Mini Rant: Isn’t It Ironic.
Whilst browsing on twitter today, I found myself searching for any tweets concerning Alanis Morissette and I was really taken aback to see that, 15 years on, people are still making idiotic comments about the lyrics of her song, “Ironic“.
Since the tune’s release, people have been whinging on about how the examples of irony in the lyrics are not ironic … and that that fact in itself IS ironic.
Well, far be it from me to rant … *ahem* but THEY ARE IDIOTS.
Not only are they idiots because they’re ignorant of the definition of irony, but they’re idiots because they go online to make comments they believe to be clever without even checking that they know what they’re talking about!
OK, this is a bit of a petty complaint on my part … but this criticism of the song’s lyrics is so often repeated that I think it deserves some defence!
Irony can be defined in a few different ways. Dictionary definitions will talk about the use of irony in sarcastic speech – making a comment with one meaning whilst actually conveying the opposite – but to define it in context of the song, we need to look at two specific definitions.
First, we have the definition with which the IDIOTS are familiar:
Ironic – An event whose outcome is opposite to that which was expected such that the incongruity is made obvious.
So for example, “10,000 spoons, when all you need is a knife.”
If you needed a knife and couldn’t find one – that’s irritating.
But if you need a knife and are bombarded to the point of ridicule with spoons … then, the situation is ironic.
The same logic can be applied to other lines within the song …
eg.
“… a black fly in your chardonnay.” (Black fly in your white wine.)
“… a No Smoking sign on your cigarette break.”
But these are not the song’s lyrics about which the IDIOTS are complaining, so let’s take a different line:
“An old man turned 98. He won the lottery and died the next day.”
Ironic?
Well, by the definition above, no.
But, unless your IQ is struggling to get out of single figures, it should occur to you that the word can have more than one meaning:
Irony – An outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected.
Yes, the second definition is similar to the first, but with a major difference. For a situation to be ironic, it is NOT ALWAYS necessary for the event to be drawing attention to the incongruity of the situation. An event can be ironic simply by occuring in a manner that is contrary to the expected outcome.
So, dying the day after winning the lottery?
Irony.
Rain on your wedding day?
Irony!
A Death Row pardon two minutes too late?
IRONY!
So, for the love of God, would you just let it rest?
You want to know something that’s really ironic? The fact that you’re whinging about something NOT being ironic when it actually IS!
I swear, I find it unbelievable that some people are able to even tie their own shoelaces every morning.
MisterShouty 