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Tuesday, September 9, 2008
The Poetry of Song: Irony in Song
Post your song analyses here by Friday, September 12th. Make sure to proofread and edit your writing.
Music uses many poetic and literary terms. One of these terms is irony. Irony is a contrast between what is said and meant or between what is expected and what happens. The song “Ironic” by Alanis Morrisette is, as the song title demonstrates, a great model of irony in music. Throughout the song, there are a few exemplary, some adequate, and a bunch of debatable ironic lines. “A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break” does not fall under the correct definition of irony. If you go on cigarette break, you would go to an area where you would expect to be able to smoke. Another part of the song that is rather doubtfully ironic is the entire third verse. “Mr. Play It Safe” was expecting that his plane would crash therefore there is nothing ironic about it actually happening. That would just be considered bad luck. One adequate example of irony is the line “It’s a death row pardon two minutes too late”. It seems really ironic because right after the criminal dies, he gets pardoned, which means there was no need for him to get the death penalty. If you take a closer look, though, you will realize that the man was never expecting a death row pardon. He already accepted the fact that he was going to die. A second tolerable ironic line says “An old man turned ninety-eight He won the lottery and died the next day”. The man would have died anyways, with or without winning the lottery. If you look at it another way you can consider it somewhat ironic. The man also never expected to win the lottery or die exactly two days after that. One very exemplary case of irony in Alanis Morrisette’s song is “It’s like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife”. The fact that you have such a large amount of spoons, and not even one thing of what you need, is what makes this line very ironic. Irony is found in many songs from every genre that exists. Alanis Morrisette’s song “Ironic” shows the irony in everyday situations. Everybody can relate to at least some of the song, which makes it so great.
Irony, when what is expected is the opposite of what actually occurs, is one of many poetic and literary terms that are used in various forms of writing, including music. Artists, such as Alanis Morissette, use irony in their lyrics in order prove a point or bring attention to a specific concept or idea. The song "Ironic" by Alanis Morissette is a prime example of the use of irony in music. Though there are several questionable uses of irony throughout the song, the line "It's meeting the man of my dreams/And then meeting his beautiful wife" is an exemplary example. If a person meets the man or woman of his or her dreams, they would expect to fall in love and start a life together; the fact that the man of her dreams is already in a relationship, and not single like she would expect, is what makes this line ironic. Another acceptable use of irony is the line "It's like rain on your wedding day." Because one would expect that his or her wedding day would have pleasant weather, the occurrence of rain creates irony in the statement. Additionally, a line that is questionable in terms of the proper use of irony is "An old man turned ninety-eight/He won the lottery and died the next day." The fact that the old man died at the age of ninety-eight is no surprise, and probably what would be expected. What makes this line somewhat a representation of irony is that when a person wins the lottery, they would not expect to die the next day. The verse concerning "Mr. Play It Safe" and his fear of flying is not a satisfactory use of irony. Considering that this man was afraid to fly, it is expected that his belief was that every plane crashes, and since his plane does crash this line is not ironic. However, from a different point of view, this line could be seen as ironic; people who do not have this fear know that planes rarely crash and that flying is a lot safer than driving a car. Knowing these facts, the plane crashing is ironic. The use of irony is prevalent not only in Alanis Morissette's "Ironic" but in countless songs and various forms of writing. Alanis' use of irony shows the reader that irony is found throughout life, and that when you expect one thing the opposite usually occurs. Creating parallels between music and life allows the reader to relate to what is being written and more clearly understand the definition of irony.
In Soundgarden’s song “Burden in my Hands” Chris Cornell writes some impressive lyrics based around a problem he has with a love interest. One of the main literary devices that he uses is irony. Many of the lyrics portray ironic metaphorical situations when dealing with a love problem. It’s evident even in the first line stanza of the song that Cornell used irony. The line “Follow me into the desert/As thirsty as you are” just shows a great example of irony. The last thing you would want to do if you needed something to drink is follow some one else into the desert. This also shows the severity of the problem with the significant other. Then in the fourth stanza, Cornell writes “and kill everything you love”. Even though this is very slight irony, it still shows something that you wouldn’t expect from a normal person. Not everyone likes to kill stuff they are in love with. Finally, in the final line of the song, Cornell writes “and all the little pigs have god”. This is significant since in some religions, pigs are used as sacrificial beings and really have no other purpose. However, for them to actually have a god, gives them meaning, which is slightly ironic. Even with these pieces of irony prevalent in the song; most people honestly think that writers don’t mean to insert the literary devices. However, these ironic phrases can be backed up with the main premise of the song. The irony fits perfectly with Cornell’s writing about a problem with a love interest.
Irony, in literature and writing, is defined as a contrast between what is said and meant, or between what is expected and happens. Unfortunate is used to describe events that are depressing, morose, or simply bad luck. In the song “Ironic” by Alanis Morrisette, the events she uses as examples of irony do not follow the traditional definition of ironic. Instead she blends questionable examples of irony with unfortunate events, making her support and song, less ironic than she intended.
Morrisette’s lyrics attempt to capture irony in every day life examples but fail on completely selling the idea. In most of her examples, if more detail could have been added, the situation may be considered ironic. For example, during the chorus of the song she sings “It’s like rain on your wedding day”. This example is more unfortunate than ironic. One should not expect it to always be sunny just because there is a wedding occurring. If she had mentioned that the forecast called for a sunny day and the wedding was planned around a rainless day, and it ended up raining anyway, that would appear more ironic. Morrisette’s intention on her opening line “An old man turned ninety-eight/He won the lottery and died the next day” is to capture irony and still, because of less detail or additions to the situation, ends up being simply a sad event. The lottery winner is an “old man” turning “ninety-eight”. It is unlikely that he is expected to live much longer. Although she includes that he wins the lottery, the irony is still questionable. A ninety-eight year old man should probably not be playing the lottery, intending on having time to spend it. Had she had said, he played his whole life, never winning until the day before he died, it may have sounded more ironic. But there are only so many syllables that can be put into a line of lyrics. Another example would be the line “A traffic jam when you’re already late”. Again, the line is so brief that the situation just appears to be bad luck. If the driver had left an hour early, expecting to make it to his/her destination before the required time, but ended up being late because of a terrible traffic jam, then that situation would be ironic.
To properly use irony in everyday examples, a person has to expect something, and this expectation has to be the complete opposite from what actually happens. There is not a single line in Alanis Morrisette’s song “Ironic” that follows this definition. Instead, listeners expect a song about irony, and instead get a song of bad luck and misfortunes. Maybe that was Morrisette’s plan all along.
A great song that numerously indicates the use of irony is the song "Burdan in my Hand" by The SoundGarden. Not only does it have definate uses of irony but some questionable senses as well. For example the first line says, "Follow me into the desert. As thirsty as you are". If you had any sense of being thirsty you obviuously wouldn't go to the desert because there is no water there! Another not as obviouse use would be, "Beneath the riverbead, the truth is lying." This has two meanings. Either the truth is lying, or the truth is lying as in resting. In the second verse it says, "I shot my love today would you cry for me?" It seems very ironic that you would ask someone to cry for killing your own love, or that you would even kill your love at all. Throughout the remainder of the song there are many other uses of irony some clear and some hidden. "Where the moon is glued to a picture of heaven, and all the little pigs have god." This is ironic because the pigs are to represent innocense sacrificed to god not the other way around. Irony can be found in everyday conversations, stories, and even songs. Even some movies are marked with irony. It is just one of the things luring under.
