“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” Sound familiar? Even if you don’t recognize the lyrics, I’m sure you’d recognize the song once you heard it. Surprise! It’s “Iris” By the Goo Goo Dolls. Most people have never heard of the title even if the know the song because the title is so obscure. What even more people don’t know is where this song came from. Origin of “Iris” “Iris” was actually written for the City of Angels (1998) Soundtrack way back when. John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls was approached by the makers of the film to write a song for it. The story of this song is much more than just placing a song in a movie. This song is just one example of how powerful music placement can be. Shortly before writing Iris, John Rzeznik was struggling with writer’s block, a recent divorce and an overall lack of faith of the future of his band. He was actually days away from quitting. Story has it that John was intrigued with being on the same album as Bono and Peter Gabriel if he were to participate in the soundtrack, and so he gave the writing a chance. After viewing a test of the film he was immediately flooded with inspiration and from the POV of Nicholas Cage’s character, he wrote “Iris.” As result, “Iris” was placed in the movie and the song landed a spot on the soundtrack. I’ve heard mixed things on the quality of the movie but the soundtrack is supposedly very impressive. I wanted to focus on the story of Iris because it’s a great example of how music placement can do great things for musicians. Uses in the Film “Iris” is used in the film only briefly to show the struggles of Seth, Nicolas Cage’s character. The lyrics specifically are used to tell the story of the character as the song plays in the background of the character’s actions. I like placement like this because the music doesn’t just serve as a background, it really makes the audience interact with the film and become an active viewer. The audience is left to put the pieces of the puzzle together as they link the lyrics to the character’s actions. The music helps set the mood and tone as well but the song as a whole really helps tell the narrative. Success of “Iris” Not only is the song phenomenal in itself and the lyrics are relatable to many situations, but the use of the song in this film gave the Goo Goo Dolls great exposure especially with the introduction of this “new” goo. Iris was a true step away from the traditional sound of the band but it really gave them a fresh and honest identity that could relate to more listeners. The song was included on the band’s latest release, Dizzy Up the Girl along with a strong of other huge hits that contributed to the Goo Goo Dolls becoming a household name. Even besides that, ‘Iris’ “remains one of the biggest crossover hits in the history of popular music, crossing over from modern rock radio to pop and adult contemporary radio, reaching number one on all of these formats and becoming the most played song of 1998 for all formats” (Wikipeda.) Not to mention the numerous awards the song was recognized for. Legacy In the end, “Iris” was a huge success both for the film and for the band. It’s not just the fact that the song was placed in a movie that led the Goo Goo Dolls to fame and recognition. There were a few factors at play.
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AuthorMusic & Film enthusiast. Definitely not an expert but I'm sharing what I do know. ArchivesCategories |