My Gen X Playlist: Ironic – Alanis Morrisette

Whoever invented the pill box is a genius. I now use it religiously. It only occurred to me I needed one when I couldn’t remember if I took my medication for the day. And it’s not like I take a lot of meds, because I don’t. My memory used to be rock solid. These days, not so much.

One of the perks of the pill box during my sabbatical, it helps me remember the day of the week. When you’re off work, trying to remember the day of the week goes out the window (poor me, I know). I need to savor this for now. Soon I’ll be a working stiff again and I’ll be back on the treadmill.

Today’s song is from Alanis Morrisette’s Jagged Little Pill album. Morrisette released Ironic in 1995. The interesting thing here is, the lyrics are not actually ironic at all.

The events described in the song (rain on your wedding day, a traffic jam when you’re already late, etc.), are not examples of irony. Irony is the use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. The one actual, ironic statement in this song is, “As the plane crashed down he thought ‘well, isn’t this nice’…” Sarcasm is an example of irony, and this thought, clearly, was a sarcastic one.

The London Times June 14, 2008 asked Morissette if she has worked out the meaning of irony yet. She replied: “Yes, I’ve now learnt the definition of irony – but the dictionary now says that it’s a coincidence and bad luck, too – not that I don’t deserve a little slap on the wrist for my malapropism. I always tell people that I’m the smartest stupid person you’ll ever meet.”

– Songfacts

Personally, this doesn’t matter to me at all. It just adds to the charm. I also had no idea what malapropism was and curious enough to look it up. I just read the definition and I’m not quite sure it’s being used properly either. But, hey – I may be wrong. I’m also one of the smartest stupid people you’ll ever meet. Maybe one day they can make a pill for that and I’ll add that to my pill box.

–

For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

Hey, yeah, yeah
Yeah, ah-ah-ah, yeah

An old man turned ninety-eight
He won the lottery, and died the next day
It's a black fly in your Chardonnay
It's a death row pardon two minutes too late

And isn't it ironic?
Don't you think?

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

Mr. Play-It-Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down
He thought, "Well, isn't this nice?"

And isn't it ironic?
Don't you think?

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

Well, life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything's okay and everything's going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out
When you think everything's gone wrong
And everything blows up in your face

It's 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?
A little too ironic
And yeah, I really do think

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

And yeah, life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
And life has a funny, funny way of helping you out
Helping you out