Ironic

Glen Ballard and Alanis Morissette wrote "Ironic" in less than 15 minutes during their first sessions together, and Ballard later admitted neither of them knew what genre it belonged to. It was the third song the pair wrote, penned as a warm-up rather than something meant for the album, but others encouraged Morissette to keep it because of its melody. She considered the lyrics non-autobiographical, closer to storytelling, though she liked the music. The track was recorded at Westlake Recording Studios and Signet Sound Studios in Hollywood, with Ballard producing and playing guitar alongside Basil Fung, Lance Morrison on bass, Rob Ladd on drums, and Michael Thompson on organ.

Maverick and Warner Bros. Records released "Ironic" in February 1996 as the fourth single from Jagged Little Pill. It spent six weeks at number one on the Canadian RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart and became the second-most-successful song of the year in Canada, while reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100, Morissette's highest-charting single in the United States.

The lyrics list unfortunate situations presented as ironic, and the wording drew years of debate over whether incidents like "a traffic jam when you're already late" fit the accepted definition. Comedian Ed Byrne joked that the only ironic thing about the song was its title. Morissette later joined in, singing an updated version on The Late Late Show with James Corden in 2015 that added the line "it's singing 'Ironic' when there are no ironies." Ballard, who had studied English literature, said in 2020 that he found the public discussion amusing.