Today we share an old interview forwarded to us by contributor Bailey, which lead singer and guitarist John Rzeznik did during the promotion of 1995’s “A Boy Named Goo”. There is some interesting info here, some of it confirming theories surrounding the songs from that era.
First and foremost, let’s see what Bailey has to say about it:
Hello
It’s been a while since I’ve had interviews to share, and even longer since I found one on the topic of A Boy Named Goo. I’m getting the feeling I’ve sent you this specific article before, but I don’t know. If I did, that’s totally fine because I have another article coming soon and I know I’ve never shared that one.
This one talks about what singles John would’ve rather chosen (other than We Are The Normal) back in 1993, Kurt Cobain, inspirations for the song “Only One”, Lance Diamond, and much more.
Interview With Singer/Guitarist John Rzeznik
Unknown Source
00-00-95
By: Blair R. Fischer
For the first time since the Goo Goo Dolls formed nearly a decade ago, the all-male group is receiving national fanfare. Ironically, it’s most likely the band’s obscure “name” that has kept the trio from already achieving heavy “buzz clip” rotation on MTV and nauseous airplay on Top 40 radio. “Name” – the last of four singles from the band’s “A Boy Named Goo” – could very well catapult the Goo Goo Dolls from the ranks of the unknown and underrated and send deprived alternative-fans scurrying to their nearest record store to purchase Goo’s equally catchy back catalog.
BF: Where did the name of the band come from?
JR: That comes from drunken stupidity and being young.
BF: That’s it? Because the first time I heard the name I thought it was an all-girl band.
JR: Yeah, what a bad name. What a stupid name for a band. I’m convinced we would have sold millions of records if we’d have had a different name.
BF: What’s the “A Boy Named Goo” come from?
JR: A Boy Named Goo. A boy named Sue. It rhymes. I was sitting around one day and I said, “life ain’t easy for a boy named Goo.”
BF: Are you guys upset that you haven’t received tons of notoriety?
JR: Nah, I’m not pissed off. I don’t want to be a flavor of the month.
BF: I just think a lot of people don’t know about your band.
JR: Well the label’s [Warner Bros.] trying really hard to get us out to the masses. And that’s cool. I’m down with that. I mean, I can’t begrudge Green Day or Offspring. (Pause). The only thing that pisses me off about Green Day is that everybody thinks that they’re a new band and completely original. And they’re neither. And that’s not to berate them. I mean everybody says we sound just like The Replacements. And it’s like, “fine, so what….and?” And Green Day doesn’t sound like the Buzzcocks and the Dickies. And Offspring doesn’t sound like a mix of Boston and Naked Raygun. And Bush doesn’t sound like Nirvana. Who gives a damn? If I write melodic rock songs and that means I sound like The Replacements . . . that’s so ridiculous. And if everybody was so in love with The Replacements, they should have bought their records when they were putting them out.
BF: The irony is that they [The Replacements] weren’t any bigger than you are now?
JR: Well, if I wind up selling a lot of Replacements records, then good for Paul [Westerberg].
BF: On “Superstar Car Wash,” how did you get together with Westerberg for “We Are The Normal?”
JR: I just called Paul and asked him if he wanted to write a song with me and he said, “sure.”
BF: You used it as a single and it doesn’t really reflect the rest of the album.
JR: I know. That wasn’t my idea. Believe me, it wasn’t. That was the record company’s bright idea. They figured they had Paul Westerberg’s name; they’ll make a lot of money. And then we said, “we don’t want this, we don’t want this.” And they said, “too bad.” I would have used “Cuz You’re Gone” or “Fallin’ Down.” I would have started with “Fallin’ Down,” then “Cuz You’re Gone” and then maybe to “We Are The Normal.” But, the label’s attitude has completely changed and they’ve committed themselves to four singles off this record [”Only One,” “Flat Top,” “Naked” and “Name”].
BF: With a song like “Name,” do you think, “oh, I’ve got to write a ballad now?”
