"So live like you mean it. Love 'til you feel it. It's all that we need in our lives."

"We had a gig that night and needed a name. It's the best we came up with, and for some reason it stuck. If I had five more minutes, I definitely would have picked a better name." Little did John Rzeznik, lead vocalist and guitar, Robby Takac, backup vocals and bass, and then-member George Tutuska, drums, know that their little garage punk band from Buffalo, NY, would one day reach such heights that the Goo Goo Dolls would win Rolling Stone's nod for best artist of the times. If they had, they might have picked a different name.

Goo Goo Dolls front runner Rzeznik credits his older sisters for his taste in music. At the age of 16, Rzeznik tragically lost both his parents, but gained a newfound freedom to rock. Growing up in the 1980s, its no surprise that Rzeznik's primary inspiration was Paul Westerberg, the lead singer for '80s rock band, The Replacements. True to his influences, Rzeznik lived a wayward, rebellious life throughout college, and mimicked the Replacements' raw, howling lyrics in his various experimental bands during his early years. He started cover bands to play songs of the Beatles, the Clash, and the Rolling Stones, some of his other key music influences, mixing their various styles to create his own. Rzeznik met up with drummer Tutuska, and Takac, a hippie/metal artist who credits the Ramones and the English Beat for his more mainstream rock style, and the rest, was history. Sort of. It took the band 5 years to chart a single. 9 years to chart an album. Tensions grew as the members realized that their band wasn't the hit the dreamed it would be. Their style was no longer popular with the public. Gone were the days of leather clad screaming rockers, so the band altered their style to fit the demands of the people.

No longer a punk band, The Goo Goo Dolls produce a much milder pop-rock variety of tunes, led by their emotional smash single "Iris" from 1998's hit movie City of Angels. It was "Iris," in fact, that saved the band from self-destruction. The Goo Goo Dolls had produced only one hit ("Name") in 5 albums over 8 years, and was reeling from a messy, controversial split with drummer Tutuska. Although Tutuska was replaced with Mike Malinin, the band was still suffering and on the verge of dissolving. Lead singer-songwriter Rzeznik had been struggling for months with writer's block and was, actually, just days away from quitting the band when he was asked to write a song for Angels. This proved to be the necessary breakthrough, as, within an hour, Rzeznik emerged with the lyrics and music to what is now the band's trademark song.

"Iris" was a big departure from the scrappy punk songs of the Goo Goo Dolls early days. The single combined poetic lyrics with a unique acoustic guitar tuning to create, for lack of better words, a ballad. Rzeznik tackles the idea that, although you may be happily in love, some part of you is afraid it will not last ("sooner or later it's over"). His lyrics confront our inability to live in the present moment, and the universal human belief that no one understands us, "I just want you to know who I am." Using synesthesia, "all I can taste is this moment and all I can breathe is your life," Rzeznik explores our human desire to be with someone fully, right there, but how our fears might hold us back. His second verse looks deeper into the human condition through two paradoxical statements: "and you can't fight the tears that ain't coming, or the moment of truth in your lies. When everything feels like the movies, you bleed just to know you're alive." So often we bury ourselves under a facade of lies, that, after a long enough time, they become true, and we start to believe them ourselves. Instead of participants in our lives, we become like actors in a movie, only playing a role. Rzeznik wanted to remind everyone that underneath it all, we are still humans, and prone to natural human tendencies such as failure, or ignorance. The second statement, Rzeznik meant to tie in with the movie City of Angels, because, to become human, the angel Seth, has to bleed, wanting to express our human ability to be physically, as well as emotionally injured. Unfortunately, the movie has become less prominent in our culture, leading many listeners to falsely speculate that the lyrics discuss self-mutilation. When asked about the deeper, more emotional lyrics that he penned, Rzeznik said, "I decided that it took a lot more balls to feel things in life rather than to feel numb." The band used "Iris" as a jumping point to launch their new heart-on-their-sleeve style, moving away from the empty punk songs they had been screaming.

The Goo Goo Dolls have inspired a new generation of music through their blend of rock music and alternative lyrics, calling it, ironically, alternative rock. Their influence can be seen through many young artists such as Ryan Cabrera, Matchbox 20, 3 Doors Down, and Lifehouse. These new bands, in a style similar to the Goo Goo Dolls, are not afraid to discuss topics such as love, fear, and God in their songs, while still attracting fans with their pop-rock style of music. They follow the Dolls in the idea of getting back to your roots, and remembering where you are from to get inspiration for songs. 

For over two decades, the Goo Goo Dolls have influenced the music scene, crossing boundaries and bringing out the positive side of rock-n-roll. The lyrics of their more recent works convey messages of hope, and the chance for change in our messed-up world. They encourage us to "Let Love In" and be "Real" and speak of "the chance that maybe we'll find better days." Ultimately, the Goo Goo Dolls are trying to bring humanity back from the cold, closed off people we have become, with the hope of making us feel emotions again. Sometimes, feeling the pain is a healing process, a topic explored in one song on the Dolls new album Let Love In. "I don't need to feel good all the time.  I just want to be able to feel," says Rzeznik. "That's how I know I wrote a song, and not just words."

"Iris"

And I'd give up forever to touch you
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now

And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
'Cause sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight

And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming
Or the moment of truth in your lies
When everything feels like the movies
Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive

And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am

Hypnopaedia

The messages presented by society make it clear that we must be strong, violent, powerful, if we want to get anywhere in life. Weakness is looked upon with disgust. We must be willing to dominate over the lesser people, and assert ourselves in situations to take control. If we don't, we will end up like the pitiful prey of the lion, falling victim to our fellow man. Competition, warfare, and disease are the world's way of weeding out the weaker people, leaving only the strong to survive. Violence and combat are glorified in our movies, videogames, and other media, instilling this idea in the minds of children. The images in this video are all taken from nature, or media, which show that this is the "natural" order of the world, and that survival of the fittest truly does exist in the society.