There are many literary terms for poetry. One of the terms is irony. Irony is a contrast between what is said and meant or between what is expected and what happens. One song that is ironic is “Burden in my Hand” by Chris Cornell. There are great deals of irony in this musical piece of music. One of the obvious ones in this song is “Follow me into the desert, as thirsty as you are.” This is ironic because if you’re thirsty you should not be going in to the desert to get something to drink. Another example of obvious irony would be “I shot my love today, would you cry for me.” This would be obvious cause if you where in love you would not shoot them, and ask if someone will cry for you and not feel bad. A repetitive way of irony is “Just a burden in my hand, just an anchor on my heart, just a tumor in my head.” The irony for this quote is saying these bad things don’t matter. The repetitive word is Just. Irony is found many songs this is just one song that shows irony. Fans of Chris Cornell probably just listened to this song and don’t even think that irony in it. Many songs you listen to do you just don’t know.
The song “Ironic” by Alanis Morrisette, shockingly enough, has many examples of irony in it. Morrisette is known for her usually angry lyrics. However, in “Ironic” there is more of a depressing ironical tone. Some of her examples, though, are not as ironic as the listener or possibly Morrisette herself thinks. Some people feel that Morrisette’s use of the word ironic is incorrect, but the listener should decide for themselves. Almost every line in “Ironic” has a form of irony. The first stanza is a scenario of a very old man winning the lottery, then dying the day after. “Isn’t it ironic?” In the third line, she sings, “”it’s a black fly in your Chardonnay”, this is not the most ironic line in the song, it just shows contrast between a black fly and white wine. The line after, however, is a better example or irony, “it’s a death row pardon two minutes too late”. When Morrisette rips into the chorus are a few examples of almost irony. For example, “it’s like rain on your wedding day”, some would like it to rain on their wedding day, or would consider it good luck, it’s not necessarily ironic. The second stanza is also another scenario where irony is present. In this stanza, “Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly” the first time he packs his bags to fly, his plane crashes, that is ironic…from the outside. For the man, it wasn’t that ironic, he was expecting the plane to crash, and it did. There’s another chorus, then another stanza which expresses how life can truly be ironic and sometimes life doesn’t go as you wanted it to, but eventually it turns around for you; “life has a funny way of helping you out when/you think everything’s gone wrong.” The next stanza has many more ironic and almost ironic instances. “A traffic jam when you’re already late,” it would be more ironic if one left early and then go to work late because of a traffic jam. “It’s like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife,” what makes this example ironic is the amount of spoons around when all one wants is a knife. The song closes out with another chorus. Is “Ironic” an ironic song for all, or just in the ear of the listener? “Ironic” by Alanis Morrisette, has many examples of irony, but some listeners would find the instances to be more ironic than others. It is all in how one views the song and takes it in. A different song than some of her others, “Ironic” shows how life can kick us when we’re down but then turn around and help us get back on our feet, “isn’t it ironic?”
Alanis Morrisette was a big part of the 90's angry girl music movement. In a more calm song, "Ironic", she lists a series of more unfortunate events then irony. The true irony in the song, however, is that none of it is ironic. To put it bluntly, it was either shee brilliance or, pure idiocy.
There isn't any exemplary irony in this song. There are a few adequate examples, however. "It's a black fly in your Chardonay" isn't bad. A black fly, often looked at as unneccesary, unwanted. It's looked down upon. Chardonay is however viewd as prestigious, high-society and light. You would expect an expensive wine to not have bugs in it. It is a bit ironic, && an exaggeration when she sings "It's like ten thousand spoons, when all you need is a knife". It does have irony in it, but it's more frustrating then ironic. "It's like rain on youre wedding day", you can't predict the weather, sadly. To expect it to not rain on your wedding day is a bit conceited, so for t to rain on your wedding day isn't ironic, that just really stinks. It's not ironic one bit that "Mr. Play it safe's" plane crashes if he expected it to. He was scared his whole life, so on his first plane ride it crashes, isn't ironic. Again, thats just a really bad coincidence.
To be ironic, something must be expected. If an organized neat-freak had a messy room, it would be ironic. You would epect that person to have a neat and organized room, instead of a monstrosity. True irony is hard to find, and hard to come up with. The only irony in "Ironic" is the lack there of.
Irony is a contrast between what is said and meant or what is expected and what happens. This poetic device is used in many different types of writing, including music. The song "Ironic" by Alanis Morrisette holds many ironic statements. However, depending upon the way the reader looks at the lyrics they may not be ironic at all. Morrisette finds a way to use statements that could be looked at as just bad luck and then the ironic part of the song is there is nothing ironic at all. Throughout the song, there are debatable, adequate, and exemplary ironic lines. The whole third verse about "Mr. Play It Safe" was afraid to fly his entire life and then when he finally got the courage to fly, the plane crashed down. However, this is debatable because he was expecting the plane to crash in the first place, so when it did all he could think is "Well isn't this nice...?". To add to that, the line "A traffic jam when you're already late," is also questionable. You could leave an hour earlier and still get stuck in traffic for some reason or another that you can not prevent. "It's like rain on your wedding day," is an adequate, ironic statement. Most people when they are getting married expect their wedding day to be perfect with perfect weather. However, if it rains it could be considered ironic or just pure, bad luck. Another example would be "It's a death row pardon two minutes too late." Its adequate because the pardon came after his death and it doesn't affect his life because he will never know. "It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife," would definitely be considered ironic. Its ironic because you have so many of something that you don't need but what you do need is not available to you. One final ironic example is also exemplary and is shown in "An old man turned ninety-eight. He won the lottery and died the next day." This man died at an old age and has probably played the lottery many times throughout his life never winning it but when he finally does, his life ends before he can enjoy his winnings. Alanis Morrisette's lyrics show the reader there are many ironic things in life. It shows that many situations can really be ironic, it all depends on how you look at them. The lines in the song "Ironic" are interpreted differently depending on the person listening to it. Some people will classify it as being ironic and others, just simple misfortune.
Alanis Morrisette displays few examples of irony in her song “Ironic” off her 1996 album Jagged Little Pill, which is the best-selling debut album by a female artist in the U.S., and the highest selling debut album worldwide in music history, selling 30 million records worldwide. Morrisette is a Canadian born singer/song writer, record producer, and actress that had great success off of Jagged Little Pill. Morrisette fails to give many solid examples of irony. The only decent example of irony is “it's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife”. This is ironic because you have such a large amount of something and that’s all you can find when all you need is something else. Another example of irony can be debatable depending on your point of view. The “Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly” verse may be considered ironic through the eyes of someone else, but to him, if he was expecting the plane to crash anyway, then it’s not ironic. Many examples of “irony” are just unfortunate experiences. A clear example of that is “it's like rain on your wedding day”. Many people expect pleasant weather on their wedding day, but getting rain instead isn’t ironic. Another example of an unfortunate event is “a no-smoking sign on your cigarette break”. This again is unfortunate, but not ironic. “It's meeting the man of my dreams and then meeting his beautiful wife” is also just an unfortunate situation, but still not ironic. Irony is a contrast between what is expected and what actually happens. Morrisette’s lyrics do not live up to the title “Ironic”. Listeners expect a song titled “Ironic” to have examples of irony, but in this situation, that is not really the case. She has a couple examples of irony, but the rest are just unfortunate experiences in everyday life.
