"Ironic" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriterAlanis Morissette, released in February 1996 byMaverick andWarner Bros. Records as the third single (fourth in Japan[3]) from her thirdstudio album,Jagged Little Pill (1995). It was written by Morissette andGlen Ballard, and was produced by him. The lyrics present several unfortunate situations that are described as "ironic"; this has led to debate as to whether any of these match the accepted meaning ofirony.[4]
For six weeks, the track topped the CanadianRPM 100 Hit Tracks chart, eventually becoming the second-most-successful song of the year in the country. It also reached the top five in Australia, New Zealand, and Norway, as well as the top 10 in seven additional countries, and number 11 in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the song reached number four on April 13, 1996, and since then it has been her highest-charting single on theBillboard Hot 100. "Ironic" was certified gold by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song won theJuno Award forSingle of the Year, and received twoGrammy Award nominations in1997, forRecord of the Year andBest Short Form Music Video. French directorStéphane Sednaoui filmed the music video.[5] In it, Morissette drives through a winter landscape, and she playsmultiple roles as her passengers. MTV nominated the music video for sixMTV Video Music Awards in1996, winning three of them. The music video was listed onVH1's "Greatest Music Videos" list and was parodied by DBA Flip, Allison Rheaume,Rusty and"Weird Al" Yankovic.
"Ironic" was included on theset list of Morissette's Jagged Little Pill World Tour (1995), and her compilation albumsMTV Unplugged (1999),The Collection (2005), among others.
"Ironic" was written byAlanis Morissette andGlen Ballard, and produced by the latter for her thirdstudio album,Jagged Little Pill (1995).[6] In an interview with Christopher Walsh ofBillboard, Ballard explained how he and Morissette met, and how "Ironic" was written. He commented: "I'm telling you, within 15 minutes we were at it—just writing. 'Ironic' was the third song we wrote. Oh God, we were just having fun. I thought 'I don't know what this is—what genre it is—who knows? It's just good'".[7] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com byUniversal Music Publishing, it is set in common time, with a moderatetempo of 92 beats per minute,[8] and played in the key ofB major (with the chorus being based on theF♯Mixolydian scale). Morissette's vocals range from the tone ofE4 toA♯5, and thechord progression starts with the sequence of Emaj7–F♯6–Emaj7–F♯6, before changing to F♯–Badd9–F♯–G♯m7 in the verse and chorus.[8]
The song's usage of the wordironic attracted media attention; according toJon Pareles ofThe New York Times, it gives a distinct "unironic" sense in its implications.[9][10] According to theOxford English Dictionary,irony is "a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what was or might be expected; an outcome cruelly, humorously, or strangely at odds with assumptions or expectations".[11] From aprescriptivist perspective, lyrics such as "it's a free ride when you've already paid" and "atraffic jam when you're already late" are thus not ironic.[12]
Morissette said: "For me the great debate on whether what I was saying in 'Ironic' was ironic wasn't a traumatic debate. I'd always embraced the fact that every once in a while I'd be themalapropism queen. And when Glen and I were writing it, we were not doggedly making sure that everything was technically ironic."[12] In 2014, Michael Reid Roberts wrote a defense of the song forSalon, saying that it citessituational ironies:[13] the "state of affairs or event[s] that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is oftenwryly amusing as a result".[13]Michael Stevens of the YouTube channelVsauce devoted time to the discussion of irony in his 2014 episode "Dord". According to him, the irony of the song may not necessarily be situational, butdramatic irony – when someone is unaware of the significance of the event while others are: the situations aren't ironic themselves, but life itself is ironic.[14]
ComedianEd Byrne performed a skit in which he jokingly attacked the song for its lack of ironies: "The only ironic thing about that song is it's called 'Ironic' and it's written by a woman who doesn't know what irony is. That's quite ironic."[12]Satirists Berger and Wyseparodied the song in one segment of theircartoon stripThe Pitchers. In that episode, a superhero named "Irony Man" compared his superpowers to lyrics from Morissette's song, causing his cohorts to rename him "The Man from Alanis".[15] In December 2009, the comedy websiteCollegeHumor released a spoof video of the song called "Actually Ironic", featuring actressSarah Natochenny, in which Patrick Cassels amended the lyrics in a form that would be appropriately ironic. For example, "it's like rain on your wedding day, to the Egyptian sun godRa."[16][17] TheCollegeHumor spoof was similarly replicated in July 2013 with a song called, "It's Finally Ironic" by sisters Rachael and Eliza Hurwitz, fromNew York City, who published their version onYouTube.[18] The sisters adjusted the lyrics to reflect irony (e.g., "it's a black fly in your Chardonnay, that was specifically purchased to repel black flies") and sing the line "We fixed it for you, Alanis. You're welcome." throughout their video.[19]
