SSB - Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls
July 7th, 2006
We take a break from the OPM sound trip to take on Jhay’s suggestion for this next installment of Single Song Breakdown: Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls. It’s off the soundtrack for City of Angels and their album Dizzy Up the Girl. If you’re one of the few who haven’t sang their hearts out to this track while pining for a girl, you can get the lyrics here.
I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about this one: Goo Goo Dolls uses such exotic tunings that I wasn’t sure where to begin. I first tried the tuning I used for their other song, Name: D-A-D-A-D-E. Didn’t sound right at all. Then I remembered there was a Guitar One article I read from way back that said Johnny Rzeznik used a B-D-D-D-D-D tuning for this one. That’s some very loose strings there. The lowest I’ve ever tuned down as to a Drop-C tuning for when I play Disturbed.
Breakdown - the Tuning
Set the low E (6th string) to an even lower B. Then tune down the A string to D. The third string stays as is. Tune down the G string (err) to D. The next is a bit tricky: tune UP the B string to D; careful when you do this as it may break. What I usually do is rest my picking hand’s forearm across the strings and slowly tighten the nut. The high E (1st string) is tuned down to D as well.
Breakdown - the Feel
Having seen them perform on TV on more than occasion, and having played Name previously, I know that Rzeznik likes to just strum the whole thing and just walk the bass notes. Judging by his tuning, the song is in B, and since the only other note is D, I can start off with the assumption that the song is in B minor, where D is the 3rd note of the scale. Taking a strum, I can’t help but feel chills run down my spine, the D octaves hauntingly ringing throughout my room. Damn, that sounded good. I love alternate tunings, this one in particular: there’s a richness of texture layered by the octaves that I find very beautiful. I need to thank Jhay for suggesting this; I’m bursting with ideas!
This is also a song that sounds best with a good steel-string acoustic guitar; the resonance you get from the hole and wood is far superior IMHO.
Breakdown - the Intro
The intro starts off with a haunting riff in B minor:
So far so good; we’re just hitting bass notes and letting everything else ring. The open D strings at the bottom really give much to the fullness of the sound. The riff gives off a baleful vibe that adds suspense to the song, but doesn’t seem to resolve completely with B as I originally thought.
Breakdown - the Verse
Reaching the verse, I soon realize that the song resolves in D major; the intro was actually in the D Aeolian mode, that is, in the mode of the 6th key of the D major scale, which is B minor. The chords for the verse are D-E-G-Bm-A-G. Here’s the tab:
Pay close attention to how you strum and the timing of the chord change; I do it by alternating up-down strokes and shifting after the fourth stroke for D, E, Bm and and A, and after the fifth for both G’s.
Breakdown - the Refrain and Interlude
The chorus is as simple as it gets: a descending bass line following B (I use the high B on the 12th fret), A and G, with the bottom strings ringing. This is followed by an short interlude that’s the same as the intro, and goes back to the verse.
Breakdown - the Pre-Solo Interlude
There are two parts to this: the first is a simple walking bass line along B (again 12th fret), D and E, then B, A and G. The next part involves some nifty pauses that meshes perfectly with he drum roll:
This is what I came up with:
Breakdown - the Solo/Extending the Song
The rhythm for the solo is G-F#-Bm and a run up the scale (D-F-G-A) towards the end of the measure. As for the lead line, there’s no getting around it: for me, the way Rzeznik plays the solo just seems right. Instead of throwing some random stuff in there, I took a cue from the way he starts it and just winged it. It’s in D major, and I made a point to go back to that particular D to begin a phrase. BTW, I switched back to standard tuning for this one; with five strings set to D’s, I was having a hard time moving back and forth the fretboard :p
All in all, I had a great time breaking down this song; major props to Jhay for suggesting it. Keep the suggestions coming folks, I’ve set up a special section of the site just for your Single Song Breakdown requests. Till next time, keep rockin \m/
12 Responses to “SSB - Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls”
July 7th, 2006 at 11:11 am
oooh you’re good. this song is a must in everyone’s fave list
i’m gona try this out on the guitar sometime 
thanks!
July 7th, 2006 at 8:27 pm
thank you
you’re right, i don’t know :anybody: who doesn’t love this song 
salamat s pg daan
July 8th, 2006 at 6:04 pm
i dont =P
July 8th, 2006 at 9:47 pm
wehehehe hihirit tlaga :p
July 9th, 2006 at 8:55 pm
Nice one dude! Thanks, I really had a hard time when I first studied the notes for this song, it took me a month and a half just to get the hang of tuning the strings. It left me in awe of Goo goo dolls, just brilliant. The song up to now, still sends chills down my spine whenever I hear it, especially the lead solo. Bows down…
Thanks for taking up my suggestion
July 28th, 2006 at 4:17 am
ayos toh… i just dunno how to tune it in drop d without someone guiding me.
August 1st, 2006 at 9:52 pm
It’s not actually drop d… drop me an email, I’ll send you an mp3 of the tuning
August 2nd, 2006 at 11:45 am
i need an mp3 to learn how to tune my guitar for iris. can someone please send me it so i can jam this song!?>!?
August 2nd, 2006 at 11:13 pm
I’ll be posting an mp3 of the tuning process in a day or two, please come back then
October 11th, 2006 at 5:49 pm
ayos 2………………………….i love googoo dolls
song………..my favorite is iris i want to know the chords can you email me plzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!!
October 11th, 2006 at 6:15 pm
The chords are right there…
May 3rd, 2007 at 8:20 am
waaaaaaaaaa the pictures won’t appear on my computer!! it just says iris-intro and iris-verse!!!!