In song lyrics, as in any other type of literature, literary devices are used to articulate the thoughts and feelings of the songwriter and to engage the reader (or listener) in the song’s theme. Irony, for instance, is a device commonly used in songs to create a contrast between what is usually expected, and what actually occurs. For example, one would expect a song entitled “Ironic” to be filled with examples of irony. But the reality is where the contrast lies, for when you listen closely to the lyrics of Alanis Morisette’s boldly-titled song, the closest thing you will find to irony is the song title itself. When Alanis Morisette’s “Ironic” begins, several situations are sung about, all seemingly unfortunate, and all followed by the line “Isn’t it ironic…don’t you think?” The song’s opening lines are especially ill-fated: “An old man turned ninety-eight; He won the lottery and died the next day”. These lines set the grounds for the rest of the song, which consists of a stream of incidents with unlucky outcomes, all of which are supposedly forms of irony. The problem is, none of the examples in the song are actually ironic. Morissette probably misplaced her pocket dictionary when she sat down to write this song, for she seems confused as to what irony really is, and repeatedly mistakes it for misfortune and coincidence. Even the song’s chorus falls short of anything truly ironic, kicking off with the line: “It’s like rain on your wedding day”. Irony, by definition, is incongruity between what is expected and what occurs. One would not expect their wedding day to be beautiful and full of sunshine—no one can control the weather. Therefore, to call this situation ironic would be incorrect. Unlucky, perhaps, assuming the couple being wed had wanted sunshine on their special day—but not ironic. The chorus continues with the line “It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid”. This line is confusing in itself: if you’ve already paid, why don’t you just get your money back? It seems odd that the person giving the ride would accept the money in the first place, but maybe Alanis is just trying to be clever. Either way, there is no irony in the line—maybe miscommunication, and possibly cluelessness, but not irony. The next line is, “It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take”, which also does not illustrate irony. If Morissette had given a reason for us to expect the advice to be taken, then maybe irony would be present here. For example, if the person being given advice was known for always following the advice of others, but was constantly let down by the outcome, then this would be ironic, for the one time that he didn’t take someone’s advice would be the time he would have benefitted from it. “It’s meeting the man of my dreams, and then meeting his beautiful wife” is one of the last situations posed in the song, again lacking irony. This is just another case of pure misfortune, much like the rest of the song. The message of the song is not the irony in life, but rather the tendency life has to set you back, often in the most trivial ways. The song closes out with “Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you; Life has a funny way of helping you out.” This puts a positive spin on the lyrics, while the rest of the song focuses on the negatives in life. Alanis Morisette’s “Ironic” is certainly not a song to be listened to when trying to grasp the concept of irony. If the song were renamed “Unfortunate” and this word were to replace “ironic” in the lyrics, then Morisette would have written a relatable and less misleading song. The fact that the song does not include irony when its title implies that it does greatly takes away from the song’s appeal. Some of the situations in the lyrics might be considered ironic if more detail were to be added to them, but Morisette does not provide this, and so the lyrics are all lacking. Some argue that Morisette’s lack of irony in a song entitled “Ironic” was deliberant, and completely intentional. After all, that is the ultimate example of irony. However, I think the more likely explanation is that she was just confused, and should perhaps study her literary terminology a little more thoroughly next time.
Laura Ready Poetry of Song: A Song Analysis Irony. Irony occurs when something happens that you did not expect to happen. Ironic situations occur all the time, thus demonstrating that life is unpredictable. Many artists in the music industry corroborate irony into their compositions. Alanis Morrisette’s song, Ironic, portrays irony in numerous ways, thus providing a unique viewpoint for the listener.
Alanis, for instance, states, “An old man turned ninety-eight, he won the lottery and died the next day” (1-2). The old man just had his birthday, and as a ‘present’ he won the lottery. The ironic part was that he died before he could even enjoy his ‘birthday’ gift. Another use of irony in this song was the stanza about ‘Mr. Play It Safe’. For example, “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…’” (10-15). Illustrating the irony because the man who would never fly, and finally decides to overcome his fears, is on one of the few planes that actually does crash. Also, the fact that he states, “Well isn’t this nice” adds to the irony because you would expect the man to be freaking out that he was about to die. Alanis continues with the likely situation of trying to find something, but finding everything else instead. For example, “It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife” (27). Portraying the irony because usually when someone has spoons, they also have knifes, along with forks because they come as a set. Unless someone is stealing your knifes! It is very strange not to be able to find one, when you are able to find ten thousand spoons.
Although Alanis illustrates obvious ironic situations, she also has some that could be considered questionable. For instance, “It's like rain on your wedding day” (16). Many would argue that this is ironic, however it is just bad luck, because although many dream of having a perfect, sunny wedding, people are aware that the weather changes, and they just have to hope for the best. Also, the following line could be debatable for either ironic or not, “A traffic jam when you're already late” (25). However, this is also just bad luck. If you left late and you got into a traffic jam, it’s your own fault. Although, if you left early, so you wouldn’t get stuck in traffic, then this would be considered ironic. “It's meeting the man of my dreams, and then meeting his beautiful wife” (28-29). This is a very likely situation, but not entirely accurate, therefore not making it ironic. For instance, you can’t meet someone and know he is the man if your dreams right away. Although this might happen, it would not be classified as ironic, rather than just unfortunate.
In conclusion, Alanis Morrisette song, Ironic, portrays various, interesting scenarios using irony. She is a very creative artist who is able to intrigue her listeners by using this literary device to enhance her song lyrics, and will continue to develop phenomenal, eye opening work.
Irony is when the opposite of what one would expect to happen, happens. Irony can be clearly apparent or generally unnoticeable. In the song “Burden in my Hand” by Soundgarden, there are many obvious examples of irony. There are also some subtle examples that contain significant meaning. From the title to almost the last verse, Chris Cornell cleverly sprinkled in hints of irony at every opportunity he gets throughout the song. The first example of irony is in the title. “Burden in my Hand” is ironic because a burden is something figurative, not physical, it would be difficult to hold a burden in your hand, because it is not something that is tangible. When Chris Cornell writes “Follow me into the desert; as thirsty as you are,” this is ironic because thirst and deserts are not usually associated with each other. If one were thirsty they would want water and deserts are not known for their thirst quenching beverages. The next line “Crack a smile and cut your mouth” is ironic because Chris Cornell implies that to “crack a smile” is to literally cut their mouth open. The phrase “down below the truth is lying” is an ironic play on words. It is also ambiguous because you don’t know the exact meaning of it; it could mean that the truth is physically lying down below or that deep down the truth is telling a lie. In the chorus, when he says “I shot my love today”, is an obvious example of irony because if you love someone, you wouldn’t kill them. Lastly, Chris Cornell writes, “Just a burden in my hand; just an anchor on my heart; just a tumor in my head.” By writing “just” before it, it seems as if he is condoning the burden, the anchor, and the tumor. He writes like it doesn’t cause him any pain, it’s just an annoyance, which is ironic because those are not things to just brush off. Even though “Burden in my Hand” is riddled with irony, the lyrics still have substantial meaning. It’s play on words and ambiguous phrases make the song appealing to read. Chris Cornell’s skillful array of ironic lyrics make this song alluring to listen to. This song is just one of many pieces of work where abundant examples of irony are found.
