History YMMV / AlanisMorissette

* NeverLiveItDown: Alanis, you may be a great musician, but as long as this page exists, nobody will let you hear the end about the lyrics to "Ironic".

* CommonKnowledge: It's often said that nothing actually ironic happens in "Ironic", with some even claiming that [[IronicName the song's name is therefore the real irony.]] Actually, while ''some'' of the things listed are just sad, many of the situations described, like the flight passenger who thinks "Well, isn't this nice?" as his plane comes crashing down, are genuine examples of irony.

* FanDislikedExplanation: All of the situations in "Ironic" are in fact ''extremely'' good examples of situational or cosmic irony... to a WideEyedIdealist slowly [[TookALevelInCynic taking levels in cynic]] as their optimistic assumptions that life will always be story-book clean and perfect [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome collide headlong into reality]]. Given that this is exactly what seems to have happened between "perky teen pop singer" and "the mature artist that created ''Jagged Little Pill''", the song becomes a semi-autobiographical take on the process of learning how reality works: it's not ironic at all that bad things happen.
** FridgeBrilliance: The final chorus drops the lines referring to assumptions that everything will always work out...[[{{Irony}} because life's funny way of helping her out was to teach her that life doesn't help you out]].

* DorkAge: Her first two albums ''Alanis'' and ''Now Is the Time'' came out at a time when pop music had become ear poison for audiences post-Music/MilliVanilli, and needless to say, they were emblematic of pop's troubles during the period judging by their content. To this day, Alanis [[OldShame disowns the albums entirely]], and radio stations have refrained from playing any music from them.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: When Alanis released ''Jagged Little Pill'' in 1995, she had a tough time getting airplay in her home country of Canada, because she already had a past there as a Debbie Gibson-style teen-pop diva in the early '90s. In fact, Ottawa media outlets were flooded with complaints from disgusted citizens when she was given a key to the city.

* UncannyValley: Baby Alanis at the end of the BackToFront "Eight Easy Steps" video.

* FanDislikedExplanation: Or possibly FanHater disliked explanation. All of the situations in "Ironic" are in fact ''extremely'' good examples of situational or cosmic irony... to a WideEyedIdealist slowly [[TookALevelInCynic taking levels in cynic]] as their optimistic assumptions that life will always be story-book clean and perfect [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome collide headlong into reality]]. Given that this is exactly what seems to have happened between "perky teen pop singer" and "the mature artist that created ''Jagged Little Pill''", the song becomes a semi-autobiographical take on the process of learning how reality works: it's not ironic at all that bad things happen.

* ShockingSwerve: The music video for ''Crazy''. [[spoiler:The only hint that the unnamed blonde is Alanis' girlfriend is the photo by Alanis' bedside near the start of the video, which is small, easily missed, and easily mistaken for a photo of two friends. When Alanis confronts the couple at the club, the girlfriend doesn't remotely react how you'd expect a cheater to. [[DullSurprise She barely reacts at all]], in fact. Even at the ''end'' of the video, she doesn't seem a bit worried about how her violent girlfriend will react. On a RewatchBonus, you may realize ''why'' the guy looks stunned, not guilty, while the bouncer hauls Alanis out of the club, because the blond just presumably told him the truth, but on the first watch it looks like the blonde just dumped him because she learned he was a cheater.]]

* FanDislikedExplanation: Or possibly FanHater disliked explanation. All of the situations in "Ironic" are in fact ''extremely'' good examples of situational or cosmic irony... to a WideEyedIdealist slowly [[TookALevelInCynic taking levels in cynic]] as their optimistic assumptions that life will always be story-book clean and perfect [[RealityEnsues collide headlong into reality]]. Given that this is exactly what seems to have happened between "perky teen pop singer" and "the mature artist that created ''Jagged Little Pill''", the song becomes a semi-autobiographical take on the process of learning how reality works: it's not ironic at all that bad things happen.

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** "Uninvited". The song is already tense and beautiful enough, but once those drums kick in, that's when stuff goes down. ''Hard''.

* NeverLiveItDown: Alanis, you may be a great musician, but as long as this page exists, nobody will let you forget about "Ironic".

** ''So-Called Chaos'': "Everything"

* UncannyValley: Baby Alanis at the end of the BackToFront "Eight Easy Steps" video. Holy crap!
* VindicatedByHistory: There are many notable parodies of Alanis's singing style during her peak in the 1990's and early 2000's. In 2015 and 2016, she returned to the public eye to promote the 20th anniversary of ''Jagged Little Pill''. Now in her early forties, Alanis's songs from that time period still seem fresh as they did in the 1990's.
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* MisattributedSong: "One Of Us" by Joan Osbourne is sometimes credited to her, due to having a very typical 90s alt. rock sound and being performed by a woman.

* DorkAge: Her first two albums ''Alanis'' and ''Now Is the Time'' came out at a time when pop music had become ear poison for audiences post-Music/MilliVanilli, and needless to say, they were emblematic of pop's troubles during the period judging by their content. To this day, Alanis [[OldShame disowns the albums entirely]],, and radio stations have refrained from playing any music from them.

* AwesomeMusic: All of ''Jagged Little Pill''. ''Especially'' "You Oughta Know", "Hand in My Pocket", "You Learn" and "Ironic".
** Also, "Uninvited". The song is already tense and beautiful enough, but once those drums kick in, that's when stuff goes down. ''Hard''.

* MemeticMutation: "Would she go down on you in a theater?"

* VindicatedByHistory: There are many notable parodies of Alanis's singing style during her peak in the 1990's and early 2000's. In 2015 and 2016, she returned to the public eye to promote the 20th anniversary of ''Jagged Little Pill''. Listening to hear sing the same songs in her early 40s, it's apparent that she continues to influence younger singers.

* FanDislikedExplanation: Or possibly FanHater disliked explanation. All of the situations in ironic are in fact ''extremely'' good examples of situational or cosmic irony... to a WideEyedIdealist slowly [[TookALevelInCynic taking levels in cynic]] as their optimistic assumptions that life will always be story-book clean and perfect [[RealityEnsues collide headlong into reality]]. Given that this is exactly what seems to have happened between "perky teen pop singer" and "the mature artist that created ''Jagged Little Pill''", the song becomes a semi-autobiographical take on the the process of learning how reality works: it's not ironic at all that bad things happen.

* FanDislikedExplanation: Or possibly FanHater disliked explanation. All of the situations in ironic are in fact ''extremely'' good examples of situational, tragic, or cosmic irony... to a WideEyedIdealist slowly [[TookALevelInCynic taking levels in cynic]] as their optimistic assumptions that life will always be story-book clean and perfect [[RealityEnsues collide headlong into reality]]. Given that this is exactly what seems to have happened between "perky teen pop singer" and "the mature artist that created ''Jagged Little Pill''", the song becomes a semi-autobiographical take on the the process of learning how reality works: it's not ironic at all that bad things happen.

* SequelDisplacement

* FirstInstallmentWins: If you don't count [[OldShame her self-titled album and]] ''[[CanonDiscontinuity Now Is the Time]]'', then ''Jagged Little Pill'' absolutely fits.

* EpilepticTrees: The identity of the ex-boyfriend that Alanis emasculates in "You Oughta Know" has caused enough speculation that [[WMG/AlanisMorissette a WMG page]] was created.

* {{Mondegreen}}:
--> It's not fair \\
To remind me \\
Of the cross-eyed bear that you gave to me