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Alanis Morissette Gives ‘Ironic’ A 2015 Update During A Performance On ‘The Late Late Show’

By Janice Malcolm
Published on: 06:02 PST, Nov 10, 2015

Alanis Morissette took to the stage last night to give a modern take on her iconic single, “Ironic.” Twenty years after the song’s original debut, the Canadian singer teamed up with the host of The Late Late Show, James Corden, during her appearance on the night-time talk show. “Ironic” was released on Morissette’s breakthrough chart topping album, Jagged Little Pill, and as it reaches its 20th anniversary, Alanis seems to be having a whole lot of fun injecting new life into the album.

The June 1995 album Jagged Little Pill had a collector’s edition release late last month, and Alanis previously teamed up with Meghan Trainor and Jimmy Fallon to do an all-cluck version of the song “Ironic,” but there is something special in this duet with Corden. Morissette revives her trademark red beanie and plaits for the remix and, not to be outdone, Corden arrives on stage wearing the exact same sweater as the 41-year-old songstresses, complete with a red beanie and long plaited Morissette look-alike braids. So just what can be more ironic than rain on your wedding day? The tech-savvy update that is far more likely to connect to the angst-filled society we live in now offered up more than enough fuel for the two performers.

Morissette opens up the duet with the kind of horror most aware millennials will truly understand and relate to, as the struggle for racial equality continues to be at the forefront of many current news topics and civil unrest.

“An old friend sends you a Facebook request, and you only find out they’re racist after you accept.”

Self proclaimed Carpool Karaoke king, Corden, 37, then joined in with some fresh, horrifying “ironies” of his own, proudly singing the tale of free office cake on the day of a new diet and a new iPhone being announced right after the day you actually buy one. He ends that particular segment with the trademark chorus opener, “Isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think?” E! Online reported on the fact that for the remainder of the song, the two had a back and forth performance, but this was only after the Late Late Show’ s Corden and Alanis Morissette’s voices joined forces for the chorus of the updated version of “Ironic.”

“It’s like swiping left on your future soulmate. It’s like a Snapchat that you wished you had saved and who would have thought — it figures.”

The new lyrics to “Ironic” also made mention of those pesky modern day social media, dating apps and other popular digital platforms like Tinder, Netflix, and Snapchat. They sang of the irony of swiping left on your future soul mate, a snap that you really wish you had saved, and sending out one heck of tweet, but not a soul fave. Of course, one particular line seemed plucked straight from the thoughts of a million women, “It’s ten thousand male late-night hosts, when all you want is just one woman — seriously,” Morissette says. But Corden’s reply is full of hurt, “Singing the duet of your dreams and then Alanis Morissette shouting at you?”

Towards the end of the new “Ironic,” Corden takes the mumbling Alanis did at the end of the original song a little too far, and Morissette has to try and reign in The Late Late Show host, to no avail. You can listen to the duet for yourself in the above video.

Us Weekly wrote about a moment of reflection Alanis Morissette relayed earlier this year in May, regarding her iconic album, the songs she performed and their relevance now.

“I thank sweet baby Jesus that I can actually perform these songs. There’s timelessness to it for me that I can actually stand by these lyrics still. Thank God, because otherwise I probably wouldn’t want to.”

The updated rendition even managed to poke fun of the glorious inconsistency of a song called “Ironic,” that is constantly asking “isn’t it ironic?” but in actuality has nary an irony in the entire song. Isn’t it ironic?

[Photo Courtesy of YouTube Video screencap]

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