Irony is used in different stories, songs, and poems. Irony is what is expected to happed, and what really does happen. In “Ironic” by Alanis Morrisette, you expect that the song is full of ironic situations, but in reality, there are very few ironies in “Ironic”. Throughout the song, “Ironic”, there are situations of irony that are not acceptable, acceptable, and excellent. An example of an irony that is not acceptable, “A traffic jam when you’re already late.” That’s not acceptable because if you are going to work, you should already know that there would be traffic. Another unacceptable irony is, “A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break.” That is unacceptable because if you are going on a cigarette break, you should know where the no-smoking signs are. An example that is acceptable is, “It’s like rain on your wedding day.” That is considered acceptable because you can ever anticipate the rain, but if you are planning a wedding, you should expect that there would be no rain. Another acceptable irony is, “It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid.” That’s acceptable because you should expect that you need to pay for the ride, but you should know that it was free before you paid. An irony that is excellent is, “An old man turned ninety-eight he won the lottery and died the next day.” This is an excellent use of irony because you wouldn’t expect the person to die, especially after he just won’t the lottery. Another excellent use of irony is, “It’s like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife.” You would expect that in all of those spoons, you would find a knife, but you really don’t. Irony is found in all sorts or literature. In “Ironic”, you find irony that’s found everywhere. Everyone can relate to it too because irony happens to everyone, everyday.
The song, Burden in My Heart, by Chris Cornell of Soundgarden presents to the listener a certain amount of irony from its lyrics. Irony is a literary device that shows an unexpected outcome from a situation. A few examples of irony can be found in the first, second, and third verse of the song. Within the first verse of the song, there is a great deal of irony. For example, the lyrics “Follow me into the desert as thirsty as you are” show irony. Normally, one would not travel into a desert when they are thirsty, for their thirst is not likely to be quenched. Another example of irony in the first verse are the lyrics, “Crack a smile and cut your mouth and drown in alcohol”. This is ironic because if someone was to cut their mouth they would not want to have alcohol near it, as it would cause immense pain. In the second verse of the song shows more irony to the listener. The lyrics, “I shot my love today would you cry for me.” This particular line has two examples of irony. The first is that normally someone doesn’t shoot their love unless there is something very wrong with their head; the second being that if you regretted shooting your love, no one would pity your actions for you, maybe for the person who was killed. The final example of irony in the song “Just a burden in my hand, just an anchor on my heart, just a tumor in my head”. This shows irony through the fact that the writer of this song portrays these as insignificant problems. The word “just” tells the listener that it isn’t too important, however the rest of the lyrics are not so insignificant. These examples of irony are the direct intention of Chris Cornell to make the listener of the song think about the lyrics, not just listen to it. It shows the listener how insignificant things can seem when something goes wrong in ones love life.
The song, “Burden in My Hand”, written by Chris Cornell and preformed by SoundGarden contains many examples of irony. Irony is a literary device of an unexpected outcome from a particular situation. The following are examples of irony in the song. The first example, “Follow me into the desert/as thirsty as you are” shows irony because you’re thirsty the last thing you would want to do is wander into the desert where there is no water. “Crack a smile and cut your mouth/and drown in alcohol” is another example in the first verse. This shows irony because pouring alcohol into an open wound would prove to be painful, so why would anyone want to do so? The next example of irony is “I shot my love today would you cry for me/I lost my head again would you lie for me”. This shows irony because if you shot your love no one would pity you because you did the act yourself. Also, losing your head is a poor excuse for killing your love; then asking someone to lie about it proves you to be certifiably insane. The final examples of irony are “And kill everything you love”. This shows irony because no one in their right mind would kill everything they love. Another example is “Just a burden in my hand/Just an anchor in my heart/Just a tumor in my head”. This shows irony because this is downsizing the things we would normally find big problems into seemingly miniscule dilemmas.
Irony is a literary term which takes place in practically, if not every type of literature. It is present in poems, songs, stories, etc. Irony is simply defined as contrary to what is being expected. A song entitled “Ironic” would leave one assuming it to be filled with irony, would it not? This is ironically not quite the case when it comes to Alanis Morrisette’s song, given that title. The very first two lines of the song are “An old man turned ninety-eight. He won the lottery and died the next day.” Also, virtually an entire verse consists of the words, “It’s like rain on you wedding day. It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid. It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take.” All of these are not so much ironic as they are merely coincidental or unfortunate events. Though, this could be intentional. Perhaps the song was unsuitably titled in order to be thought provoking. Especially ones that are also musicians, writers have the tendency to be anomalous. They very much enjoy making the reader think. Whilst reading these lyrics, I could not help but to think of all of the irony. I did not think of it as being in “Ironic” itself, for there truly is none, but the irony of the lack of it. Irony indubitably exists in the world today, but it forthrightly does not in this particular song.
Irony is a literary term which takes place in practically, if not every type of literature. It is present in poems, songs, stories, etc. Irony is simply defined as contrary to what is being expected. A song entitled “Ironic” would leave one assuming it to be filled with irony, would it not? This is ironically not quite the case when it comes to Alanis Morrisette’s song, given that title. The very first two lines of the song are “An old man turned ninety-eight. He won the lottery and died the next day.” Also, virtually an entire verse consists of the words, “It’s like rain on you wedding day. It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid. It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take.” All of these are not so much ironic as they are merely coincidental or unfortunate events. Though, this could be intentional. Perhaps the song was unsuitably titled in order to be thought provoking. Especially ones that are also musicians, writers have the tendency to be anomalous. They very much enjoy making the reader think. Whilst reading these lyrics, I could not help but to think of all of the irony. I did not think of it as being in “Ironic” itself, for there truly is none, but the irony of the lack of it. Irony indubitably exists in the world today, but it forthrightly does not in this particular song.
A good example of irony is Katy Perry's song "I kissed a girl".For example her lyrics in this particular song go: "It felt so wrong, it felt so right, don't lead us in love tonight." "I kissed a girl, I kissed a girl, and I liked it, hope my boy friend don't mind it." "Ain't no big deal, it's just innocence." The irony in "ain't no big deal, it's just innocence" line is ironic because if it's "no big deal" and was done out of "innocence"then why worry about what your boy friend minds and doesn't mind. And if she loves men and kisses a girl and enjoys it doesn't that make her bi, even though she doesn't act like it? Girls sometimes do it as friends but never on the lips though. And in her song she says "Us girls we are so magical, soft skinned, red lips,so kissable hard to resist so touchable."
Sorry I didn't make the deadline but I will try to in the future. And by the way Friday's date you are referring to was on the 11th and Saturday was the 12th.
