Alanis Morissette may be a holdover from the '90s, but the truth is, fans haven't stopped thinking about her. The singer really rose to fame in 1995 with her album "Jagged Little Pill," and ever since, she's been a staple on the music scene.
But as it turns out, it's the song that brought her to the level of pop icon that is the subject of fans' criticisms.
Most '90s kids recall Alanis' hit, "Ironic." The song shot up the charts, earned Grammy nominations, and resulted in Morissette's album becoming the second-best-selling album by a female artist. In fact, she was only outdone by Shania Twain (this was also the era of "Come On Over").
Though the song was super catchy (and most fans have it memorized to this day), it's also caused a heated debate among fans and critics alike. In fact, the song's Wikipedia page even has a section that explores the debate.
Essentially, fans are unhappy that the song titled "Ironic" doesn't contain any irony at all. As The Atlantic explained a few years back, the discrepancy has spawned over two decades of "think pieces" on the song, and the artist herself has been the butt of many a joke (and a topic of discussion in English classrooms across the globe).
But sometime around 2015, Alanis finally admitted her song wasn't ironic in the least; she and James Corden 'updated' the song to both reflect modern times and add actual irony.
It's a relief for fans, who spent years exploring the ins and outs of the track on Quora and countless other forums. While one particular fan acquiesced that sure, some of the instances described in the song (rain on your wedding day) can be described as situational irony or even irony of fate, overall, the lyrics fall flat.
For Alanis, who co-wrote the song with Glen Ballard, it's likely been a long couple of decades. While the pair wrote the song in around fifteen minutes (it was their third song, noted Ballard), they never expected it to grow so popular or spur so much controversy.
But despite fans' objections to the song overall, it still shot up the charts and even carried Alanis' career well into 2019; that was the year of the "Jagged Little Pill" anniversary concert tour. All that harping probably doesn't matter to the star much these days; she's worth so much that she never needs to sing another un-ironic or self-deprecating song in her life.
Alanis is also a mom these days, having welcomed her third child in her mid-forties. And while menopause plus new [again?] motherhood may not be truly ironic, it is kind of funny.