Song Interpretations
fIf you have any interpretations I could use, please e-mail me with them! Thanks!
"Name"
~What John says~ At the Aug. 27 concert, he said "This song is all about regrets." John
says that this song isn't written about anyone in particular, it's just about the inevitable regrets
that come with every decision you make in life. He also says, "It's better to live llife and have some regrets than not live life at all."
"Only One"
Many people think this song is written about Kurt Cobain
~What John says~ "I did now know Kurt Cobain. I did not listen to his records very much and he
really didn't have much of an infuence on me, my life, my music-anything. So how could I
write a song about him? I'm never telling anyone who that song is about. That song is not
about Kurt Cobain, but it is about somebody and nobody will ever know who."
"Flat Top"
~What John says~ "Flat Top is just about how everybody is having their lives dictated to them by
masses media"
"Dizzy"
~Michelle's Interpretation~ "I think it's supposed to be a love song, but their relationship kinda
went spinning out of control."
~Danielle's (My) Interpretation~ "I think Dizzy is about John worshipping this girl, and he'll do
anything to get her."
"Slide"
~Danielle's Interpretation~ "I think Slide is about this girl John's had his eye on, and she gets an
abortion, and everyone turns against her but him, she feel really bad about herself, and he wants to mary her, but she really couldn't be bothered by him."
"Broadway"
~Matt's Interpretation~ "Young people wasting their lives away, waiting to die, people lost in the
world without a home, soemthing like that."
~Danielle's Interpretation~ "I think it's about John's relationship with his father."
~What John says~ This song is about Broadway and Fillmore in Buffalo, the neighborhood John
grew up in. It's his comment on the residents' perspective on the world.
"Black Balloon"
~Michelle's Interpretation~ "I think Black Balloon's about this girl who gets pregnant and kills
her unborn baby with drugs."
~Shantel's Interpretation~ "Black Balloon is about Robby's wife going off into complete and total
hopelessness.I got that from Rolling Stone."
~What John says~ I was listening to the radio a few weeks ago, and they were interviewing John
for a few minutes. When he was asked, "So, what is the song 'Black Balloon' about?" John
said, "Uh, losing a friend." When asked, "To what?" he hesitated for a minute and then said,
"To their, ummm, overindulgence." (He was never asked overindulgence to what) Then he
was asked, "Is it a true story?" and John said, "Well, I think there's a little truth in everything.
Just like there's a little bit or truth to every joke, I think there's some truth to every song."
"Iris"
~Danielle's Interpretation~ "I think Iris is about a man who is afraif of poeple and big crowds, so
he never goes out anywhere, just watches the world from his home (as the video suggests)
He falls in lvoe with this one woman that he's neevr even met, and he loves her so much he
would give up being able to live for eternity to be with her."
~What John says~ "The lyrics for the song were sort of about-I was trying to write it from the
perspective of Nicolas Cage, where he's, he's about to give up his immortality-and he's sort
of pondering that thought because he's so in love and he wants to, he wants to feel some-
thing real for once." In another interview, he says, "I thought it was so cool to want to be with a woman so bad that you'd give your life...I wanted to step into his character and feel what he
felt....My wife and I were kind of separated at the time, and 'Iris' is a reflection of what was
going on in my own life. You don't realize that the song relates...until you step back from it. It's
just strange how a piece of music always relates back to my own life."
"Hate This Place"
~Danielle's Interpretation~ "I think this song is about a man and a woman who have been in a
relationship for a long time, but it hasn't been a good one, they keep breaking up and getting
back together again. I think that's what this song talks about."
~Lindsay's Interpretation~ "i think that hate this place is about the goo goo dolls were in a friendly old neighborhood but as all the smart people know theyre gay so no one there liked them and
so they all said i hate this place until the goo goo dolls leave and i think the goo goo dolls
are just singing about other peoples feeling about theyre hatrid for him.
~What John says~ Since people are always saying the Goo Goo Dolls sound like the
Replacements, John just wanted to write a song that sounded like them.
"Amigone"
~Jessica's Interpretation~ "Somebody is dying, probably of a disease, they were hoping for a
miracle but the person is not alive, to him/her robby is gone."