20 comments:
Music uses many poetic and literary terms. One of these terms is irony. Irony is a contrast between what is said and meant or between what is expected and what happens. The song “Ironic” by Alanis Morrisette is, as the song title demonstrates, a great model of irony in music.
Throughout the song, there are a few exemplary, some adequate, and a bunch of debatable ironic lines. “A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break” does not fall under the correct definition of irony. If you go on cigarette break, you would go to an area where you would expect to be able to smoke. Another part of the song that is rather doubtfully ironic is the entire third verse. “Mr. Play It Safe” was expecting that his plane would crash therefore there is nothing ironic about it actually happening. That would just be considered bad luck. One adequate example of irony is the line “It’s a death row pardon two minutes too late”. It seems really ironic because right after the criminal dies, he gets pardoned, which means there was no need for him to get the death penalty. If you take a closer look, though, you will realize that the man was never expecting a death row pardon. He already accepted the fact that he was going to die. A second tolerable ironic line says “An old man turned ninety-eight He won the lottery and died the next day”. The man would have died anyways, with or without winning the lottery. If you look at it another way you can consider it somewhat ironic. The man also never expected to win the lottery or die exactly two days after that. One very exemplary case of irony in Alanis Morrisette’s song is “It’s like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife”. The fact that you have such a large amount of spoons, and not even one thing of what you need, is what makes this line very ironic.
Irony is found in many songs from every genre that exists. Alanis Morrisette’s song “Ironic” shows the irony in everyday situations. Everybody can relate to at least some of the song, which makes it so great.
-Cindy
Irony, when what is expected is the opposite of what actually occurs, is one of many poetic and literary terms that are used in various forms of writing, including music. Artists, such as Alanis Morissette, use irony in their lyrics in order prove a point or bring attention to a specific concept or idea. The song "Ironic" by Alanis Morissette is a prime example of the use of irony in music.
Though there are several questionable uses of irony throughout the song, the line "It's meeting the man of my dreams/And then meeting his beautiful wife" is an exemplary example. If a person meets the man or woman of his or her dreams, they would expect to fall in love and start a life together; the fact that the man of her dreams is already in a relationship, and not single like she would expect, is what makes this line ironic. Another acceptable use of irony is the line "It's like rain on your wedding day." Because one would expect that his or her wedding day would have pleasant weather, the occurrence of rain creates irony in the statement. Additionally, a line that is questionable in terms of the proper use of irony is "An old man turned ninety-eight/He won the lottery and died the next day." The fact that the old man died at the age of ninety-eight is no surprise, and probably what would be expected. What makes this line somewhat a representation of irony is that when a person wins the lottery, they would not expect to die the next day. The verse concerning "Mr. Play It Safe" and his fear of flying is not a satisfactory use of irony. Considering that this man was afraid to fly, it is expected that his belief was that every plane crashes, and since his plane does crash this line is not ironic. However, from a different point of view, this line could be seen as ironic; people who do not have this fear know that planes rarely crash and that flying is a lot safer than driving a car. Knowing these facts, the plane crashing is ironic.
The use of irony is prevalent not only in Alanis Morissette's "Ironic" but in countless songs and various forms of writing. Alanis' use of irony shows the reader that irony is found throughout life, and that when you expect one thing the opposite usually occurs. Creating parallels between music and life allows the reader to relate to what is being written and more clearly understand the definition of irony.
In Soundgarden’s song “Burden in my Hands” Chris Cornell writes some impressive lyrics based around a problem he has with a love interest. One of the main literary devices that he uses is irony. Many of the lyrics portray ironic metaphorical situations when dealing with a love problem.
It’s evident even in the first line stanza of the song that Cornell used irony. The line “Follow me into the desert/As thirsty as you are” just shows a great example of irony. The last thing you would want to do if you needed something to drink is follow some one else into the desert. This also shows the severity of the problem with the significant other. Then in the fourth stanza, Cornell writes “and kill everything you love”. Even though this is very slight irony, it still shows something that you wouldn’t expect from a normal person. Not everyone likes to kill stuff they are in love with. Finally, in the final line of the song, Cornell writes “and all the little pigs have god”. This is significant since in some religions, pigs are used as sacrificial beings and really have no other purpose. However, for them to actually have a god, gives them meaning, which is slightly ironic.
Even with these pieces of irony prevalent in the song; most people honestly think that writers don’t mean to insert the literary devices. However, these ironic phrases can be backed up with the main premise of the song. The irony fits perfectly with Cornell’s writing about a problem with a love interest.
Irony, in literature and writing, is defined as a contrast between what is said and meant, or between what is expected and happens. Unfortunate is used to describe events that are depressing, morose, or simply bad luck. In the song “Ironic” by Alanis Morrisette, the events she uses as examples of irony do not follow the traditional definition of ironic. Instead she blends questionable examples of irony with unfortunate events, making her support and song, less ironic than she intended.
Morrisette’s lyrics attempt to capture irony in every day life examples but fail on completely selling the idea. In most of her examples, if more detail could have been added, the situation may be considered ironic. For example, during the chorus of the song she sings “It’s like rain on your wedding day”. This example is more unfortunate than ironic. One should not expect it to always be sunny just because there is a wedding occurring. If she had mentioned that the forecast called for a sunny day and the wedding was planned around a rainless day, and it ended up raining anyway, that would appear more ironic. Morrisette’s intention on her opening line “An old man turned ninety-eight/He won the lottery and died the next day” is to capture irony and still, because of less detail or additions to the situation, ends up being simply a sad event. The lottery winner is an “old man” turning “ninety-eight”. It is unlikely that he is expected to live much longer. Although she includes that he wins the lottery, the irony is still questionable. A ninety-eight year old man should probably not be playing the lottery, intending on having time to spend it. Had she had said, he played his whole life, never winning until the day before he died, it may have sounded more ironic. But there are only so many syllables that can be put into a line of lyrics. Another example would be the line “A traffic jam when you’re already late”. Again, the line is so brief that the situation just appears to be bad luck. If the driver had left an hour early, expecting to make it to his/her destination before the required time, but ended up being late because of a terrible traffic jam, then that situation would be ironic.
To properly use irony in everyday examples, a person has to expect something, and this expectation has to be the complete opposite from what actually happens. There is not a single line in Alanis Morrisette’s song “Ironic” that follows this definition. Instead, listeners expect a song about irony, and instead get a song of bad luck and misfortunes. Maybe that was Morrisette’s plan all along.
Kayla F says...
A great song that numerously indicates the use of irony is the song "Burdan in my Hand" by The SoundGarden. Not only does it have definate uses of irony but some questionable senses as well.
For example the first line says, "Follow me into the desert. As thirsty as you are". If you had any sense of being thirsty you obviuously wouldn't go to the desert because there is no water there! Another not as obviouse use would be, "Beneath the riverbead, the truth is lying." This has two meanings. Either the truth is lying, or the truth is lying as in resting.
In the second verse it says, "I shot my love today would you cry for me?" It seems very ironic that you would ask someone to cry for killing your own love, or that you would even kill your love at all.
Throughout the remainder of the song there are many other uses of irony some clear and some hidden. "Where the moon is glued to a picture of heaven, and all the little pigs have god." This is ironic because the pigs are to represent innocense sacrificed to god not the other way around.