In his 2014 song "Word Crimes","Weird Al" Yankovic references Morissette's lyrics by singing "irony is not coincidence", and the music video for the song shows afire truck burning (depicted as "Irony") compared with rain during a wedding (which is described as "Weather").[20] Morissette herself poked fun at her grammar mistakes during a 2013 performance of "Semicolon" withThe Lonely Island onJimmy Kimmel Live! In it, Morissette cut off their song to explain that their use ofhashtag rap to demonstrate the function of asemicolon is incorrect, to which they respond that her critiquing their grammar is "ironic".[21] Morissette further poked fun at herself in a 2015 performance of an updated version "Ironic" onThe Late Late Show with James Corden, in which she added the line "it's singing 'Ironic', when there are no ironies" to the song.[22]
Jaime Gill fromDot Music commented on the original version of "Ironic", on his review ofJagged Little Pill Acoustic (2005), that "[Jagged Little Pill] gave us pop's greatest parlour game, with spot the genuine irony in 'Ironic'" and calling the song "pretty" and "catchy". Additionally, he noted that the acoustic version “actually sounds more relaxed and engaging without the hoary loud guitars of the original".[23] Even thoughStephen Thomas Erlewine ofAllMusic marked the track as one of the "All Media Guide track pick" of the album,[24] in a separate review, from the same website, theCD single release was rated with two-and-a-half out of five stars.[2] Pareles noted that in verses of "Ironic", and another song from the album ("Mary Jane"), "it's easy to envision Morissette on the stage of a club, singing wry couplets backed byacoustic guitar".[25] He also commented in another article he wrote, that the song was actually "unironic".[10] Victoria Segal fromMelody Maker praised it as "a perfectly nice piece of bubblingfolk rock."[26] A reviewer fromMusic Week rated it four out of five, noting that it "builds into another powerful anthem with beautiful echoes of TheCocteau Twins. It could see her break into the Top 20 for the first time."[27] Dave Brecheisen ofPopMatters felt that the acoustic version of "Ironic", was much worse than the original version.[28] The single won theJuno Award forSingle of the Year at the1997 ceremony,[29] andin the same year it was nominated for aGrammy Award, in the category ofRecord of the Year.[30][31][32]
In Canada, "Ironic" debuted on theRPM 100 Hit Tracks at number 95 on the issue dated January 8, 1996.[33] Twelve weeks later the track topped the chart, on April 1, 1996,[34] staying there for six weeks,[35] being replaced by "Closer to Free" by American bandBoDeans.[36] Spending twenty-nine weeks within the top 100, it was last seen on July 22, 1996, at number 81.[37] It spent 14 weeks in the top 10 and was the number-two song of 1996, behind Morissette's own "You Learn" at number one. On otherRPM charts, the single topped the Alternative 30 for a single week, spending 11 weeks in the top 10,[38] finishing 1996 as the number-five song for the year on that chart. It reached number six on the Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.[39]
In the US, the track debuted at number 11 on theBillboard Hot 100 following its commercial release, becoming the highest debut on the issue ending March 16, 1996.[40] The single eventually reached its peak position, at number four, on April 13, 1996.[41] "Ironic" is currently Morissette's highest-charting hit on the Hot 100 chart.[42] On other US charts, the single became her third number-one hit on theBillboardModern Rock Tracks chart,[43] where it stayed for three weeks.[40][44][45] The song topped theTop 40/Mainstream chart, reached number five onAdult Top 40 and peaked at number 28 on theAdult Contemporary chart.[46]
In Australia, the song debuted at number 40 on theARIA Singles Chart.[47] In its eighth week, it peaked at number three on May 12, 1996, where it stayed for two weeks. It last appeared on the chart on July 21, 1996, at number 37. As of 2026, "Ironic" is her best-charting song in the country.[47] In New Zealand, where the song was released as adouble A-side with "You Oughta Know",[48] it debuted at number 13 on April 21, 1996, peaked at number three on May 19, and made its last appearance on the chart at number 36 on June 30, staying at total of 11 weeks in the top 50.[49] Like in Australia, "Ironic" became Morissette's highest-peaking single in New Zealand, but only at the time; "Thank U" and "Hands Clean" would chart higher in 1998 and 2002, respectively.[50]
The song was generally well-received throughout Europe. In the United Kingdom, "Ironic" debuted and peaked at number 11 on April 20, 1996. It left the chart eight weeks later, at number 67.[51] In theNorwegian Singles Charts, it debuted at number 18, rising to number 17 the next week. It rose to number five on its third week, and later peaked at number four, staying there for five weeks. It later dropped one place, and remained there for another two weeks. "Ironic" kept within the chart for seventeen weeks.[52] In Belgium, it reached sixth place on theUltratop 50 (Flanders region), and ninth place on theUltratop 50 (Wallonia zone).[53][54]
