Iris (song) biography, high resolution photos and videos by Americola 
Iris (song)
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"Iris" is a song by American alternative rock band the Goo Goo Dolls. It was originally written for the soundtrack of 1998 film City of Angels, and was later included on the band's sixth album Dizzy Up the Girl. The acoustic guitar in the song gives a distinctive sound as it is in an odd tuning, with 5 of the 6 strings tuned to D. This gives a ringing effect similar to a 12-string guitar.
Contents
- 1 Origins and theme
- 2 Commercial release
- 3 Charts
- 4 Cover versions
- 4.1 Ronan Keating track listings
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Origins and theme
The instrumentals in the song are heavily driven by guitar riffs and violins, with a steady drum beat beneath. The lyrics tell the story of an unknown person's desire to be known by the object of his love. However, he seeks to avoid the notice of others because of possible repercussions. The theme of these lyrics ties in directly to the film, in which an angel falls in love with a mortal woman, and can only stay with her by giving up his angelic nature and becoming mortal.
It was the first song that the Goo Goo Dolls had been asked to write specifically for a film. Songwriter
Johnny Rzeznik has been quoted as saying he broke several years of
writer's block and several years of
sobriety simultaneously the night he wrote this track.
Commercial release
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".) On the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 the song peaked at number nine for five weeks, and it spent a record eighteen weeks at number one on the Hot 100 Airplay chart. It was not allowed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 until after it had peaked, because no commercial single had been released. "Iris" spent many months in the top thirty on the Ireland singles chart, and despite never charting higher than number five, it is the thirteenth biggest-selling single there.
In the music video the band is shown high up in skyscrapers, watching the lives of people through telescopes. This theme reflects on what the angels do in the film. Interspersed throughout the video are clips from the film depicting scenes where the angel is falling in love and deciding whether or not to give up being an angel.
Charts
| Chart (1998)
| Peak
position
|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100
| 1
|
| U.S. Modern Rock Tracks
| 1
|
| U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks
| 1
|
Cover versions
Avril Lavigne performed the song on stage at the Fashion Rocks Awards with Goo Goo Dolls lead singer Johnny Rzeznik. It was the choice of the
first dance for her 2006 wedding with
Sum 41 lead singer
Deryck Whibley. It was most recently featured on the reality show
Rock Star: Supernova, performed by
Ryan Star.
Irish pop singer Ronan Keating covered "Iris" for his fourth solo album Bring You Home (2006). It was produced by Mark Taylor and received a mixed reception from music critics. It was released as the album's first single in the second quarter of 2006 (see 2006 in music) in Europe only, with the song "All Over Again" released as the lead single in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The single's video was directed by Stuart Gosling of Panda Pictures Ltd. on location in Dubai. Gosling was also the video's director of photography.
Ronan Keating track listings
- CD single #1
- "Iris"
- "Life Is a Rollercoaster" (album version)
- CD single #2
- "Iris"
- "Heaven"
- "Back on Your Feet Again"
- "Iris" music video
