In Ironic, Alanis Morisette (sp?) sings about a black fly in one’s Chardonnay. How is this ironic or like any of the other situations she brings up (death pardon two minutes too late, rain on one’s wedding day, meeting man of one’s dreams and then his beautiful wife, etc.)? If one has a fly, of whatever color, in one’s Chardonnay one can get another glass, no?
Please help me to understanding this lyric.
WRS - Maybe I’m taking her suggestion to think a bit too far.
Most people agree that her song has nothing at all to do with irony.
Which is, in itself, ironic.
They aren’t ironic.
Some people argue that Alanis is being sneaky by deliberately calling non-ironic things ironic. Isn’t that ironic?
No. No, it’s not. It makes lno want to smash.
Strikes me as more Kafkaesque than ironic.
Actually, that would be ironic, since irony is simply saying something that means one thing, with the intention of conveying the opposite meaning.
Except I don’t think that’s what she’s doing. I think that she simply doesn’t know what irony means. And singing a song about irony when you don’t know what irony means isn’t ironic. It’s just stupid.
I figured it was because the black fly was in the white wine. I doubt this qualifies as irony though. I wound’t know, I send my shirts to a service.
Well, assuming it’s Chardonnay Chardonnay, and is expensive like I’m assuming it is, the black fly in it would just suck, like everything else in that song.
Is there a distinction between Chardonnay and impostors, like Champagne and sparkling wine?
Sort of. The Champagne distinction comes from the region in France where it is made. Chardonnay is just the type of grape that it’s made from. So it’s the same in that a chardonnay wine must be made from chardonnay grapes, and champagne must come from the Champagne region of France - but chardonnay can come from any region.
Chardonnay need not be expensive. Chardonnay is simply, as Neurotic explained, wine made from Chardonnay grapes. It’s kind of considered the classiest of the white wines, but I prefer the roughness of a Sauvignon Blanc myself (which traditionally people say smells like a cross between freshly cut grass and cat pee. I honestly don’t get the cat pee comment, because I’ve never smelt a sauvignon blanc that reminded me of it. But it’s the typical comment.) Chardonnay is a specific kind of grape, just like Zinfandel, Shiraz, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, Pinot Grigio, Muscatel, Merlot, Riesling, etc. If you mix grapes, the resulting wine is a “Cuvee.” There are many famous cuvees out there. (Mixing Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot is pretty common. Wines such as Chateau Neuf du Pape are also famous, and upscale, cuvees.)
-comedian Sabrina Matthews
Right. My rage had clouded my mind so much that I misspoke.
I still want to smash.
“Waiter! What’s this black fly doing in my chardonnay?”
waits for it…
Yeah, she was very funny. I wonder what she’s up to.
I’m not sure if either of those things is actually ironic, but (unlike the song) at least it’s amusing.
None of the things in the song are, in fact, ironic.
What was ironic was the time someone on this here message board asked why Americans have no sense of irony and used that song as proof.
No, I’m not sure that’s ironic either. MOronic, perhaps.
The backstroke!
Ba-dum-bum!
Thank you! I’ll be here all week. Try the veal, and be sure to tip your waitress!
Actually, if the poster meant United Statesians (if that a word?) rather than Americans, it might be a little ironic as Miss Morissette is a Canadian.
I remember a female comedian (not sure if it was the same one mentioned above) talking about this song once… she said “Rain on your wedding day? That’s not ironic… Rape on your wedding day… now that’s ironic!”
There’s an Irish comedain called Ed Burne who had made a whole career* out of disparaging that particular song…
I was just thinking of that… the funniest one he said was something like…
as I say - - I’m not quite right on the wording… I’m sure someone can transcribe it though
