This analysis will begin with a contextual approach, as from face value, there is no historical or biographical event it alludes to, nor does it affirm or question moral values or principles. Our first objective is to understand the song. Only afterwards could we apply a possible interpretation.
Of all the songs in Alanis Morissette’s 1995 album Jagged Little Pill, perhaps the most controversial of them is the song Ironic. No, there is nothing morally questionable or scandalous in the lyrics—it’s very clean; it’s while the title and the song implies the presence of irony, most of the situations depicted in the song aren’t ironic at all. Indeed, I wrote a post (which probably linked to this) which listed per item all the situations in the song and their ironic context, if any. Alanis, for her part, at one point explained that what is ironic is that none of them are ironic. This is not a sufficient explanation, and one needs to fully delve into the song to understand it.
This analysis will begin with a contextual approach, as from face value, there is no historical or biographical event it alludes to, nor does it affirm or question moral values or principles. Our first objective is to understand the song. Only afterwards could we apply a possible interpretation.
I. The Old Man and His Lottery
Our analysis begins with the line, “An old Man, turned 98; he won the lottery, and died the next day”. As the first line, it gives an immediate impression of the song or where it is headed. As I wrote in my previous post, this song is not in itself ironic. However, from second analysis, one can say that there is irony in this situation. In situational irony, there is a marked contrast in condition. The old man turned 98 and died. He won the lottery before his death. The implication is that he attained a potentially life-changing moment at the point where he could no longer satisfy it.
So Alanis begins with a situation that implies irony. She is not a stranger to this literary device; her song Hand in My Pocket, had a heavy use of imaginary conditions and situations. To fully see the context of the story of the 98-year old man, one should look at the lines that follow:
“It’s a black fly in your chardonnay/It’s a death row pardon, two minutes too late”
Our first question is what is the relation between the old man and the black fly in the wine? The first is ironic and the other isn’t. Why begin with a situation and go off tangent with a completely different situation? If we take it out of the context of irony, we could understand it more clearly.
We have a situation where the old man died right after winning the lottery. This is an unpleasant and tragic situation. Alanis lists other items deemed unpleasant and tragic in its context. It is possible that she was trying to further explain the tragedy, by adding similar situations. It is like listing other similar tragedies while trying to explain the senselessness, for example, of the death of a loved one. She is trying to explain that it is not a unique case; there have been incidences similar to it.
Of note here is the fact that she does not start with “It’s an old man”, but “an old man”. Therefore the first line is unique from the lines that follow. It is not part of the listing of ironic situations, but the situation to be explained.
She continues with the line, “And isn’t it ironic?/Don’t you think?” Here she is not describing the situation as ironic. She is trying to explain the situation, and one of her explanation is that it is an example of life’s ironies. Of note here is the fact that she tries to reinforce her conviction with the audience by asking right after she tries to explain.
We go back to the full stanza. There is an old man, he dies right after winning the lottery. To fully explain the situation, she lists other similar conditions, and tries to make sense of it by making it ironic. The fact that it fails to depict irony is her way of implying that it is not a sufficient explanation to explain the tragedy; that Life has more to answer for than copping out to an irony.
We proceed with the second stanza, as it follows in the same vein as the first: “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?”
Another depiction of an ironic situation, this time of a cautious man who was wary of the dangers of flight, only to be proven right when he takes one (regardless of his misgivings). I explained that it is not ironic, that it is wilful suicide, because he was not convinced otherwise (he hugged his kids like it was the last time, and commented sarcastically to himself). It could, though, still be ironic, if he hugged his kids as it being regularly, that he was trying to convince himself that it was right, only to be proven correct the first time.
Okay. This is another depiction of irony and also a tragedy. It is in the same tone as the 98-year old man. Rather than trying to explain it off, however, she goes immediately to the “Isn’t it ironic?” We can see that doubt is trying to creep into the song. By listing this second part, she is challenging the first explanation. “Here is another situation; you think this is ironic too?” We are beginning to see a pattern. But it is a lead-up to what?
II. Rain on your wedding day… it figures
The chorus of the song goes,
“It’s like rain on your wedding day/It’s a free ride that you’ve already paid/It’s a good advice that you just didn’t take/And who would’ve thought it figured?”
These situations are not ironic. Remember that Alanis’ line “Isn’t it ironic?/Don’t you think?” was her trying to explain that the tragedy of the 98-year old man was ironic somehow, that it’s a normal event in life. So what do these items relate to? They relate to the old man and his tragedy.
It’s like this tragedy, and another, and another… this is what it’s trying to say. It’s listing situations similar to the old man’s. But what about “And who would’ve thought it figured?” It does not signify that the singer figured it was all irony, but that “it figures that it would happen to me”. It makes sense in context, because the one who suffers these situations possibly have had similar experiences in the past. That the present situation is normal to him.
There is more: the good advice that you just didn’t take is another lead-up to something. She makes first an example of an old man. She asks, is it being ironic? What of the rain on your wedding day? Or that free ride when you’ve paid already? Are those ironic too? “It’s a good advice that you just didn’t take.” Whose advice? About what? The singer is implying that this was not unlike the other tragedies.
III. The last stanza
The last part goes,
“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 your dreams/And then meeting his beautiful wife.”
First, Alanis continues rattling off situations that are tragic in context. Traffic jams, no smoking signs just when you’re on that break. Finally, she comes to the crux of the song: It’s meeting the man of you dreams/And then meeting his beautiful wife. Ah, so finally come to the very heart of the song.
Let’s take this in context: first, she is trying to explain why this happens to her; she thinks of the old man, Mr. Safety who dies of a plane crash, and other tragedies. She explains to herself that all of that is ironic. What about “the good advice that you just didn’t take”? It’s possible that she thought or was warned that it’s too good to be true. “And who would’ve thought it figured” meant that she was right in doubting.
How do we further know this is the heart of it? It follows, “Isn’t it ironic… a little too ironic”. Remember that she is trying to explain to herself that the situation is life trying to be ironic. But it’s too ironic to be a coincidence, she explains. This is a tragedy where life takes suffering out of proportion. And she follows, “And yeah I really do think… It’s like rain”; she is trying to explain that it is less ironic and more like the situations you try to make ironic, like the rain on your wedding day. It’s not ironic, but you try to make them as you try to make the best of a bad situation.
This is the gist of Alanis’ Ironic, at least in my theory. Alanis was trying to explain why she came too late to find the man of her dreams. She goes on a philosophical discourse with herself, and comes to the conclusion life is not simply organized into simple, explainable categories. There is a deeper theme in Ironic, if one looks past the supposedly ironic literary devices. Alanis’ explanation that the song is ironic in not being ironic, is her explaining that there is nothing ironic with a sad event. It is a tragedy, and we should accept it as so.
What is the possible external context of it? You Ought to Know, a song also of the same album, is theorized as dedicated to her recent breakup with a longtime boyfriend. Is it possible that Ironic is her trying to explain this event in her life? She tries to figure it out, to explain to herself why, but only to find no answers? This is possible.
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