History Main / IsntItIronic

** He used used Music/NeilYoung's "Keep On Rockin' In The Free World" during campaign events. The title and chorus of the the song is deeply sarcastic, as the text itself is about America's poverty-stricken underbelly and how the American government, despite broasting of the country's prosperity, does next to nothing to help them, mentioning homeless people and a junkie with a crack baby who hates her life. Just like R.E.M., Young didn't approve and instead endorsed Bernie Sanders, personally allowing him to use his song.

* A TV commercial for Creator/BrendanFraser's ''Film/FurryVengeance'', a kid's movie, is using Tone Loc's song "Wild Thing". The film is about a bunch of animals trying to stop a housing development, while the song is nothing but pure IntercourseWithYou. Even more bizarre is its use in a trailer for the ''[[Film/TheSmurfs Smurfs]]'' movie.

* There was an anti-animal cruelty video put on Website/YouTube with the background song being "Remember" by Music/JoshGroban. While animal cruelty is indeed horrible, the song is about Greek mythology and how the gods were obsessed with going down in history. Quite frankly, the person who made the video apparently just heard the words "remember me".

* There is a video on Website/YouTube (probably by a young kid) that is supposed to be a sweet video tribute to a deceased pet/horse... except the person used Music/MinnieRiperton's "Lovin' You", which is a sweet-sounding, bird-song-filled... IntercourseWithYou song. However, it's FridgeBrilliance if you remember that it was actually intended to be a ParentalLoveSong to [[Creator/MayaRudolph the singer's daughter]].

** There's a video clip somewhere of Creator/AngelaLansbury (the original Mrs. Lovett) singing "Not While I'm Around" in concert, and describing how comforting she finds the song. Which is fair enough (in the original it's a sincere if misguided song of devotion by a different character), but somewhat ironic, given that Mrs. Lovett only sings it as an incredibly creepy DarkReprise to lure out a character she intends to murder. To make it even more hilarious, a review summary of the concert said Angela "performs such holiday gems as 'We Need a Little Christmas' and 'Not While I'm Around'". Describing a song from ''Sweeney Todd'' as a holiday gem is something of a stretch.

* Donald Trump used "High Hopes" by Music/PanicAtTheDisco for his reelection campaign without permission (Brendon Urie ordered him to stop using the song and encouraged his fans to vote him out in 2020). Not only is the song written by pro-gay progressive Brendon Urie, but it's about achieving success from nothing but high hopes. Regardless of your opinions about Trump, he was born into wealth and this description thus does not apply to him.

* During the 2016 presidential primaries, Donald Trump angered Music/{{REM}} for using "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" during campaign events. Frontman Michael Stipe ended up endorsing UsefulNotes/BernieSanders's campaign. For more bizarre context, the song was specifically played before Trump spoke about the ''Iran nuclear deal'', and it's probably the least reassuring song one could choose for such a high-stakes topic.

** The song that was [[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/shortcuts/2016/nov/09/how-you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-became-donald-trumps-bizarre-theme-song ultimately played the most]] during Donald Trump's presidental campaign (without permission)? "You Can't Always Get What You Want". Not only is it a rather odd choice for a ''political campaign'' song, considering the thing the singer wants is a woman he knows will be bad for him, but Trump even played it ''after his victory speech''.

* In an egregious case of irony, Donald Trump used "Happy" by Music/PharrellWilliams during his visit to Indiana... on the same day as ''a synagogue massacre''. Williams was not happy and a cease-and-desist was issued, telling Trump there is nothing "happy" about what happened at the synagogue.
* Donald Trump used Music/NeilYoung's "Keep On Rockin' In The Free World" during campaign events. The title and chorus of the the song is deeply sarcastic, as the text itself is about America's poverty-stricken underbelly and how the American government, despite broasting of the country's prosperity, does next to nothing to help them, mentioning homeless people and a junkie with a crack baby who hates her life. Just like R.E.M., Young didn't approve and instead endorsed Bernie Sanders, personally allowing him to use his song.

* WebAnimation/YoutubePoop by various creators, to the point of MemeticMutation, use the [[{{Sexophone}} main riff]] of "[[Music/GeorgeMichael Careless Whisper]]" to make [[ManipulativeEditing once-innocent scenes instead look like]] the characters are about to get down to business. While {{Downplayed|Trope}} due to an instrumental portion being used for the meme instead of the conflicting lyrics, the song being about a man [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone deciding that he deserves to be alone]] after his partner leaves him due to his unfaithfulness still makes its use in these situations rather "Careless".

