SONG #30: Goo Goo Dolls - Name

Inducted January 14, 2015

There may be some real bias that enters into the induction process of this "Hall of Fame". I think that the slow ballad-y songs take up more real estate inside my head for many different reasons. First of all, these songs are the ones I would tend to play when I was at the darkest points of my life. Also, I'm just pretty dramatic and these songs play into that personality trait the most. With that said, bring on some more sad, wistful music.

If you grew up in the 90's, you've heard this song. It's one of the Goo Goo Dolls first hits, and I think it's a song that still holds up really well. It opens with a beautiful acoustic guitar riff and then builds with an incredibly simple drum beat. And then Johnny Rzeznik opens with these haunting words:

"And even though the moment passed me by 
I still can't turn away 
Cuz all the dreams you never thought you'd lose Got tossed along the way"    

Again, for somebody in college (when I first really gravitated to the song) who has some High School regrets and is trying to figure His life out, this really played into my anxiety a bit. But those are the kinds of songs that we often turn to for some strange form of comfort.

The instrumental "breakdown" near the end of the song is also a fantastic part of the song.


My favorite line of the song: "A tired song keeps playing on a tired radio" - I like the imagery there.