gay marriage:^[1] Same-sex marriage is marriage between individuals who are of the same legal or biological sex. ...

"It's meeting the man of my dreams

And then meeting his beautiful husband"

She first sang the line at the fifteenth annual GLAAD Media Awards in March 2004.^[2] She recorded an acoustic version of the song with the amended lyric for an exclusive iTunes Music Store release. Another acoustic version was recorded for the album Jagged Little Pill Acoustic (2005), and another for the Cities 97 Sampler Volume 16 (2004). A live version without the altered lyric is included on the album Alanis Unplugged (1999). The GLAAD Media Awards were created in 1990 by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to recognize and honor the media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBT community and the issues that affect their lives. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into ITunes. ... Jagged Little Pill Acoustic is an acoustic version of Alanis Morissettes blockbuster album Jagged Little Pill. ... The Cities 97 Sampler (also titled Cities Sampler and The Cities Sampler) is a series of albums containing live in studio recordings from radio station Cities 97 (KTCZ 97. ... Alanis Unplugged is the fifth album and first live album by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, released by Maverick Records in the United States on November 9, 1999 (see 1999 in music). ...

"Ironic", which contains a reference to a plane crash, was on the list of songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel following the September 11, 2001 attacks, and subsequently left off of the set list during her 2002 tour. This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... A clear channel, in the general sense, is a communications channel (such as a radio frequency) on which only one transmitter operates at a time. ... A sequential look at United Flight 175 crashing into the south tower of the World Trade Center The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as 9/11—pronounced nine eleven or nine one one) consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist[1] suicide attacks upon the United States, predominantly...

Linguistic usage disputes

Look up ironic in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The song's usage of the word "ironic" attracted attention for what many feel is an improper application of the term. Some situations that Morissette describes in the song are arguably examples of cosmic irony: events that, as the Oxford English Dictionary puts it, appear "as if in mockery of the fitness or rightness of things", such as "a death row pardon/two minutes too late". Others appear to be merely unfortunate (not even improbable or coincidental), such as "a black fly/in your Chardonnay" or "A traffic jam/when you're already late." If one discounts cosmic irony, however, it is arguable that the song is ironic in and of itself - there is a fundamental incongruity in a song titled "Ironic" which ultimately contains no irony, an interpretation that Morrison herself has supported. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 150 languages. ... Ironic redirects here. ... The Oxford English Dictionary print set The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP), and is the most successful dictionary of the English language, (not to be confused with the one-volume Oxford Dictionary of English, formerly New Oxford Dictionary of English, of...

An analysis of the ironic lack of irony in "Ironic" by Irish comedian Ed Byrne includes: Ed Byrne Ed Byrne (born April 10, 1972 in Swords, Dublin) is a stand up comedian from Ireland and is probably best known as being the voice of the Carphone Warehouse adverts. ...

"There's nothing ironic about being stuck in a traffic jam when you're late for something. Unless you're a town planner. If you were a town planner and you were on your way to a seminar of town planners at which you were giving a talk on how you solved the problem of traffic congestion in your area, couldn't get to it because you were stuck in a traffic jam, that'd be well ironic."

"Rain on your wedding day is ironic only if marrying a weatherman and he set the date."

"A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break, that's inconsiderate office management. A no-smoking sign in a cigarette factory - irony."

The song and video were discussed at length in VH1's I Love the '90s. Mo Rocca commented in the broadcast, "Irony is the disparity between what you expect will happen and what does happen. So raining on your wedding day isn't ironic; it's just crappy. It would have been ironic if she had lived in a place like Seattle and traveled to the desert of Mexico for a wedding, and it ended up raining there, but not in Seattle. Alanis always gets the last laugh though. We all sit here, saying her song isn't ironic, but in fact, that's pretty ironic that she wrote a song called 'Ironic' that wasn't really ironic. Those Canadians are pretty crafty." VH1 (VH-1: Video Hits One until 1994) is an American cable television channel that was created in January 1985 by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communications and owners of MTV. VH1 and sister channel MTV are currently part of the MTV Networks division... I Love the 90s is a television mini-series originally produced by the BBC, and later for American audiences by VH1, in which various music and TV personalities reminisce about 1990s culture. ... Mo Rocca (born Maurice Alberto Rocca on January 28, 1969 in Washington, DC) is an American writer, comedian, and political satirist. ... City nickname Emerald City City bird Great Blue Heron City flower Dahlia City mottos The City of Flowers The City of Goodwill City song Seattle, the Peerless City Mayor Greg Nickels County King County Area   - Total   - Land   - Water   - % water 369. ...

"Ironic" was parodied in an MTV television commercial featuring Donal Logue as a cab-driver with his quadruplicate counterparts spouting similarly un-ironic ideas. (One sample: "It's like meeting the girl of your dreams and finding out she's five.") In contemporary usage, a parody (or lampoon) is a work that imitates another work in order to ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke some affectionate fun at the work itself, the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. ... Donal Francis Logue (born February 27, 1965[1] or 1966[2]) is a Canadian actor. ...

Alanis's thoughts on Ironic

Morissette herself does in fact acknowledge that "Ironic" is not filled with ironies and this in itself is what makes it ironic. Additionally, she confirms that she is a self-dubbed "malapropism queen" and that the song was lighthearted and not taken too seriously at the time it was written. This article or section seems to contain too many examples (or examples of poor quality) for an encyclopedia entry. ...