* Music/{{Celldweller}}'s "Frozen" is described as a great song to have sex to, and definitely is somehow about sex, but lyrically it seems to be more about being lost in ADateWithRosiePalms whilst thinking of an ex and being unable to move on. "It's better to be broken than to break".

Compare PoesLaw, MisaimedMarketing, and RepurposedPopSong. Related to AnalogyBackfire. Sometimes overlaps with AdaptationalContextChange. This trope is about music only and should not be potholed as an equivalent to TakeThat. There is a page about irony itself -- what it actually means, and what the different types are -- and it's called (fittingly) "{{Irony}}".

* In ''ComicBook/{{Prez|2015}}'', CorruptCorporateExecutive Smiley delivers a motivational speech to his employees rounded off with a burst of Music/NeilYoung's "Rockin' in the Free World". Afterward he turns to an aide and points out how inappropriate the music choice is.

* Subverted with the cover of "Ghost Riders In The Sky" used during the closing credits of ''Film/GhostRider''. The song is about ghost cowboys damned to herd the Devil's cattle through the skies for eternity; in the movie, Johnny Blaze opts to [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu Flip Off Cthulhu]] and tell the Devil that he's going to turn his curse against him and sabotage all his evil plans. The catch, however, is that by WordOfGod, the song was the original inspiration for both the earlier WeirdWest Ghost Rider series [[note]]Retconned to Phantom Rider but retaining its in-universe quasi-LegacyCharacter connections to Ghost Rider[[/note]], and the Johnny Blaze {{Retool}}. The song's riders inspired the DevilsJobOffer Johnny is given rounding up stray souls, and the final verse's JacobMarleyWarning inspired the twist that as he was not technically dead,a FaustianRebellion was still possible.
* ''Film/{{Godzilla 1998}}'':

* ''Film/{{Hellboy|2004}}'': "Red Right Hand" by Music/NickCave and the Bad Seeds. Hellboy's hands are both red and his right hand is significant for being over-sized to punch better, but Hellboy is not designing and directing anything with his hand, and he does not have a larger plan involving giving out cars and money.
* [[IncrediblyLamePun Now with extra iron]]: It's hard to find a modern adaptation of the Marvel superhero ''ComicBook/IronMan'' that doesn't include the guitar riff from the similarly-named Music/BlackSabbath song. If they actually played the lyrics, they might have noticed that the titular character comes to be forgotten and ignored by the populace, culminating in a grand return where he starts murdering them en masse. Say what you will about ''Comicbook/CivilWar'', but...\\\

* The closing scene of ''Film/{{Life|1999}}'' was intended to be highly uplifting and spotlight Ray and Claude's friendship [[spoiler:and freedom]]. However, the song chosen was "What Would You Do" by City High, which is about a woman explaining her reasons for becoming a hooker. The song was obviously only chosen for the single chorus line "But for me this is what I call [[TitleDrop life]]".

** "Democracy," while less-well-known, has been used as a patriotic and/or campaign song, largely for the last line of each verse, "democracy is coming to the USA." This repeatedly bemused Cohen, as the song is ''deeply'' cynical and dwells upon, among other things, fascism, homelessness, slavery, hate crimes, and genocide.

* It would be difficult to describe "White Wedding" by Music/BillyIdol as having LyricalDissonance, given the dark melody is very fitting for a song about a man resenting his younger sister's fiancé, while the bride starts having second thoughts but is forced to accept her fate — and if the message wasn't clear enough, "{{Shotgun|Wedding}}" is said a few times. And yet, it has been played at many many weddings since its 1982 release.

* Music/BillyJoel's "Only the Good Die Young" is quite popular among grieving teenagers who post it on Facebook in tribute of a friend that's recently died. What they likely miss is that that the song isn't at all about young people dying, but instead about a rebel who [[CatholicSchoolGirlsRule wants to deflower a Catholic girl]].

* Ever since 2020, WWE has used [[Music/BlackSabbath "War Pigs"]] as the theme song for its NXT [=WarGames=] events (mainly for the titular match) and recently was used for Wrestling/SurvivorSeries [=WarGames=] as well. This is despite the fact that "War Pigs" is very much an ''anti''-war song, with it talking about about [[WarIsHell the horrors of war]] [[WarForFunAndProfit and how it is exploited as a means to gain money and power]]. Fans don't seem to mind, as between the song itself being well-liked, WWE and metal being a much-appreciated combination, nearly every [=WarGames=] match under WWE being good-to-great, and having Ozzy's Osbourne's blessing have all made it not nearly as jarring as it should be.

