Isn't it ironic that the song "Ironic" actually contains no irony

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TheNinja

Lifer
Jan 22, 2003
12,207
1
0
Lyrics:
An old man turned ninety-eight
He won the lottery and died the next day
It's a black fly in your Chardonnay
It's a death row pardon two minutes too late
Isn't it ironic... don't you think?

Chorus:
It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures

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... don't you think?

Repeat Chorus

Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything's okay and everything's going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up
In your face

A 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 my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife
And isn't it ironic... don't you think?
A little too ironic... and yeah I really do think...

Repeat Chorus

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
Life has a funny, funny way of helping you out
Helping you out

All of the things listed are just bad luck not irony you moron!!
 
dullard

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,934
4,524
126
Originally posted by: Staley8
All of the things listed are just bad luck not irony you moron!!
Click to expand...
But that is the irony of the song...

A song is supposedly all about irony, but there is no irony in the song. Therefore the whole song is ironic. Don't you think?
 
ThePresence

ThePresence

Elite Member
Nov 19, 2001
27,727
16
81
Originally posted by: dullard
Originally posted by: Staley8
All of the things listed are just bad luck not irony you moron!!
Click to expand...
But that is the irony of the song...

A song is supposedly all about irony, but there is no irony in the song. Therefore the whole song is ironic. Don't you think?
Click to expand...
Hahaha. :D
 
DrPizza

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,601
167
111
www.slatebrookfarm.com
Originally posted by: dullard
Originally posted by: Staley8
All of the things listed are just bad luck not irony you moron!!
Click to expand...
But that is the irony of the song...

A song is supposedly all about irony, but there is no irony in the song. Therefore the whole song is ironic. Don't you think?
Click to expand...

:beer:
 
D

djheater

Lifer
Mar 19, 2001
14,637
2
0
It's terrible when people don't know how to use a dictionary. It is well known that colloquial usage includes coincidental circumstance and granted that this is not strictly within the definition of the word. However, English is an evolving language and I have no doubt that in a few hundred years, this song will, were it to survive, be seen as a textbook example of irony.

i·ron·ic ( P ) Pronunciation Key (-rnk) also i·ron·i·cal (-rn-kl)
adj.
Characterized by or constituting irony.
Given to the use of irony. See Synonyms at sarcastic.
Poignantly contrary to what was expected or intended

Usage Note: The words ironic, irony, and ironically are sometimes used of events and circumstances that might better be described as simply ?coincidental? or ?improbable,? in that they suggest no particular lessons about human vanity or folly. Thus 78 percent of the Usage Panel rejects the use of ironically in the sentence In 1969 Susie moved from Ithaca to California where she met her husband-to-be, who, ironically, also came from upstate New York. Some Panelists noted that this particular usage might be acceptable if Susie had in fact moved to California in order to find a husband, in which case the story could be taken as exemplifying the folly of supposing that we can know what fate has in store for us. By contrast, 73 percent accepted the sentence Ironically, even as the government was fulminating against American policy, American jeans and videocassettes were the hottest items in the stalls of the market, where the incongruity can be seen as an example of human inconsistency.
 
S

stormbv

Diamond Member
Dec 23, 2000
3,446
1
0
I find the fact that I'm living now but could die at any moment to be pretty ironic.
 
J

Jzero

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
18,834
1
0
Actually, rain on your wedding day is good luck.

But the song is hardly ironic.
 
dullard

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,934
4,524
126
Originally posted by: Whade
Seems ironic enough to me.
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Look at djheater's post, he explained it well. The definition of irony is (from dictionary.com):

1a) The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning.
1b) An expression or utterance marked by a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning.
1c) A literary style employing such contrasts for humorous or rhetorical effect.

2a) Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs: ?Hyde noted the irony of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated? (Richard Kain).
2b) An occurrence, result, or circumstance notable for such incongruity.

Under strict definition, none of the song's examples meet any of the above situations. The words aren't (1) different from their literal meaning. They aren't (1) contrasting apparent and intended meanings. The closest you can argue is (2) that the examples are different from what is expected. However is a 98 year old man that dies truely different from what is expected? Is a no-smoking sign at a business different from what is expected? Not really.

But djheater was correct that most people use the word incorrectly and the dictionaries will eventually be changed to include this new use of the word.
 
T

thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
0
Originally posted by: dullard
Originally posted by: Staley8
All of the things listed are just bad luck not irony you moron!!
Click to expand...
But that is the irony of the song...

A song is supposedly all about irony, but there is no irony in the song. Therefore the whole song is ironic. Don't you think?
Click to expand...

yeah but i doubt she was thinking that when she wrote it
 
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