In 2004, Morissette changed the lyrics of "Ironic" to denote her support for same-sex marriage at the fifteenth GLAAD Media Awards.
"Ironic" is a song written in the key of B major, and includes a moderate tempo of eighty-two beats per minute.
The track received two Grammy Award nominations in 1997, for Record of the Year and Best Short Form Music Video.
MTV nominated the music video for six MTV Video Music Awards in 1996, winning three of them.
The lyrics present several situations that are described as "ironic"; this has led to debate as to whether any of these actually match the accepted meaning of irony. However, some have argued that it does match what is known as situational irony.