Goo Goo Dolls perform on ABC’s ‘New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2026′ (Disney/Chris Willard)
Sorry, fans and celebrities: the guy who wrote “Iris” didn’t see your “What were you like in the ’90s?” meme post.
It seemed like everyone was jumping on that trend a few months ago: It consisted of posting throwback photos of yourself during the ’90s while the Goo Goo Dolls’ hit “Iris” played in the background. John Stamos, Kevin Bacon, Courteney Cox, Reese Witherspoon, Brooke Shields, Spice Girls and the Backstreet Boys are just some of the celebrities who took part in the trend.
But when ABC Audio asked which one of those celebrity versions of the trend was his favorite, Goo Goo Dolls singer John Rzeznik, who wrote “Iris,” didn’t have an answer.
“Are you talking about the ‘What were you doing in the ’90s’ thing?” John asked ABC Audio. “I didn’t see any of them. I can’t go on social media.”
However, John does have a theory as to why the song, which was a hit in 1998, is still connecting with audiences today. It’s used as a wedding song, it’s a popular song for younger artists to cover, and it’s been streamed on Spotify more than 3 billion times.
“I think it’s a pretty simple theme: ‘I just want you to know who I am,'” John tells ABC Audio of the song’s lyrics. “I mean, we all want to be seen, we all want be heard — even though the first line of the chorus is, ‘I don’t want anybody to see me,’ whatever.”
“But we all wanna be seen. We all want to be acknowledged.”
“Iris,” named after singer Iris DeMent, was originally written for the Nicholas Cage/Meg Ryan film City of Angels. The lyrics reflect the film’s plot, in which an angel falls in love with a mortal woman and gives up immortality to be with her.
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