The Goo Goo Dolls turned up on NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series this week, and the nostalgia is real. Among the songs they performed was “Iris”, from the City of Angels soundtrack (1998), and I swear it took me all the way back to eighth grade.

John Rzeznik, Robby Takac, and the GGD boys pulled up to the National Public Radio offices and delivered a collection of their most recognizable hits to resounding applause from the unseen audience.

The Goo Goo Dolls’ trajectory has been kind of wild, and the way “Iris” fits in is fascinating. It’s a lot to go into, but the short story is that the band was more punk rock for the first several years. They were signed to Metal Blade Records alongside bands like Gwar and Cannibal Corpse, and had a very dedicated underground following.

In 1995, however

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