Today contributor Bailey shared with us a very interesting interview with John which was published in 1993, featuring some insights into one of the band’s best songs for which, strangely enough, only a few details have ever been released.
This article offers a couple of nice revelations. More than being about music, the interview focuses on some personal aspects. Let’s see what Bailey thinks about it:
Hello!
I have a feeling you’re really going to like this article! Despite the title, it’s not really about romance…but rather, life, live performances, and music. I also don’t really know why it’s got “Goo Goo Dolls” in the title, because it’s just an interview with Johnny.
Here are some highlights I’ve been interested in:
John talks about a major inspiration for the song “On The Lie”, which turned out to be an Irving Berlin song called “Easter Parade” if you listen to it and think “JOHNNY” it kinda makes sense. Very interesting.
He also mentions some influences, which he clearly states is mainly based around his family and his girlfriend/fiancé at the time, Laurie, which DOES totally tie into what the temple has said on songs like “Girl” and “Think about Me”.
There’s a lot of other great stuff in here, so check it out!
If you’re curious about the song which apparently inspired “On The Lie“, a tune I consider to be one of the band’s best, you can listen to it below. Apparently “Easter Parade” was a collection of tracks that were written for a movie. I think the first one in the playlist should be the one John is referring to. If not, it’s definitely within those in it.
Interesting. I always found it strange that the band never discussed any info “On The Lie” too much. The only bit of trivia I know about it comes from an interview with Robby which was done probably around the same time as this one. In there, he said that one day John showed up with a demo of the song, and that’s when he realized they were now able to achieve anything they musically wanted. In my opinion, Robby is talking about having matured as artists so much that by then their musical horizons had expanded quite a lot.
Like Bailey said, John also briefly mentions that his then-wife Laurie for a great source of inspiration for writing songs.
You can read the interview below. Many thanks to Bailey for sharing this little gem with us.
Temple of Goo - The rarest Goo Goo Dolls releases, for real Goo fans only 
I just love how you guys seem to find some great stuff. Kudos. 🙂
Ok, now that I think about it, I saw another 1993 article where John does talk more about On The Lie! I’ll see if I can find it again for you.
Not sure where it was, but I remember John saying his ex father in law introduced him to a lot of old standards from Irving Berlin and Sinatra etc. And how listening to those songs helped him understand the framework of a well written song. Maybe that helps explain the huge leap in songwriting skill you hear on SSCW.
I think he’s always liked Sinatra. Waaaay back around 99 or 00 he listed Sinatra’s In the Wee Small Hours as one of the fav albums he was listening to a lot. I was so surprised by that at the time.
Another great find Bailey!
he always commented on liking a lot of those old jazzy records by Sinatra and Berlin and the such. I’m a fan of Frank Sinatra’s work myself, so it’s not too surprising that he fell in love—Sinatra is a really good singer/songwriter, but it is interesting that he was influenced by those singers who are on basically the opposite side of the genre spectrum lol. I respect him for that, though. Johnny really did have a good music taste, as did Robby.