Isn't it Ironic, Don't You Think?

Don’t get me started on the song “Ironic,” by Alanis Morissette.  This song contains several supposed examples of irony that are NOT ironic. 

For the record, irony is about the unexpected.  If you say, “Beautiful day, isn’t it?” when the weather is horrid outside, you are speaking in an ironic manner.  If something happens that is the opposite of what reasonable people might expect to happen, that is ironic.

Therefore, Alanis, “rain on your wedding day” isn’t ironic unless your wedding is taking place in the middle of the Sahara desert.   In some places (like Pittsburgh) you would be foolish NOT to expect rain on your wedding day because it could literally rain any day of the year here.  And, “good advice that you just didn’t take?”  Honey, people ignore good advice all the time – you can’t really tell people anything once they have their minds made up, so that’s definitely not ironic.

To me, the most ironic thing about this song is that it received a Grammy nomination for its author for writing a song about irony when she didn’t really understand the meaning of the word.  I wouldn’t have expected that.

The world and life is absolutely rife with irony.  Real irony is all around us.  I can think of several recent examples.

1)       American Idol comes to Pittsburgh for auditions, but then doesn’t feature any Pittsburghers on the broadcast, except for one girl from Sutersville (in Westmoreland County) whose sister had to “plank” (i.e. lie in front of her like a log) in order for her to perform her best.  This is especially ironic because I personally know EIGHT exceptionally talented young Pittsburghers, all of them young rock stars who can and do bring the house down with their vocals, who auditioned for the show who didn’t even have a chance to perform in front of the judges.  I guess you gotta have a gimmick if you want to get ahead on American Idol.

2)      The very best thing for your arthritic knees is to lose weight, and the very best way to lose weight is to exercise, and yet weight bearing exercise (like walking) puts too much pressure on those same knees that require weight loss for relief.

3)      Muscle weighs more than fat.  Therefore, despite the generally accepted idea that weight loss is THE definitive indicator of improved health, if you exercise in a way that builds your muscle to improve your health you will (at least at first) gain some weight.

4)    When Sperling’s Best Places decided to do a study to determine American’s Most Stressful Cities, one of the factors they used was the divorce rate in that city (along with things like violent crime, suicides, and unemployment rates) even though there’s nothing that will relieve your stress like getting out of a bad marriage. (http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/americas-most-stressful-cities-2012.html). 

So now I have the refrain of this insipid song running through my head. Now THAT’S ironic, don’t you think?