Who is the Goo Goo Dolls song ‘Iris’ about?
Who was Eleanor Rigby? Did Stacy’s mom really have it going on? Did Jolene really take Dolly Parton’s man? When an artist opts to name a song after a person, it invites curiosity from listeners. It’s a stylistic choice that will always leave fans wondering who the real-life inspiration for the song was, whether it’s a lost lover or a bitter enemy. The Goo Goo Dolls’ 1998 track ‘Iris’ is no exception.
Penned by Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik, ‘Iris’ has become the band’s signature track. It has amassed well over a billion streams on Spotify, took home a slew of award nominations the year it was released, and is a karaoke classic. But who inspired Rzeznik during the writing process of ‘Iris’, and where did the name come from?
‘Iris’ was actually written to appear on the soundtrack for Brad Silberling’s 1998 film City of Angels. Nicolas Cage stars in the movie as Seth, an angel who is invisible to most humans but, for some reason, becomes visible to Meg Ryan’s character, Maggie. Despite their differences, the pair fall in love. Rzeznik penned ‘Iris’ with Cage’s character in mind.
“It was pretty interesting because that was the first time I had ever written a song for a film specifically,” the frontman explained during a conversation with the Grammys, “I had a guitar [that] had four strings on it because I broke two.” Undeterred by the sorry state of his guitar, Rzeznik had a “lot of fun” penning the song from the perspective of the film’s protagonist.
Over soft strums, the Goo Goo Dolls songwriter contained the conflicted feelings of the angel into his spiritual, emotionally driven words. “And I’d give up forever to touch you, cause I know that you feel me somehow,” he sang in the opening verse, “You’re the closest to heaven that I’ll ever be, and I don’t wanna go home right now.”
Full of yearning and human emotion, it was the perfect sonic accompaniment for Silberberg’s themes and plot. But Cage’s character’s name wasn’t Iris; it was Seth. There wasn’t a single character in City of Angels called Iris, and the name didn’t even appear in the song lyrics. So, where did Rzeznik get the title?
So, where did the name ‘Iris’ come from?
Rzeznik’s lyrics borrowed from the story of Seth, from his experience of falling in love with Maggie and his longing to be understood, but he didn’t name the track after the character. Perhaps he thought that this would have been too obvious and wanted to retain some mystery, perhaps he wanted the song to have appeal outside of the story of City of Angels. Maybe he just didn’t like the name Seth.
Whatever the reason, Rzeznik decided to take inspiration from elsewhere when it came to selecting the song title. The name ‘Iris’ came from Iris DeMent after the songwriter stumbled across her name while reading. The country artist had no relation to the film, or to the story that Rzeznik told in ‘Iris’, but her name became the title of the song.
Despite the seemingly random choice of song title, the word ‘Iris’ fit the song perfectly, as tender as the declarations of love it accompanied. It could also be associated with the iris of the eye, adding to the imagery of humanity and understanding. Although it seemed like Rzeznik had plucked the word out of thin air, or out of his reading material, it has since become associated with the song.
From there, the song blew up, completely exceeding Rzeznik’s expectations, and became the band’s defining track. Most listeners probably don’t even notice that the word ‘Iris’ isn’t said in the song’s runtime, or maybe assume that the object of the protagonist’s affections is named Iris. Really, it was just a small nod to Iris DeMent.