Irony can be found in everyday conversations, stories, and even songs. Even some movies are marked with irony. It is just one of the things luring under.
There are many literary terms for poetry. One of the terms is irony. Irony is a contrast between what is said and meant or between what is expected and what happens. One song that is ironic is “Burden in my Hand” by Chris Cornell. There are great deals of irony in this musical piece of music.
One of the obvious ones in this song is “Follow me into the desert, as thirsty as you are.” This is ironic because if you’re thirsty you should not be going in to the desert to get something to drink. Another example of obvious irony would be “I shot my love today, would you cry for me.” This would be obvious cause if you where in love you would not shoot them, and ask if someone will cry for you and not feel bad. A repetitive way of irony is “Just a burden in my hand, just an anchor on my heart, just a tumor in my head.” The irony for this quote is saying these bad things don’t matter. The repetitive word is Just.
Irony is found many songs this is just one song that shows irony. Fans of Chris Cornell probably just listened to this song and don’t even think that irony in it. Many songs you listen to do you just don’t know.
Nicole Nelson
“Ironic” Analysis
The song “Ironic” by Alanis Morrisette, shockingly enough, has many examples of irony in it. Morrisette is known for her usually angry lyrics. However, in “Ironic” there is more of a depressing ironical tone. Some of her examples, though, are not as ironic as the listener or possibly Morrisette herself thinks. Some people feel that Morrisette’s use of the word ironic is incorrect, but the listener should decide for themselves.
Almost every line in “Ironic” has a form of irony. The first stanza is a scenario of a very old man winning the lottery, then dying the day after. “Isn’t it ironic?” In the third line, she sings, “”it’s a black fly in your Chardonnay”, this is not the most ironic line in the song, it just shows contrast between a black fly and white wine. The line after, however, is a better example or irony, “it’s a death row pardon two minutes too late”. When Morrisette rips into the chorus are a few examples of almost irony. For example, “it’s like rain on your wedding day”, some would like it to rain on their wedding day, or would consider it good luck, it’s not necessarily ironic. The second stanza is also another scenario where irony is present. In this stanza, “Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly” the first time he packs his bags to fly, his plane crashes, that is ironic…from the outside. For the man, it wasn’t that ironic, he was expecting the plane to crash, and it did. There’s another chorus, then another stanza which expresses how life can truly be ironic and sometimes life doesn’t go as you wanted it to, but eventually it turns around for you; “life has a funny way of helping you out when/you think everything’s gone wrong.” The next stanza has many more ironic and almost ironic instances. “A traffic jam when you’re already late,” it would be more ironic if one left early and then go to work late because of a traffic jam. “It’s like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife,” what makes this example ironic is the amount of spoons around when all one wants is a knife. The song closes out with another chorus. Is “Ironic” an ironic song for all, or just in the ear of the listener?
“Ironic” by Alanis Morrisette, has many examples of irony, but some listeners would find the instances to be more ironic than others. It is all in how one views the song and takes it in. A different song than some of her others, “Ironic” shows how life can kick us when we’re down but then turn around and help us get back on our feet, “isn’t it ironic?”
Alanis Morrisette was a big part of the 90's angry girl music movement. In a more calm song, "Ironic", she lists a series of more unfortunate events then irony. The true irony in the song, however, is that none of it is ironic. To put it bluntly, it was either shee brilliance or, pure idiocy.
There isn't any exemplary irony in this song. There are a few adequate examples, however. "It's a black fly in your Chardonay" isn't bad. A black fly, often looked at as unneccesary, unwanted. It's looked down upon. Chardonay is however viewd as prestigious, high-society and light. You would expect an expensive wine to not have bugs in it. It is a bit ironic, && an exaggeration when she sings "It's like ten thousand spoons, when all you need is a knife". It does have irony in it, but it's more frustrating then ironic. "It's like rain on youre wedding day", you can't predict the weather, sadly. To expect it to not rain on your wedding day is a bit conceited, so for t to rain on your wedding day isn't ironic, that just really stinks. It's not ironic one bit that "Mr. Play it safe's" plane crashes if he expected it to. He was scared his whole life, so on his first plane ride it crashes, isn't ironic. Again, thats just a really bad coincidence.
To be ironic, something must be expected. If an organized neat-freak had a messy room, it would be ironic. You would epect that person to have a neat and organized room, instead of a monstrosity. True irony is hard to find, and hard to come up with. The only irony in "Ironic" is the lack there of.
Irony is a contrast between what is said and meant or what is expected and what happens. This poetic device is used in many different types of writing, including music. The song "Ironic" by Alanis Morrisette holds many ironic statements. However, depending upon the way the reader looks at the lyrics they may not be ironic at all. Morrisette finds a way to use statements that could be looked at as just bad luck and then the ironic part of the song is there is nothing ironic at all.
Throughout the song, there are debatable, adequate, and exemplary ironic lines. The whole third verse about "Mr. Play It Safe" was afraid to fly his entire life and then when he finally got the courage to fly, the plane crashed down. However, this is debatable because he was expecting the plane to crash in the first place, so when it did all he could think is "Well isn't this nice...?". To add to that, the line "A traffic jam when you're already late," is also questionable. You could leave an hour earlier and still get stuck in traffic for some reason or another that you can not prevent. "It's like rain on your wedding day," is an adequate, ironic statement. Most people when they are getting married expect their wedding day to be perfect with perfect weather. However, if it rains it could be considered ironic or just pure, bad luck. Another example would be "It's a death row pardon two minutes too late." Its adequate because the pardon came after his death and it doesn't affect his life because he will never know. "It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife," would definitely be considered ironic. Its ironic because you have so many of something that you don't need but what you do need is not available to you. One final ironic example is also exemplary and is shown in "An old man turned ninety-eight. He won the lottery and died the next day." This man died at an old age and has probably played the lottery many times throughout his life never winning it but when he finally does, his life ends before he can enjoy his winnings.
Alanis Morrisette's lyrics show the reader there are many ironic things in life. It shows that many situations can really be ironic, it all depends on how you look at them. The lines in the song "Ironic" are interpreted differently depending on the person listening to it. Some people will classify it as being ironic and others, just simple misfortune.
Alanis Morrisette displays few examples of irony in her song “Ironic” off her 1996 album Jagged Little Pill, which is the best-selling debut album by a female artist in the U.S., and the highest selling debut album worldwide in music history, selling 30 million records worldwide. Morrisette is a Canadian born singer/song writer, record producer, and actress that had great success off of Jagged Little Pill.
Morrisette fails to give many solid examples of irony. The only decent example of irony is “it's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife”. This is ironic because you have such a large amount of something and that’s all you can find when all you need is something else. Another example of irony can be debatable depending on your point of view. The “Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly” verse may be considered ironic through the eyes of someone else, but to him, if he was expecting the plane to crash anyway, then it’s not ironic. Many examples of “irony” are just unfortunate experiences. A clear example of that is “it's like rain on your wedding day”. Many people expect pleasant weather on their wedding day, but getting rain instead isn’t ironic. Another example of an unfortunate event is “a no-smoking sign on your cigarette break”. This again is unfortunate, but not ironic. “It's meeting the man of my dreams
and then meeting his beautiful wife” is also just an unfortunate situation, but still not ironic.
