Goo Goo Dolls - "Iris"

[Guest Nicole]

 

[Verse 1]
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

[Chorus]
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

[Verse 2]
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

[Chorus]
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

[Instrumental]

[Chorus]
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

[Outro]
I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am

 

[Guest Nicole]

Lead Goo Johnny Rzeznik wrote this song for the movie City Of Angels, where it is sung from the perspective of Nicolas Cage's character. In the film, Cage plays an angel sent to help humans make their transition to the afterlife. When he falls in love with a human (played by Meg Ryan), he must choose between love and eternal life.

In our 2013 interview with Rzeznik, he explained how the film influenced the song. "I was thinking about the situation of the Nicholas Cage character in the movie," he said. "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."

This is about a person with an invisible identity who no one understands. Then, he finds true love. He wants his true love to know that he exists and that she is the only person in the world who can understand and love him - hence the last line, "I just want you to know who I am." The title means this is how I see you and me and everyone. >>

The name "Iris" was inspired by a country singer named Iris DeMent, whose name Rzeznik came across while reading a magazine. This was confirmed in a 1999 interview with Goo's bass player Robbie Takac in Addicted To Noise. 

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=660

[Guest Nicole]

One of my all-time favorite songs  

[Isabella]