JR: No. I mean, all the songs start out on acoustic guitar. And they all wind up being electric songs. Most of them. And “Name” didn’t. On this record, I tried to push out a bit lyrically. Not so much musically. I wanted to take the focus off myself because I started to feel a bit arrogant. It started to seem a bit arrogant to sing about myself.
BF: On “Only One,” it sounds like you’re making a reference to Kurt Cobain.
JR: Nope.
BF: Has anybody asked you about that before?
JR: Everybody. (Pause) I did not know Kurt Cobain. I did not listen to his records very much and he really didn’t have very much of an influence on me, my life, my music — anything. So how could I write a song about him?
BF: The last little verse….[Used to be a folk singer/now you’re just a joke singer/ain’t no smoking’ dope singer/swinging’ from a rope singer].
JR: I’m never telling anyone who that song is really about. That song is not about Kurt Cobain, but it is about somebody and nobody will ever know who. A lot of people think that though. They say, “come one, this line right here.” It’s like the album cover. Somebody said to me, “is that a take-off on the Nirvana album cover [”Nevermind”]?” I’m like, “no.” I saw this picture of this little kid and it struck me really hard.
BF: There’s also the line “A thousand other suckers are dying to fill your shoes.”
JR: That line is more a comment on the tortured artist syndrome. The “oh, my god, my life is so hard” thing. Yeah, it’s so hard making $480,000 a year and having people cater to your every whim, being carted around in a beautiful bus and having everybody praise you and tell you how great you are. How’d you like to be the guy who got up a five o’clock every morning and had to take an elevator a mile and a half below the earth and dig all day for $10 an hour.
BF: How come there’s no Lance Diamond on this record?
JR: We just wanted to showcase our own tunes on this one. I’ve got some new tunes I want to do with Lance. We didn’t put him on the record because we didn’t want it to seem like it was becoming a formula.
BF: Does he ever come on tour with you?
JR: Oh, yeah.
BF: What do you do with him?
JR: “Bitch,” “Down on the Corner” and “Never Take the Place of Your Man.” Some Marvin Gaye tunes.
BF: On tour, do you guys do anything from your first two albums [the debut album and “Jed”]?
JR: We cover all five albums. We still do “Torn Apart,” “I’m Addicted,” “Kevin’s Song,” “Hey,” a few songs off of “Superstar” and then like five songs from the new record. We’re playing like 90-minute songs.
BF: What do you think about bootlegs? I never see any bootlegs from you guys.
JR: Oh, they’re out there. There’s tons of them. I’ve seen them at record shows, swap meets. There’s videos.
BF: Any one’s you recommend?
JR: There’s one called “The Goo Goo Dolls In Hell.”
BF: What tour is that from?
JR: It was done at place called Hell in ‘87. It’s pretty amazing. We totally destroyed this nightclub. And we were just running around kicking ceiling panels out. We had 200 people crammed into this basement club called Hell and we destroyed the place.
BF: So you don’t mind bootlegs?
JR: Anybody who’s gonna want a bootleg already has all our other stuff.
BF: Are you getting standing room only?
JR: Not in Texas. But we’re getting between 500 and 1,200 per show. It’s been the most successful tour yet. And the label’s been really good to us. They’re fanning the flames. It’s about to catch, I think. And if it doesn’t, I’m just gonna go home and make another record.
Endnote: In another interview John does in fact speak about the individual with whom inspired him to write the song, “Only One.” John states in this interview: “I wrote ‘Only One’ about a friend of mine who was a big rock star in Buffalo . . . He had a chance to really make it, and he pissed it away. I write a lot of songs for my friends. I’m a writer: I make shit up and write about it.”
So, the two theories which find some definite confirmation here are:
- The band was not happy with “We Are The Normal” as the first and main single for the album, as they felt it was not representative of the latter. On this note, I will add that at some point the song “Already There” was also being considered as a possible single. In the end, the second single off the album ended up being “Fallin’ Down“, a release mainly fueled by the fact the song had been chosen to be part of the soundtrack for the movie “Son In Law“. No other singles were issued afterwards.
- “Only One” has been speculated as a song written about Kurt Cobain, but here John declares it was actually not the case.
Many thanks Bailey for this informative interview.
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