Irony is a contrast between what is expected and what actually happens. Morrisette’s lyrics do not live up to the title “Ironic”. Listeners expect a song titled “Ironic” to have examples of irony, but in this situation, that is not really the case. She has a couple examples of irony, but the rest are just unfortunate experiences in everyday life.
In song lyrics, as in any other type of literature, literary devices are used to articulate the thoughts and feelings of the songwriter and to engage the reader (or listener) in the song’s theme. Irony, for instance, is a device commonly used in songs to create a contrast between what is usually expected, and what actually occurs. For example, one would expect a song entitled “Ironic” to be filled with examples of irony. But the reality is where the contrast lies, for when you listen closely to the lyrics of Alanis Morisette’s boldly-titled song, the closest thing you will find to irony is the song title itself.
When Alanis Morisette’s “Ironic” begins, several situations are sung about, all seemingly unfortunate, and all followed by the line “Isn’t it ironic…don’t you think?” The song’s opening lines are especially ill-fated: “An old man turned ninety-eight; He won the lottery and died the next day”. These lines set the grounds for the rest of the song, which consists of a stream of incidents with unlucky outcomes, all of which are supposedly forms of irony. The problem is, none of the examples in the song are actually ironic. Morissette probably misplaced her pocket dictionary when she sat down to write this song, for she seems confused as to what irony really is, and repeatedly mistakes it for misfortune and coincidence. Even the song’s chorus falls short of anything truly ironic, kicking off with the line: “It’s like rain on your wedding day”. Irony, by definition, is incongruity between what is expected and what occurs. One would not expect their wedding day to be beautiful and full of sunshine—no one can control the weather. Therefore, to call this situation ironic would be incorrect. Unlucky, perhaps, assuming the couple being wed had wanted sunshine on their special day—but not ironic. The chorus continues with the line “It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid”. This line is confusing in itself: if you’ve already paid, why don’t you just get your money back? It seems odd that the person giving the ride would accept the money in the first place, but maybe Alanis is just trying to be clever. Either way, there is no irony in the line—maybe miscommunication, and possibly cluelessness, but not irony. The next line is, “It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take”, which also does not illustrate irony. If Morissette had given a reason for us to expect the advice to be taken, then maybe irony would be present here. For example, if the person being given advice was known for always following the advice of others, but was constantly let down by the outcome, then this would be ironic, for the one time that he didn’t take someone’s advice would be the time he would have benefitted from it. “It’s meeting the man of my dreams, and then meeting his beautiful wife” is one of the last situations posed in the song, again lacking irony. This is just another case of pure misfortune, much like the rest of the song. The message of the song is not the irony in life, but rather the tendency life has to set you back, often in the most trivial ways. The song closes out with “Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you; Life has a funny way of helping you out.” This puts a positive spin on the lyrics, while the rest of the song focuses on the negatives in life.
Alanis Morisette’s “Ironic” is certainly not a song to be listened to when trying to grasp the concept of irony. If the song were renamed “Unfortunate” and this word were to replace “ironic” in the lyrics, then Morisette would have written a relatable and less misleading song. The fact that the song does not include irony when its title implies that it does greatly takes away from the song’s appeal. Some of the situations in the lyrics might be considered ironic if more detail were to be added to them, but Morisette does not provide this, and so the lyrics are all lacking. Some argue that Morisette’s lack of irony in a song entitled “Ironic” was deliberant, and completely intentional. After all, that is the ultimate example of irony. However, I think the more likely explanation is that she was just confused, and should perhaps study her literary terminology a little more thoroughly next time.
Laura Ready
Poetry of Song: A
Song Analysis
Irony. Irony occurs when something happens that you did not expect to happen. Ironic situations occur all the time, thus demonstrating that life is unpredictable. Many artists in the music industry corroborate irony into their compositions. Alanis Morrisette’s song, Ironic, portrays irony in numerous ways, thus providing a unique viewpoint for the listener.
Alanis, for instance, states, “An old man turned ninety-eight, he won the lottery and died the next day” (1-2). The old man just had his birthday, and as a ‘present’ he won the lottery. The ironic part was that he died before he could even enjoy his ‘birthday’ gift. Another use of irony in this song was the stanza about ‘Mr. Play It Safe’. For example, “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…’” (10-15). Illustrating the irony because the man who would never fly, and finally decides to overcome his fears, is on one of the few planes that actually does crash. Also, the fact that he states, “Well isn’t this nice” adds to the irony because you would expect the man to be freaking out that he was about to die. Alanis continues with the likely situation of trying to find something, but finding everything else instead. For example, “It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife” (27). Portraying the irony because usually when someone has spoons, they also have knifes, along with forks because they come as a set. Unless someone is stealing your knifes! It is very strange not to be able to find one, when you are able to find ten thousand spoons.
Although Alanis illustrates obvious ironic situations, she also has some that could be considered questionable. For instance, “It's like rain on your wedding day” (16). Many would argue that this is ironic, however it is just bad luck, because although many dream of having a perfect, sunny wedding, people are aware that the weather changes, and they just have to hope for the best. Also, the following line could be debatable for either ironic or not, “A traffic jam when you're already late” (25). However, this is also just bad luck. If you left late and you got into a traffic jam, it’s your own fault. Although, if you left early, so you wouldn’t get stuck in traffic, then this would be considered ironic. “It's meeting the man of my dreams, and then meeting his beautiful wife” (28-29). This is a very likely situation, but not entirely accurate, therefore not making it ironic. For instance, you can’t meet someone and know he is the man if your dreams right away. Although this might happen, it would not be classified as ironic, rather than just unfortunate.
In conclusion, Alanis Morrisette song, Ironic, portrays various, interesting scenarios using irony. She is a very creative artist who is able to intrigue her listeners by using this literary device to enhance her song lyrics, and will continue to develop phenomenal, eye opening work.
Irony is when the opposite of what one would expect to happen, happens. Irony can be clearly apparent or generally unnoticeable. In the song “Burden in my Hand” by Soundgarden, there are many obvious examples of irony. There are also some subtle examples that contain significant meaning. From the title to almost the last verse, Chris Cornell cleverly sprinkled in hints of irony at every opportunity he gets throughout the song.
The first example of irony is in the title. “Burden in my Hand” is ironic because a burden is something figurative, not physical, it would be difficult to hold a burden in your hand, because it is not something that is tangible. When Chris Cornell writes “Follow me into the desert; as thirsty as you are,” this is ironic because thirst and deserts are not usually associated with each other. If one were thirsty they would want water and deserts are not known for their thirst quenching beverages. The next line “Crack a smile and cut your mouth” is ironic because Chris Cornell implies that to “crack a smile” is to literally cut their mouth open. The phrase “down below the truth is lying” is an ironic play on words. It is also ambiguous because you don’t know the exact meaning of it; it could mean that the truth is physically lying down below or that deep down the truth is telling a lie. In the chorus, when he says “I shot my love today”, is an obvious example of irony because if you love someone, you wouldn’t kill them. Lastly, Chris Cornell writes, “Just a burden in my hand; just an anchor on my heart; just a tumor in my head.” By writing “just” before it, it seems as if he is condoning the burden, the anchor, and the tumor. He writes like it doesn’t cause him any pain, it’s just an annoyance, which is ironic because those are not things to just brush off.
