Ironic

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."

At the end of the song, Alanis says life has a funny funny way of helping us out - in spite of all of the bad stuff that we have to go through. The bad stuff helps us get to where we are going, and that is ironic.

In America, this was Morissette's third single, but her first to be sold in stores. US listeners first heard her in the summer of 1995 when "You Oughta Know" garnered substantial airplay. A few months later, radio stations and MTV started playing "Hand In My Pocket," which showed a more mellow side of Morissette. Neither song was available for sale, which (per Billboard rules) kept them off the Hot 100 chart but drove sales of the album. "Hand In My Pocket" peaked in airplay in October, but Jagged Little Pill kept selling: In January 1996 is was certified with 5 million US sales. In February, Morissette sang a captivating version of "You Oughta Know" at the Grammys and took home four awards. After the ceremony, "Ironic" was released as a single with the Grammy performance as the B-side, giving the millions who bought the album a reason to buy it. And Jagged Little Pill still had gas in the tank: "You Learn" was issued as a single in the summer of 1996, again with the Grammy performance of "You Oughta Know" as the B-side. It rose to #6 in July while the album kept selling about a million copies a month. "Head Over Feet" was then released to radio, peaking in airplay in October. In July 1998, Jagged Little Pill was certified for sales of 16 million in America. Her next album, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, was issued that November.