1998 song by Goo Goo Dolls
"
Iris
" is a song by the American
alternative rock
band
Goo Goo Dolls
. Written for the
soundtrack
of the 1998 film
City of Angels
, it was included on the sixth Goo Goo Dolls album,
Dizzy Up the Girl
, and released as a single on April 1, 1998.
"Iris" reached number one in Australia, Canada, and Italy, number three in the United Kingdom, and number nine on the US
Billboard
Hot 100
. In Ireland, it is one of the bestselling singles of all time. "Iris" is the Goo Goo Dolls'
signature song
and has received critical acclaim, being described as a "ubiquitous" staple for the band's live sets.
[6]
[7]
Composition
[
edit
]
After completing the first-edit on the film
City of Angels
, co-producer
Bob Cavallo
and his son
Rob Cavallo
, also a music producer, decided to take along musical artists to a viewing to create the soundtrack. Bob took
Alanis Morissette
whilst Rob took the Goo Goo Dolls. The following morning Morissette called Rob, and asked him to produce the song "
Uninvited
" which she had written afterwards as a demo. Shortly afterwards that same day, John Rzeznik called Rob with a song he had written called "Iris", a
power ballad
.
[8]
[9]
In a 2013 interview with
Songfacts
, lead singer Rzeznik explained how he wrote the song:
"I was thinking about the situation of the
Nicolas Cage
character in the movie. This guy is completely willing to give up his own immortality, just to be able to feel something very human. And I think, 'Wow! What an amazing thing it must be like to love someone so much that you give up everything to be with them.' That's a pretty heavy thought."
[10]
Speaking with Songwriting Magazine, Rzeznik said that further inspiration for the song came from the fact that he wanted to be on a soundtrack album with U2, Peter Gabriel and Alanis Morissette.
[11]
Rzeznik named the song after
country folk
singer-songwriter
Iris DeMent
, after he noticed her name in a concert listing in the
LA Weekly
newspaper.
[12]
Commercial performance
[
edit
]
Upon its release, "Iris" became second of a string of hits from the film's soundtrack,
City of Angels: Music from the Motion Picture
. (The first was
Alanis Morissette
's "
Uninvited
" and the third was
Sarah McLachlan
's "
Angel
"). The song debuted at number 66 on the
Billboard
Hot 100 Airplay
chart on April 18, 1998, and eventually spent a then-record of 18 weeks at number one in Hot 100 Airplay. However it was not allowed to chart on the
Billboard
Hot 100 because no commercial single had been released. In December 1998, just after the song's airplay had peaked, the rules changed to allow airplay-only songs onto the chart. As a result, the song debuted and peaked at number nine and stayed on the chart for 14 weeks.
On the
Mainstream Rock Tracks
chart, "Iris" peaked at number eight. The song was the band's second number one hit on the
Modern Rock Tracks
chart, following their 1995 hit "
Name
." "Iris" stayed at number one for five weeks on the Alternative Songs chart and also hit number one on the
Mainstream Top 40
chart for four weeks. The song spent a then-record 17 weeks at number one on the Billboard
Adult Top 40
chart (beating
No Doubt
's 15-week run at number one with "
Don't Speak
" in 1996?97). The Goo Goo Dolls performed "Iris" on October 20, 2001, at
Madison Square Garden
as part of
The Concert for New York City
to raise money for victims of the
September 11 attacks
.
[13]
[
better source needed
]
"Iris" was also an international hit. It peaked at number five on the
Irish Singles Chart
and has since become the 19th biggest-selling single of all time in Ireland.
[14]
The song initially peaked at number 50 in the United Kingdom in August 1998 before rising to number 26 the following year. On October 2, 2011, after performances by auditionees on
The X Factor
, the song re-entered the
UK Singles Chart
at number three. In May 2013, the song charted at number 12 after it was covered by
Britain's Got Talent
contestant Robbie Kennedy.
[15]
Elsewhere, the song became a number-one hit in Italy (for two weeks), Australia (for five weeks), and Canada (for eight weeks), and it reached the top 10 in
Flanders
and the Netherlands.
Accolades and legacy
[
edit
]
Besides the song's success on the charts, "Iris" enjoyed critical acclaim. At the
41st Grammy Awards
, "Iris" received nominations for
Record of the Year
and
Pop Performance by a Duo or Group
. The song also garnered Johnny Rzeznik a
Song of the Year
nomination.
