Alanis Morissette Get Irony

Did Alanis Morissette Get Irony Right?

Isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think?” — Alanis Morissette

Many people struggle with irony in their writing, despite the media fable that everyone born after 1965 lives a life so deeply entrenched in irony that we can’t handle a direct assertion.

Many bloggers are sarcastic and snarky (nastier forms of irony generally intended to deride a specific person) simply because it’s an easy substitute for a fully developed writer’s voice.

Irony is a bit more subtle, and that’s why it can cause people trouble.


That’s not ironic, it’s just coincidental


When it comes to “not getting” irony, there’s one person who comes immediately to mind for many — Alanis Morissette. More than two decades later, her hit song “Ironic” from the 1995 album Jagged Little Pill is still the punch line of scores of irony-related jokes.

If you’re not familiar, Morissette’s song describes various life situations followed by the two questions “Isn’t it ironic?” and “Don’t you think?”

Did Alanis Morissette Get Irony Right?

“Isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think?” — Alanis Morissette

Many people struggle with irony in their writing, despite the media fable that everyone born after 1965 lives a life so deeply entrenched in irony that we can’t handle a direct assertion.

Many bloggers are sarcastic and snarky (nastier forms of irony generally intended to deride a specific person) simply because it’s an easy substitute for a fully developed writer’s voice.

Irony is a bit more subtle, and that’s why it can cause people trouble.


That’s not ironic, it’s just coincidental


When it comes to “not getting” irony, there’s one person who comes immediately to mind for many — Alanis Morissette. More than two decades later, her hit song “Ironic” from the 1995 album Jagged Little Pill is still the punch line of scores of irony-related jokes.

If you’re not familiar, Morissette’s song describes various life situations followed by the two questions “Isn’t it ironic?” and “Don’t you think?”

The perceived problem with the song is that most, if not all, of the given examples do not constitute either situational or literary irony.


For example:


  1. “A traffic jam when you’re already late

  2. A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break

  3. It’s like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife

  4. It’s meeting the man of my dreams

  5. And then meeting his beautiful wife

  6. And isn’t it ironic … don’t you think?”


Well, no. Those are unfortunate situations, but they are not typically what one would define as ironic. Which leads critics to claim that Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic” isn’t actually ironic.

Ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife in the employee break room of a Henckels cutlery factory … now that would be ironic.