Dizzy Up the Girl

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Dizzy Up the Girl

Studio album by Goo Goo Dolls
Released	September 22, 1998
Recorded	???
Genre	Rock
Length	45:03
Label	Warner Brothers
Producer(s)	Rob Cavallo & Goo Goo Dolls
All Music Guide (4/5) link
Goo Goo Dolls chronology
A Boy Named Goo (1995)	Dizzy Up the Girl (1998)	What I Learned About Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce (2001)

Dizzy Up the Girl is an album by Goo Goo Dolls, released in 1998 on Warner Bros. In most parts of the world, this is their most successful album to date.

[edit] Track listing

"Dizzy" (Johnny Rzeznik) – 2:41
"Slide" (Rzeznik) – 3:32
"Broadway" (Rzeznik) – 3:58
"January Friend" (Robby Takac) – 2:44
"Black Balloon" (Rzeznik) – 4:09
"Bullet Proof" (Rzeznik) – 4:37
"Amigone" (Takac) – 3:15
"All Eyes on Me" (Rzeznik/Takac) – 3:57
"Full Forever" (Takac) – 2:51
"Acoustic #3" (Rzeznik) – 1:56
"Iris" (Rzeznik) – 4:49
"Extra Pale" (Takac) – 2:10
"Hate This Place" (Rzeznik) – 4:24

[edit] Song information

Dizzy (single)

"Dizzy"

"Dizzy" was released as a single, peaking at #9 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart on January 5, 1999.

Slide (single)

"Slide"

"Slide" was released as a single. It hit #1 on Billboard's Adult Top 40 chart on March 3, 1999, and #9 on the Hot 100 Singles Chart on January 5 1999. "Slide" is about a pregnant girl who is deciding whether to get an abortion or to marry her boyfriend.

"Broadway"

"Broadway" is a commentary on Buffalo, specifically the worldview of the residents there. This song was covered by then Cleveland Indians shortstop Omar Vizquel on the CD "Oh Say Can You Sing?"

"January Friend"

"January Friend" came from a trip Robby took in Hawaii. He claimed that many strange things came out of a trip to paradise.

Black Balloon (single)

"Black Balloon"

Main article: Black Balloon

According to one source, Johnny has said that "Black Balloon" is about "seeing someone you love that is so great just screw up so bad." Speculation as to the song's subject has included bassist Robby Takac's ex-wife (who overdosed on heroin). "Black Balloon" was released as a single and has a video.

"Bullet Proof"

The fast and rocking "Bullet Proof" is one of the Goo Goo Dolls' fan favorites. It's a lot like "Dizzy", part husky punk/hard rock and part sweet and high melody.

"Amigone"

The name "Amigone" comes from a chain of funeral homes in the Buffalo area.

"All Eyes On Me"

While Rzeznik and Takac usually write songs individually, this is a collaborative number. "I was so stuck," says Rzeznik, "and Robby had been listening to me sort of sing along with the track in the studio and started jotting down what he thought I was saying. And it worked." Says Takac, "Johnny's songs are a bit more descriptive, and I speak in generalizations. This was sort of cool; we hadn't written a song together like that since SCW."

"Full Forever"

This song was inspired by Robby's girlfriend of the time.

"Acoustic #3"

According to Johnny Rzeznik, "Acoustic #3" is intentionally short (running less than two full minutes) in order to prevent it from being released as a single. He wanted the song to be appreciated for what it was, not because it was constantly played on the radio. Incidentally, it is the most popular non-single song on this album, according to iTunes download information.

Iris (single)

"Iris"

Main article: Iris (song)

This was originally written for the soundtrack of the 1998 film City of Angels, but it was later included on Dizzy Up the Girl. It was the first song that the Goo Goo Dolls had been asked to write specifically for a movie. Upon its release, the song became second of a string of hits from the movie's soundtrack. (The first was Alanis Morissette's "Uninvited", the third was Sarah McLachlan's "Angel".)

Chartwise, "Iris" did very well. On the Billboard charts, "Iris" peaked at #2 and held onto the position for 5 weeks. It spent 18 weeks on top of the Hot 100 Airplay chart, the longest stay by a song, however was not allowed to chart on the Hot 100 until after its peak passed, because no commercial single was released. By the time the single had been released, however, the album cut implementation had been introduced, but it is likely had the implementation had been introduced earlier, "Iris" would have certainly topped the Hot 100.

The instrumentals in the song are heavily driven by guitar riffs and violins, with a steady drumbeat 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 movie, 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. This is the same theme that the music video has as well.