Isn't it Ironic - Polling the People

Recently, I overheard a 1990's classic song from the "man-hater" Alanis Morrisette. It is entitled "Isn't it Ironic". I overheard the lyrics and was curious what the average person would think about them. Basically, my main objective was to determine whether or not Alanis had written a song on the topic of Irony.

My Testing Method:

Since I am a teacher, testing comes naturally to me and so I determined to do this in the most objective way. I asked 10 different people about each line (without telling them that it is from a 1990s radio hit-although some knew it was), which I chose, from "Isn't It Ironic". Then I collected their statements for my reader's personal enlightenment. Many of the responses are the same so I will only list the unique responses to a line of lyric. The lyric is in a blue font and my test subject's responses are in an orange font.

1. An old man turned ninety-eight
He won the lottery and died the next day

• "I'll be his grandchild"
• "Later Pops and thanks for the cash"
• "That Sucks"
  

2. It's a black fly in your Chardonnay

• "A fly might help chardonnay...I hate chardonnay"
• "Gross"
• Most people simply laughed at this one as if mocking the unfortunate soul.
  

3.It's a death row pardon two minutes too late
And isn't it ironic...don't cha think

• "That Sucks"
• "How Sad...think of his mother..."

4. It's like rain on your wedding day

• "Oh, how awful"
• "I had rain on my wedding day"
• "aaaahaaaa"
• "That would suck"
  

5. It's a free ride when you've already paid

• "oh crap"
• "That sucks"
• "I'd just ask for my money back...what's wrong with that?"
  

6. 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...dontcha think

• "At least he kissed his kids goodbye."
• "I'd like to die really fast like that."
• "Was this guy at terrorist?"
• "That Sucks."
  

7. A traffic jam when you're already late

• "I hate that."
• "What is with that? There is always some little old woman in a piece of crap car in front of me!"
• "Murphy's law gets me all of the time"
• "That just pisses me right off."
• "It makes me want to kill someone" (I backed slowly away from this person after their response)
  
• "That really sucks."
  

8. A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break

• "Aren't smokers like cursed or something?"
• "I don't know. I don't get cigarette breaks because I don't smoke."
• "Burn the sign too!"
• "Smokers are so gross I'm glad you can't smoke much anymore."
• "Just shoot yourself. It's faster and we don't have to listen to you."

9. It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife

• "Sharpen the spoon."
• "Who has 10,000 spoons? are they Heroine addicts?"
• "Use the handle. That way you have both 10,000 spoons and 10,000 knives"
  

10. It's meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife
And isn't it ironic...dontcha think
A little too ironic...and yeah I really do think...

• "That sucks. Why are they always married?"
• "I really wouldn't know. My wife probably wouldn't approve."
• "That happened to me. He was really cute too. That really sucks."
• "That sucks"

So, there you have it. I was surprised to find how many people thought that those things just suck. Not a single person told me that they thought they were ironic. Perhaps my test subjects have no literary background or, like me, think that this song is simply stupid. I tend to agree with the general outcome of my study. None of Alanis Morrisette's "ironic" statements seem to be ironic (except for the guy who dies in the plan crash). I must agree that most of those things simply...SUCK.

I an now confidently state that I think that the lyrics of "Isn't It Ironic" suck. I also don't care much for the music behind the lyrics and think it sucks too! So, in my critical objective opinion, "Isn't It Ironic" simply SUCKS.

Of course, what IS ironic about this song is that it is supposed to be about irony but fails to describe it.