“I didn’t even want it”: Why Alanis Morissette disliked ‘Ironic’
Not everything that someone writes has to be their favourite song in the world. Often overplay can be a significant factor in an artist not caring for their song, but there can be those few melodies that sound far too flimsy for them to be knockout hits in their mind. But the biggest names in music don’t always have the best foresight when it comes to their own work, and Alanis Morissette is one in a long line of artists who have tried to stifle themselves a little bit when working on their classics.
Because, really, every artist should have the final say in what gets released to radio. It’s their music, and they should at least have faith if they’re putting out a song with their name on it, but there are times when there needs to be an outsider’s opinion. A&R people exist for a reason, and since artists can get into their own worlds in the studio, it’s easier to have someone look at the bigger picture rather than have a musician stuck in their own world.
When listening to Jagged Little Pill, though, any of Morissette’s songs could have worked on the radio then. This was the kind of blockbuster that let everyone know that the era for female rock stars was turning a corner, and even if Lilith Fair was becoming one of the biggest festivals in the world, no one seemed to be as heavy as Morissette could get when working on ‘You Oughta Know’ or ‘All I Really Want’.
But as much as these songs lived on the radio for years, some of the best moments are in the deep cuts. ‘Not the Doctor’ is a stripped-down look at a relationship gone bad, and any kid who has ever felt under stress in their lives can relate to the over-demanding parent issues on ‘Perfect’. So given the personal subjects on the record, ‘Ironic’ tends to stick out like a sore thumb more often than not.
And not necessarily in a bad way, either. The concept of irony in the song is still up for debate to this day, but Morissette’s melody on the track is phenomenal, showing off her insane range and fantastic gift for arranging. But as the band were running through what would make the album, Morissette felt that the tune wasn’t even in the running when settling on the final version of the track list.
” I remember [producer] Glen [Ballard] saying I wish ‘Ironic’ were further up the tracklist, but I just didn’t want it on there at all, so I was like ‘You’re lucky it’s on the record'”
Alanis Morissette
According to her, this was the one tune that didn’t seem good enough compared to everything on the record, saying, “I didn’t even want it on the [album]. It was an afterthought song for me. I remember [producer] Glen [Ballard] saying I wish ‘Ironic’ were further up the tracklist, but I just didn’t want it on there at all, so I was like ‘You’re lucky it’s on the record at all.’”
It’s easy to critique it since the whole track is incredibly sparse, but that’s also half of the charm as well. Most people would be willing to sacrifice a handful of effects if it means listening to a real person, and despite the scenarios in the song not coming as close to irony as most people think, it’s a far more cathartic song when the chorus starts live and it’s being sung by millions of fans.
So while afterthought songs aren’t normally the ticket to success for anyone, this is a classic example of why nothing should ever be thrown away during a session. It might not have the magic to your ear, but there might be a good ten seconds of a song that could reshape what everyone thinks about when putting the record on.