* In a case of SoundtrackDissonance, WWE Wrestling/{{Summerslam}} 2015 featured "Cool For The Summer" by Music/DemiLovato as its theme to punctuae the main event grudge match between Wrestling/TheUndertaker and Wrestling/BrockLesnar, more than a year removed from the latter breaking the former's 21-match strong [=WrestleMania=] Streak. While the song's tune fits the pop themes Summerslam has been using for the past few years, it's jarring that "Cool For The Summer" is juxtaposed with the main event its advertising. ''ESPECIALLY'' if said aforementioned song isn't hiding its theme of GirlOnGirlIsHot experimentation, something that seems way too out of place for WWE's PG-era.

* ''Film/AloneInTheDark2005'' contains a sex scene set to NenehCherry and Youssou N'Dour's duet "7 Seconds". Apparently, nobody bothered to tell director Creator/UweBoll that the song is about ''racism''.

* ''Film/AloneInTheDark2005'' contains a sex scene set to Music/NenehCherry and Youssou D'Nour's duet "7 Seconds". Apparently, nobody bothered to tell director Creator/UweBoll that the song is about ''racism''.

* ''Film/{{Hellboy|2004}}'': "Red Right Hand" by [[Music/NickCave Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds]]. Hellboy's hands are both red and his right hand is significant for being over-sized to punch better, but Hellboy is not designing and directing anything with his hand, and he does not have a larger plan involving giving out cars and money.

* WebAnimation/YoutubePoop by various creators, to the point of MemeticMutation, use the [[{{Sexophone}} main riff]] of "[[Music/GeorgeMichael Careless Whisper]]" to make [[ManipulativeEditing once-innocent scenes instead look like]] the characters are [[CoitusEnsues about to get down to business]]. While {{Downplayed|Trope}} due to an instrumental portion being used for the meme instead of the conflicting lyrics, the song being about a man [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone deciding that he deserves to be alone]] after his partner leaves him due to his unfaithfulness still makes its use in these situations rather "Careless".

* Music/LeonardCohen's "Hallelujah" is appearing on an increasing amount of religious or Christmas music playlists -- the latter driven largely by a cover by popular a cappella group {{Music/Pentatonix}}, which appears on their Christmas album. The actual lyrics are agnostic ("maybe there's a God above/ as for me..."), sexual ("I remember when I moved in you, and every single breath that went through us, hallelujah), and/or melancholy ("it's a cold and broken Hallelujah"). At least one Christian band has gone so far to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykbOxbyGlIE rewrite the words]] for this reason.
** "Democracy," while less-well-known, has been used as a patriotic and/or campaign song, which bemused Cohen as the song is ''deeply'' cynical and dwells upon, among other things, fascism, homelessness, slavery, hate crimes, and genocide.

* Talk to any woman who was in high school or junior high in 2005, and "My Humps" by the Music/BlackEyedPeas was their "song". Given that the song makes fun of women who act like sluts and brag about their fancy clothes to attract men's attention...

* Some might ring in the New Year with Music/{{ABBA}}'s "Happy New Year". While the song has an Auld Lang Syne feel, it's actually about things that are wrong in the world and how at the end of the celebration, nothing will have changed.

* Michelle Bachmann attempted to use Music/TomPetty's "American Girl", often thought to be about a young girl committing suicide, as her campaign anthem. Tom Petty successfully forced her to pick something else.

* Donald Trump used "High Hopes" by Music/PanicAtTheDisco for his reelection campaign without permission (Brendon Urie ordered him to stop using the song and called him a monster). Not only is the song written by pro-gay progressive Brendon Urie, but it's about achieving success from nothing but high hopes. Regardless of your opinions about Trump, he was born into wealth and this description thus does not apply to him.

* Music/TheRollingStones:

* Music/TheRollingStones:

* In an egregious case of irony, Donald Trump used "Happy" by Music/PharrellWilliams during his visit to Philadelphia... a city he visited after ''a synagogue massacre''. Williams was not happy and a cease-and-desist was issued, telling Trump there is nothing "happy" about what happened at the synagogue.

* Donald Trump used "High Hopes" by Music/PanicAtTheDisco for his reelection campaign without permission. Not only is the song written by pro-gay progressive Brendon Urie, but it's about achieving success from nothing but high hopes. Regardless of your opinions about Trump, he was born into wealth and this description thus does not apply to him.