[1]

Commercial release

Because "Ironic" was Morissette's first single to be given a commercial release in the United States, it was eligible to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and reached the top five; as of 2006 it is her highest peaking single there. "Ironic" became Morissette's third number-one hit on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart and her first on the Top 40 Mainstream chart, as well as receiving regular recurrent rotation on Adult Top 40 radio stations. It reached the top ten in Germany and peaked just outside the top ten in the United Kingdom, becoming Morissette's first top twenty hit there. “Hot 100” redirects here. ... 2006 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Modern Rock Tracks is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. ... Top 40 Mainstream (often also called Mainstream Top 40) is an airplay format from Billboard Magazine. ... Recurrent rotation refers to a song still getting frequent airplay on a CHR station after several months. ... Adult Top 40 is a another variation on the Top 40 format, in which this genre is more geared towards an adult audience who are not into Rock music teen Pop, Dance music, Hip-Hop, Modern Rock or slower Adult Contemporary fare. ...

The single's video was released in January, 1996 and received heavy rotation on MTV and VH1. It was directed by Stéphane Sednaoui and features Morissette driving a car. As the first chorus begins, the first of her two passengers is revealed: Morissette in a green sweater, riding in the back seat. Morissette portrays the other two passengers: one in a yellow sweater with braided hair, also in the back seat; and the other in a red sweater in the front passenger seat. At the end of the video, Morissette (the driver) exits her car after it stalls, but her passengers are nowhere to be seen. A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song. ... This article is about the original U.S. music television channel. ... Stéphane Sednaoui (born in Paris, France) is a photographer and director. ...

The video was nominated for six MTV Video Music Awards in 1996, and won three: "Best Female Video", "Best New Artist", and "Best Editing". It was nominated for two 1997 Grammy Award in the "Best Music Video - Short Form" category, but lost to The Beatles' "Free as a Bird" and for "Record of the Year", losing to Eric Clapton's Change The World. "Ironic" was one of few videos released with multi-colored Closed Captioning, a rare practice in North America. The verses appeared in light blue, and the chorus appeared in green. The musical notes that usually accompany song lyrics or background music appeared in purple. The MTV Video Music Awards were established in 1984 by MTV to celebrate the top music videos of the year. ... The following is a list of MTV Video Music Award winners for Best Female Video. ... The following is a list of MTV Video Music Awards winners for Best New Artist. ... The following is a list of MTV Video Music Award winners for Best Editing. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video has been awarded since 1984. ... The White Album, see The Beatles (album). ... Free As A Bird is a song, single and video released by The Beatles in December 1995 as part of their reunion and promotion around the release of the video documentary Anthology and their Anthology 1 compilation album. ... The Record of the Year is an award created by record producer Jonathan King voted for by the UK public. ... Eric Patrick Clapton CBE (born 30 March 1945), nicknamed Slowhand, is a Grammy Award winning English guitarist, singer, songwriter and composer. ... {{dabpage|Change the World is also the name of a song by Cold, from the album A Different Kind of Pain, and a son by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony off the album Change the World is a song recorded by Eric Clapton with backing by Babyface for the soundtrack of... A commonly-used symbol indicating that a program or movie is closed-captioned. ...

In late 1996 a parody version of the video was released, and starred a young girl (named Allison Rheaume) who mimicked Morissette's actions and wardrobe while lip syncing to the original song. At the end, a man notices her in the car and tells her to stop fooling around. This version of the video received mild airplay as a novelty on VH1 and was, for a time, the only video for "Ironic" available for viewing in Yahoo!'s LAUNCHcast music video library. It was included on the Morissette CD/DVD The Collection (2005). Lip synchronization is the synchronization of audio signals (sometimes with corresponding video signals) so that there is no noticeable lack of simultaneity between them. ... A 1999 issue (#35) of the LAUNCH disk magazine, a precursor of LAUNCHcast. ...

Similarly, "Weird Al" Yankovic produced a parody version of the video for Canada's MuchMusic, in which he takes the place of the fourth version of Morissette in the front passenger seat. This article is about the musician himself. ... MuchMusic (often referred to only as Much) is a Canadian English language cable television specialty channel owned by CTVglobemedia dedicated to music and music-related programs. ...

Charts

“British Hit Singles” redirects here. ... The Mainstream Rock Tracks chart is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music but are not modern rock (that is, alternative) stations, which are counted in the Modern Rock Tracks chart. ... The Adult Contemporary chart (formerly known as Adult Contemporary Singles) lists the most popular songs weekly calculated by airplay and occasionally sales. ... Adult Top 40 is a another variation on the Top 40 format, in which this genre is more geared towards an adult audience who are not into Rock music teen Pop, Dance music, Hip-Hop, Modern Rock or slower Adult Contemporary fare. ... For another definition see rhythmic and CHR Rhythmic Top 40 is a contemporary hit music genre where the music, direction and makeup of the audience differ from the more mainstream Top 40 format. ...

Notes

1. ^ Vineyard, Jennifer. "Alanis Isn't Angry Anymore — She's In Love". MTV News. June 4, 2004. Retrieved August 23, 2006.
2. ^ Keck, William. "Politics in play at gay awards". USA Today. March 28, 2004. Retrieved August 23, 2006.

MTV News is the news division of MTV, the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTVs related channels around the world. ... is the 155th day of the year (156th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 235th day of the year (236th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. ... is the 87th day of the year (88th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 235th day of the year (236th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

• "Alanis Morissette - Artist Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved August 23, 2006.
• "Alanis Morissette - Billboard Singles". Billboard and All Music Guide. Retrieved August 23, 2006.
• "Alanis Morissette". Mariah-charts.com. Retrieved August 23, 2006.

It has been suggested that Billboard be merged into this article or section. ... is the 235th day of the year (236th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music, owned by All Media Guide. ... is the 235th day of the year (236th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 235th day of the year (236th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• It Is Ironic, Isn't It?
• Irony and Ignorance
• Definition of irony
• Definition of and usage note for ironic
• "Morissette Single Reaches New Levels of Meta-Irony", Heuristic Squelch humour article, November 2002