In September 2001, following theSeptember 11 attacks, "Ironic" was included in Clear Channel Communications's (nowiHeartMedia) list of "lyrically questionable" songs, commonly known as theClear Channel memorandum.[55] This was presumably due to the song's second verse, which tells the story of a man flying in an airplane that crashes.[56]
The music video for "Ironic" was directed byStéphane Sednaoui[57][58] and released on January 23, 1996.[59] It was filmed over 2 cold December 1995 days, on Route 9 and the Garden State Parkway, in Woodbridge, NJ. In the beginning of the video, Morissette is at a gas station, walking to her automobile (1978 Lincoln Continental Mark V) with a cup of coffee in her hand. Then, she drives her car through a winter landscape, and she begins to sing the song'sfirst verse. When it comes to thechorus, a second Morissette comes in. She is in a green sweater and sits in the backseat on the passenger side. When the first chorus ends, a third Morissette comes in, and she is in a yellow sweater with braided hair, also in the backseat, but on the driver's side. Along the way, the yellow Morissette is singing and eating at the same time, and when it comes to the second verse, a fourth and last Morissette comes in, she is in a red sweater sitting in the front passenger seat. During the second chorus, she climbs out of the window when they are still driving and almost gets knocked out by a bridge, but still manages a smile after doing so. The camera comes back to the driving Morissette, after the breakdown, and she takes off her hat, tosses it into the back seat, and becomes as loud as the other three while singing the song. When Morissette sings theoutro, she is still driving through the winter landscape, and suddenly the car breaks down (possibly having run out of gas, which may be "ironic" in itself since the video started with her at a gas station). Morissette (as the driver) gets out of the car, and all her "passengers" have disappeared.
In an interview forVogue in 2015, Morissette revealed that her clothes in the video reflected the personalities of each character. The driver in a red knit beanie was the one in control, "the responsible one". The spunky character, who Morissette refers to as the “quirkster,” wears a yellow sweater with a crown of long swaying braids. Morissette liked the braids so much that she would often wear them on stage. The passenger-seat girl wearing a deep red sweater and pajama-type pants was "the romantic—wistful and thoughtful and also the risk-taker". As for the girl head-banging in the backseat in green sweater, Morissette said; "The girl in green feels the most like the 'whole me'. The green sweater girl—fun and frolic-y. [She] gets into trouble—she's the girl you want with you when you are heading to a water park."[60]
Blaine Allan noted in the bookTelevision: Critical Methods and Applications (2002) how Morissette interacts with the watcher. He commented that unlikeBritney Spears' "Lucky" music video, where Spears plays dual role of a girl named "Lucky" and her fan, and both appear together in some scenes helped byvisual effects, "Ironic" does not utilize them, using solelyediting, giving the sense that all the Morissettes interact with each other.[61] Journalist Carol Vernallis also found that Morissette's "chitchat" way of singing the song creates an intimate connection with the viewer. She mentioned the video in her bookExperiencing Music Video: Aesthetics and Cultural Context (2004), where she studied how the audience may pay attention to the lyrics of the song in a music video. Vernallis added that "Ironic" music video functions as a limited example of how the meaning of a song's lyrics become "inaccessible" when they are videotaped and televised.[62]
In late 1996, a parody version of the video was released featuring a 6-year-old Canadian girl named Allison Rheaume, who mimics Morissette's actions and wardrobe whilelip syncing to the original song.[67] At the end, her father notices her in the car sitting in the driveway and tells her to stop fooling around. This version of the video, directed by David Rheaume,[68] was played onMTV and was included on Morissette's CD/DVDThe Collection (2005).[69] Also in late 1996, the video was spoofed byJimmy The Cab Driver during a commercial on MTV.[67] Inglewood, CA rapper DBA Flip parodied the video for his 1996 single "It's Friday Night (Just Got Paid)". At the end of the video, Flip's car runs out of gas as he rolls up on an Alanis Morissette lookalike carrying a gas can and wearing one of the jackets from the "You Learn" video.[70]
Canadian bandRusty parodied "Ironic" on the version 2 of the music video for their 1997 single "Empty Cell".[71]"Weird Al" Yankovic produced a parody version of the video in 2003 for histelevision comedy seriesAl TV, in which he takes the place of the fourth version of Morissette in the front passenger seat.[72][unreliable source] In 2018, Toronto R&B singer Ramriddlz paid tribute to "Ironic" on the music video for his single "Worst Love".[73]
