Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic” is one of the most iconic songs of the 1990s. Morissette released the song on her best-selling album “Jagged Little Pill” in 1995. “Ironic” was written by Morissette and songwriter-producer Glen Ballard, like all songs on the album. But what’s the story and meaning of the song? In this article, we will dive into the meaning, story, and legacy behind Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic”.
The Story Behind the Song
Before the release of the successful Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette released two studio albums titled Alanis and Now Is the Time. The albums are relatively unknown and vastly different in sound compared to Jagged Little Pill.
After the release of Morissette’s first two albums – and after being dropped by record label MCA – she decided to move from Canada to Los Angeles in 1994. There, she met songwriter and producer Glen Ballard.
Morissette and Ballard instantly connected. “We were laughing and having a cup of tea within five minutes,” Ballard reflected. “And ten minutes later, kind of diving into a creative no-man’s land, really.”
“I thought wow, here’s someone I can delve into some subject matters that may offend, or trigger, or bother some other collaborators,” Morissette replied. “Glen was embracing it; and he was saying, keep on, let’s do it.”
In the span of a few months, Ballard and Morissette wrote 20 songs, 12 of which ended up on Jagged Little Pill. According to Ballard, “Ironic” was among the first songs the pair wrote together.
The Meaning of the Song
Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic” presents a set of situations described as ironic, such as ‘rain on your wedding day’ and a ‘traffic jam when you’re already late’. Most of the situations in the song, however, aren’t ironic but just unfortunate coincidences. As a result, the song is more about life’s unexpected and sometimes frustrating twists and turns.
During Morissette’s Spotify Landmark session, Producer and songwriter Glen Ballard explained the origin of the song. “Our process began with lunch over chopped salads and iced T. I recall her saying something like, ‘Wouldn’t it be ironic for an old man to win the lottery and die the next day?’ We were fresh with this thought when we walked into the studio ten minutes later. This was the beginning of the true magic between us.”
Morissette herself, however, wasn’t a big fan of the song and didn’t want it to be part of Jagged Little Pill. She decided to include it anyway after Ballard insisted “Ironic” was the album’s best song. A decision she may have regretted briefly, given the criticism of the song’s lack of irony.
Read more: The Raw Meaning Behind “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morissette
When asked about the lyrical content of the song – especially the lack of irony – Morissette replied: “There are a lot of people that have shame around being stupid, and I did too. It was embarrassing to have the planet basically say, ‘you’re a dumba–‘ for your malapropism. And at the same time, it is ironic that a song called ‘Ironic’ isn’t filled with ironies.”
“We [Morissette and Ballard] weren’t being precious about it. Honestly, I thought 10 people would hear that song. I didn’t think the whole planet would be putting it under such scrutiny so, I wasn’t really being precious about it.”
The lack of irony in “Ironic” has been a point of debate ever since the song’s release. In an interview with The Guardian Morissette cited the backlash as the most embarrassing moment of her career. But over the years, Morissette decided to poke fun at her own song. During The Late Late Show with James Corden, for instance, she sang the song with updated lyrics including the line: “It’s singing ‘Ironic’, when there are no ironies.”
The Legacy of Ironic
“Ironic” was released as the third single of Jagged Little Pill in February 1996. The song became the album’s most commercially successful song. It topped the Canadian charts and peaked at number 4 on the US charts. The song was also a top-10 hit in Europe.
Part of the song’s popularity came from its iconic music video. The video, produced by Stéphane Sednaoui, features Morissette driving in a car playing various characters of herself. The several versions of Morissette wear clothes with distinct color schemes, presenting different personality traits. The video won 3 MTV awards in 1996.
Jagged Little Pill went on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time. It sold over 33 million copies worldwide and is one of the most popular albums of the 1990s. Thanks to songs like “You Oughta Know”, “Hand in My Pocket”, “Head Over Feet”, and obviously “Ironic”, Alanis Morissette became a cultural phenomenon.
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