[16]
The single was certified septuple platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America
on June 30, 2022. The song was ranked at number 39 on
Rolling Stone
'
s list of the 100 greatest pop songs.
[17]
In October 2012, "Iris" was ranked number one on
Billboard
'
s "Top 100 Pop Songs 1992?2012" chart, which ranked the top songs of the first 20 years of the
Mainstream Top 40/Pop Songs
chart. The list also featured the Goo Goo Dolls' hits "
Slide
", ranking at number nine, and "
Name
" at number 24. The Goo Goo Dolls are the only musicians to have three songs on the list, two breaking the top 10 and all three falling within the top 25. They are also the only musicians that have back to back singles (Iris, 1998 and Slide, 1999) featured on the list.
[18]
In a revised list in October 2017, "Iris" still ranked in the top 10, at number eight.
[19]
The song's melodic and structural similarities to "
Piano Man
" by
Billy Joel
have been remarked upon by many commentators.
[20]
[21]
Joel himself has performed the song live with the Goo Goo Dolls.
[22]
Track listings
[
edit
]
Australian and Japanese maxi-CD single
[23]
[24]
- "Iris" ? 4:54
- "
Lazy Eye
" ? 3:48
- "I Don't Want to Know" ? 3:38
UK cassette single
[25]
- A. "Iris" ? 3:36
- B. "Lazy Eye" ? 3:46
|
UK CD single
[26]
- "Iris" ? 3:36
- "Lazy Eye" ? 3:46
- "I Don't Want to Know" ? 3:37
European CD single
[27]
- "Iris" (radio edit) ? 3:37
- "Iris" (acoustic) ? 3:24
|
Charts
[
edit
]
Weekly charts
[
edit
]
|
Year-end charts
[
edit
]
All-time charts
[
edit
]
|
Certifications
[
edit
]
Release history
[
edit
]
Phoebe & Maggie version
[
edit
]
"Iris"
|
---|
|
Released
| November 2020
|
---|
Genre
| Alternative
|
---|
Length
| 3
:
09
|
---|
|
|
|
|
"Love You for a Long Time"
(2019)
|
"
Iris
"
(2020)
|
"That's Where I Am"
(2022)
|
|
|
While awaiting the results of the
2020 United States presidential election
on November 3, singer-songwriter
Phoebe Bridgers
tweeted that she would cover "Iris" if
Donald Trump
lost.
[95]
[96]
The cover, which was recorded as a duet with
Maggie Rogers
under the name Phoebe & Maggie, was released exclusively via Bridgers'
Bandcamp
page for one day only on November 13, with proceeds going towards
Stacey Abrams
' Fair Fight organization to promote fair elections in the state of
Georgia
as well as nationally.
[95]
[97]
Despite only being available for purchase for one day, the song debuted at number one on the
Digital Song Sales
chart and number 57 on the
Billboard
Hot 100, making it both artists' first entry on the latter chart.
[98]
The song has also charted in Australia, New Zealand, and Scotland.
On November 4, 2022, the song was re-released, again for only 24 hours, ahead of the
2022 midterm elections
. Proceeds went to the Brigid Alliance, an abortion care group.
[99]
Charts
[
edit
]
Other versions
[
edit
]
In late 2022, American grocery chain
Kroger
partnered with singer
Colbie Caillat
to record a special stylized rendition of "Iris" for its
Today's Holiday Moments are Tomorrow's Memories
short film and associated ad campaign.
[106]
[107]
Separately, Canadian
country music
artist
Josh Ross
released his own version of "Iris" on his November 2022 extended play
Live Sessions
.
[108]
In 2023,
pop punk
singer, rapper, and songwriter
Mod Sun
released a cover of the song on his fifth studio album
God Save the Teen
.
[109]
References
[
edit
]
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cite AV media notes
}}
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{{
cite AV media notes
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{{
cite AV media notes
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: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (
link
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{{
cite AV media notes
}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (
link
)
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(European CD single liner notes). Goo Goo Dolls.
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, Third Rail Records. 1999. 0102485HWR.
{{
cite AV media notes
}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (
link
)
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.
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.
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