With "Ironic", Morissette denoted her support forsame-sex marriage. In March 2004, Morissette amended a lyric at thefifteenth annualGLAAD Media Awards: "It's meeting the man of my dreams / And then meeting his beautiful husband".[81][82] She commented toUSA Today that her support about same-sex unions "goes a step further than clever lyrics."[83] She remarked that "[her] fantasy would now be to marry some of [her] gay couple friends."[83] Later in June 2004, she said to VH1: "I don't have any gay-couple friends who are formally engaged, but I would be honored to support the gay community in that way ... I did it as a sort of spontaneous thing at a radio station about a month ago with a couple, and my heart was so with them."[81] Morissette recorded an acoustic version of the song with the changed lyric for heriTunes Originalsrelease, in 2004.[84] Another acoustic version was recorded for the albumJagged Little Pill Acoustic,[85][86] as well for the compilation albumCities 97 Sampler, Volume 16 (2004).[87] Morissette also performed the song withAvril Lavigne at theHouse of Blues in 2005.[88] 19 years later on June 23, 2024, Alanis brought her daughter, Onyx to sing that song not only for her daughter's birthday, but also as a prelude to the song's 30th anniversary. The performance was met positively by many fans, including in Canada and even appeared onBreakfast Television onCitytv.[89][90]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
In the1996 novelNaïve. Super byNorwegian authorErlend Loe, the protagonist watches the music video for the song on television and dreams about "meeting an Alanis-girl and living in a house together with her".[171] In a season 4 episode ofLois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, entitled "Bob and Carol and Lois and Clark", several characters make joking references to the song not really being about irony at all throughout the episode.[172] In theJay and Silent Bob comicChasing Dogma (1998), the character Tricia Jones is singing "Ironic" before Jay steps into the shower.[173] The music of the song was featured in theromantic comedy filmI Could Never Be Your Woman (2007), whereSaoirse Ronan, as Izzie Mensforth, sings an altered version of the lyrics in a talent show.[174] It also made a predominant appearance as the opener to 2013comedy filmThe Internship, starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, as they sing along to it.[175]
In 2015, Morissette appeared onThe Late Late Show with James Corden and sang a version of the song with new lyrics "updated" for the technology era, and an homage to the linguistics of the original mentioned above.[176]
^abcIronic (Compact Disc). California, United States: Maverick Records. 1996. 9362-43700-2 4.
^Walsh, Christopher (June 30, 2001). "Boutique Distributors Make Noise Under The Radar".Billboard. Vol. 113, no. 26. Nielsen Business Media. p. 38.ISSN0006-2510.
^abcHorberry, Roger (2010).Sounds Good on Paper: How to Bring Business Language to Life (XVII ed.). London, England: A & C Black Publishers Ltd. p. 136.ISBN978-1-4081-2231-0.OCLC659730168.A common misconception is that 'ironic' is a direct synonym for coincidental. The lyrics of Alanis Morissette's UK top 11 (and US top five) hitIronic describes a number of apparently ironic situations, each verse ending with the refrain 'Isn't it ironic?' To which the answer must be a polite but firm 'no', as the lyrics are a succinct explanation of what ironyisn't. How ironic.
^"Yearly Summary". Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived fromthe original on February 26, 2014. RetrievedFebruary 21, 2014.
^Walsh, Christopher (June 30, 2001). "Boutique Distributors Make Noise Under The Radar".Billboard. Vol. 113, no. 26. Nielsen Business Media. p. 40.ISSN0006-2510.
^ab"Billboard: The International, Newsweekly of Music, Video and Home Entertainment".Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 11. Nielsen Company. March 16, 1996. p. 110.ISSN0006-2510.
^"Billboard: The International, Newsweekly of Music, Video and Home Entertainment".Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 15. Nielsen Company. April 13, 1996. p. 100.ISSN0006-2510.
^Vernallis, Carol (2004). "Experiencing Music Video: Aesthetics and Cultural Context".Journal of the Society for American Music. New York City, New York: Columbia University Press:139–140.ISSN1752-1963.OCLC4669115003.
^"Smashing Pumpkins: Welcome to Their Jungle".Spin.12 (3). New York City, New York: Camouflage Associates. June 1996.ISSN0886-3032.
^The 39th Annual Grammy Awards (Television production).Grammy Awards. New York City, New York: National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. February 26, 1997. RetrievedJune 30, 2011.
^Garibay, Daniel (October 1, 2008)."Comparten Jesse y Joy sus 'sesiones'".Reforma (in Spanish).Grupo Reforma. Archived fromthe original on July 28, 2013. RetrievedJuly 27, 2013.[P]laticó Jesse, acerca de Esta es mi Vida Sesiones, su nuevo disco ... También contiene el cover de Alanis Morissette, "Ironic"...
