BBC Radio 4 - Archive on 4, A Brief History of Irony
Try starting at "a brief musical interlude" at 15.10...
Which version do you prefer?
▶ Oasis - Wonderwall - Official Video - YouTube
The Mike Flowers Pops - Wonderwall - YouTube
All good students should do as their teachers tell them - and good teachers tell their students to listen to a lot of pop music with lyrics...
Lennon received a letter from a pupil at Quarry Bank High School, which he had attended. The writer mentioned that the English master was making his class analyse Beatles' lyrics (Lennon wrote an answer, dated 1 September 1967, which was auctioned by Christie's of London in 1992). Lennon, amused that a teacher was putting so much effort into understanding the Beatles' lyrics, wrote the most confusing lyrics he could.
Although this is indeed a piece of pure irony, composer and musician Howard Goodall would classify the song as one of the Beatles' best, from 4.43:
Howard Goodalls 20th Century Greats - The Beatles (Part 2) - YouTube
- Socratic irony, when someone (usually a teacher) pretends to be stupid in order to show how stupid his pupils are (while at the same time the reader or audience understand the situation).
A "No smoking" sign surrounded by images of a smoking Sherlock Holmes at Baker Street tube station.
Irony - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Is this ironic?
Alanis Morisette - Ironic - YouTube
What examples does she mention?
And would you have any of your own?
But here's a comment from the YouTube video:
This song bothers my English teacher since none of this song is actually about irony just unfortunate events. I thought about it and realized that since the song is called irony people listen to the song and realize it's not about irony and so they think that's ironic and that's why the song is called "Ironic"
Here is the original official video to the song:
Alanis Morissette - Ironic (Video) - YouTube
And this is a parody:
It's Finally Ironic - YouTube
'Alanis seems to think that "irony" means "bad timing,"' explained American comic book writer, Matt Sturges, shortly after the song was released.
Examples could inlcude: 'It's a free ride when you've already paid,' 'He won the lottery and died the next day,' and 'It's a traffic jam when you're already late.'
So Eliza tacked on her own quirky statements to finally make the song veritably ironic.
She sings: 'He won the lottery, and died the next day/ from a severe paper cut from his lottery ticket,' and 'It’s a black fly in your chardonnay/ that was specifically purchased to repel black flies.'
The beginning of the chorus, 'It's like rain/ on your wedding day,' which has long been called a coincidence by critics, and not irony, is also changed to: 'It's like rain/ on your wedding day (a day and place you chose because it's known not to rain)'.
While some argue that the original song, in and of itself, is ironic for containing no irony at all, and others call it simply 'stupid,' Ms Morissette welcomes the continued debate.
What's ironic about these photos?
And would you have any more examples?
18 of the Most Ironic Photos You'll Ever See from Look What I Found
This was in last week's paper, looking at the idea that energy companies should not be allowed to raise their prices:
The energy companies also state that falling dividends will make us worse off, because this will hit pension funds. And we can be sure that’s their main concern. Sam Laidlaw, the chief executive of Centrica with a salary of £5m, and the five British Gas executives who took a total of £11m in bonuses, will be distraught at the effect on pensioners, and won’t for a moment have considered the impact on their own pay. Hopefully, they’ll receive counselling, from someone who can explain they must think of themselves occasionally, as they can’t just worry about the needs of old people ALL the time.
Freeze energy prices and cause the Apocalypse - Comment - Voices - The Independent
But perhaps the most interesting commentator is the British street artist Banksy - with loads of irony:
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