Even though “Burden in my Hand” is riddled with irony, the lyrics still have substantial meaning. It’s play on words and ambiguous phrases make the song appealing to read. Chris Cornell’s skillful array of ironic lyrics make this song alluring to listen to. This song is just one of many pieces of work where abundant examples of irony are found.
Irony is used in different stories, songs, and poems. Irony is what is expected to happed, and what really does happen. In “Ironic” by Alanis Morrisette, you expect that the song is full of ironic situations, but in reality, there are very few ironies in “Ironic”. Throughout the song, “Ironic”, there are situations of irony that are not acceptable, acceptable, and excellent.
An example of an irony that is not acceptable, “A traffic jam when you’re already late.” That’s not acceptable because if you are going to work, you should already know that there would be traffic. Another unacceptable irony is, “A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break.” That is unacceptable because if you are going on a cigarette break, you should know where the no-smoking signs are. An example that is acceptable is, “It’s like rain on your wedding day.” That is considered acceptable because you can ever anticipate the rain, but if you are planning a wedding, you should expect that there would be no rain. Another acceptable irony is, “It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid.” That’s acceptable because you should expect that you need to pay for the ride, but you should know that it was free before you paid. An irony that is excellent is, “An old man turned ninety-eight he won the lottery and died the next day.” This is an excellent use of irony because you wouldn’t expect the person to die, especially after he just won’t the lottery. Another excellent use of irony is, “It’s like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife.” You would expect that in all of those spoons, you would find a knife, but you really don’t.
Irony is found in all sorts or literature. In “Ironic”, you find irony that’s found everywhere. Everyone can relate to it too because irony happens to everyone, everyday.
-liz hunter
The song, Burden in My Heart, by Chris Cornell of Soundgarden presents to the listener a certain amount of irony from its lyrics. Irony is a literary device that shows an unexpected outcome from a situation. A few examples of irony can be found in the first, second, and third verse of the song. Within the first verse of the song, there is a great deal of irony. For example, the lyrics “Follow me into the desert as thirsty as you are” show irony. Normally, one would not travel into a desert when they are thirsty, for their thirst is not likely to be quenched. Another example of irony in the first verse are the lyrics, “Crack a smile and cut your mouth and drown in alcohol”. This is ironic because if someone was to cut their mouth they would not want to have alcohol near it, as it would cause immense pain. In the second verse of the song shows more irony to the listener. The lyrics, “I shot my love today would you cry for me.” This particular line has two examples of irony. The first is that normally someone doesn’t shoot their love unless there is something very wrong with their head; the second being that if you regretted shooting your love, no one would pity your actions for you, maybe for the person who was killed. The final example of irony in the song “Just a burden in my hand, just an anchor on my heart, just a tumor in my head”. This shows irony through the fact that the writer of this song portrays these as insignificant problems. The word “just” tells the listener that it isn’t too important, however the rest of the lyrics are not so insignificant. These examples of irony are the direct intention of Chris Cornell to make the listener of the song think about the lyrics, not just listen to it. It shows the listener how insignificant things can seem when something goes wrong in ones love life.
The song, “Burden in My Hand”, written by Chris Cornell and preformed by SoundGarden contains many examples of irony. Irony is a literary device of an unexpected outcome from a particular situation. The following are examples of irony in the song.
The first example, “Follow me into the desert/as thirsty as you are” shows irony because you’re thirsty the last thing you would want to do is wander into the desert where there is no water. “Crack a smile and cut your mouth/and drown in alcohol” is another example in the first verse. This shows irony because pouring alcohol into an open wound would prove to be painful, so why would anyone want to do so?
The next example of irony is “I shot my love today would you cry for me/I lost my head again would you lie for me”. This shows irony because if you shot your love no one would pity you because you did the act yourself. Also, losing your head is a poor excuse for killing your love; then asking someone to lie about it proves you to be certifiably insane.
The final examples of irony are “And kill everything you love”. This shows irony because no one in their right mind would kill everything they love. Another example is “Just a burden in my hand/Just an anchor in my heart/Just a tumor in my head”. This shows irony because this is downsizing the things we would normally find big problems into seemingly miniscule dilemmas.
Kayla Tocci
Irony Analysis
Irony is a literary term which takes place in practically, if not every type of literature. It is present in poems, songs, stories, etc. Irony is simply defined as contrary to what is being expected. A song entitled “Ironic” would leave one assuming it to be filled with irony, would it not? This is ironically not quite the case when it comes to Alanis Morrisette’s song, given that title.
The very first two lines of the song are “An old man turned ninety-eight. He won the lottery and died the next day.” Also, virtually an entire verse consists of the words, “It’s like rain on you wedding day. It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid. It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take.” All of these are not so much ironic as they are merely coincidental or unfortunate events. Though, this could be intentional. Perhaps the song was unsuitably titled in order to be thought provoking.
Especially ones that are also musicians, writers have the tendency to be anomalous. They very much enjoy making the reader think. Whilst reading these lyrics, I could not help but to think of all of the irony. I did not think of it as being in “Ironic” itself, for there truly is none, but the irony of the lack of it. Irony indubitably exists in the world today, but it forthrightly does not in this particular song.
Irony is a literary term which takes place in practically, if not every type of literature. It is present in poems, songs, stories, etc. Irony is simply defined as contrary to what is being expected. A song entitled “Ironic” would leave one assuming it to be filled with irony, would it not? This is ironically not quite the case when it comes to Alanis Morrisette’s song, given that title.
The very first two lines of the song are “An old man turned ninety-eight. He won the lottery and died the next day.” Also, virtually an entire verse consists of the words, “It’s like rain on you wedding day. It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid. It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take.” All of these are not so much ironic as they are merely coincidental or unfortunate events. Though, this could be intentional. Perhaps the song was unsuitably titled in order to be thought provoking.
Especially ones that are also musicians, writers have the tendency to be anomalous. They very much enjoy making the reader think. Whilst reading these lyrics, I could not help but to think of all of the irony. I did not think of it as being in “Ironic” itself, for there truly is none, but the irony of the lack of it. Irony indubitably exists in the world today, but it forthrightly does not in this particular song.
Kayla T.
http://tinalatinaxo.blogspot.com/
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A good example of irony is Katy Perry's song "I kissed a girl".For example her lyrics in this particular song go: "It felt so wrong, it felt so right, don't lead us in love tonight." "I kissed a girl, I kissed a girl, and I liked it, hope my boy friend don't mind it." "Ain't no big deal, it's just innocence." The irony in "ain't no big deal, it's just innocence" line is ironic because if it's "no big deal" and was done out of "innocence"then why worry about what your boy friend minds and doesn't mind. And if she loves men and kisses a girl and enjoys it doesn't that make her bi, even though she doesn't act like it? Girls sometimes do it as friends but never on the lips though. And in her song she says "Us girls we are so magical, soft skinned, red lips,so kissable hard to resist so touchable."
Sorry I didn't make the deadline but I will try to in the future. And by the way Friday's date you are referring to was on the 11th and Saturday was the 12th.
-Lauren Wefers
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