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GOO GOO DOLLS continued from page 20
good , instantly consumable copy these days , sans any nourishment , for the mind , heart , or soul . It ’ s not a scathing social commentary , per se , because the Goo Goo Dolls are as puzzled by what lit this brouhaha fuse as the next guy , and they just shrug it off with c ’ est la vie insouciance in the end , while a nameless young nobody grabs a guitar and just starts thrashing . And why not ? There was no adult on hand to tell her she couldn ’ t . Rzeznik says he loved that scene most of all , especially since the same youngster had assaulted him just a few seconds earlier . But just watching her rock out , completely carefree , somehow wistfully reminded him of that ephemeral punk rock spirit , which many musicians often lose after a few rounds with the Rock- ‘ Em , Sock- ‘ Em Robot that is the music business . Dogged outliers like X managed to sustain for
point of that was to kind of illustrate what would happen because before 24 hours had passed , there was all this online chatter , asking , “ What ? What happened ?” And I ’ m getting texts from everybody , going , “ What did this guy do to you ?” And I was like , “ Whoa . So this is how bullshit gets disseminated , at the speed of light , in our modern world !” Because I didn ’ t tell any of my friends or family – I told nobody . Keenan actually thought it up , and I thought , “ Yeah , that ’ s pretty funny – I ’ m actually gonna put a disclaimer on my video about you .” It was a little social experiment , but can you imagine if we had a political platform or something ? Imagine just how fast you can spread bullshit that people just immediately believe ! And I did study social sciences in college , and I learned some pretty interesting things . So I hope that music and art and literature and all this stuff just doesn ’ t become completely electronic and become completely disposable . But ultimately , the whole point of that song was that it was just
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multiple decades . And so , one could easily argue , did the Goo Goo Dolls . Because the group – with Rzeznik and Takac as its ole permanent members , is nothing if not consistent .
Because bottom line ? For the group to have penned such a winning anthem at this point in its career is remarkable . But the equally-memorable nine other cuts that comprise Chaos in Bloom ? That ’ s a whole new level of competence , the kind that recently earned Rzeznik one of his most treasured kudos , the Hal David Starlight Award honoring his induction into the Songwriters ’ Hall of Fame . He spent a good 90 minutes a couple of weeks ago discussing his place in both the pop pantheon and a brave new TikTok world to which he ’ s acclimating fairly fast .
IE : What was the story with that strange caveat you posted online about the “ Yeah , I Like You ” video , just as it was coming out ? Disavowing all prior knowledge about what its director was secretly intending ? JOHN RZEZNIK : ( Chuckling ) Yeah – the socalled mega-genius ! The so-called mega-talent ! That was actually a joke . And the whole
Goo Goo Dolls circa 1987
supposed to be very tongue-in-cheek social satire , you know ? And I thought that the video was a pretty effective statement , but it turned out to be really funny . And anyway , I can ’ t make videos where it ’ s like , “ Here we see the band . And the smoke . And the lights . And the mirrors . And they are all intense , as is the band ’ s performance . It ’ s like , “ Uh , no , man .” That song and video were meant to poke fun at everything .
IE : And it ’ s a great update on the similar commentary in Don Henley ’ s “ Dirty Laundry ” – “ Can we film the operation ? Is the head dead yet ? Get the widow on the set / We need dirty laundry !” JR : Henley is a genius , man . We were just talking about this the other day , and I like his solo stuff as much , if not more , than what he did in The Eagles . It ’ s awesome , just some amazing music .
IE : Robby always seems like you could put him in a room with an Etch-A-Sketch and some comic books and he ’ d be happily con-
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