Goo Goo Dolls: Iris Meaning
Song Released: 1998
Iris Lyrics
'cause I know that you feel me somehow
You’re the closest to heaven that i’ll ever be
And I don’t want to go home right now
And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
’cause...
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To me this song is about a man who secretly loves a girl who doesn't know it. He is scared to tell her because she might get scared. How he explains it seems to be an obsession that he cannot control and he feels very frustrated by his feelings for her. He desperately wants to tell her he loves her but something is holding him back.
"I don't want the world to see me, because I don't think they'd understand" suggests that he doesn't know how to tell anyone/ express his feelings or he doesn't want people to know because they won't get it or he could be referring "world" as the girl he likes (she won't understand).
"When everything's made to be broken" suggests that he thinks it is wrong to be in love with this girl for some reason, or he tried to stop himself from loving her but can't help it.
"I just want you to know who I am" shows that he really wants the girl to know him on the inside and to know his deep feelings and not to see him as what he seems (how everyone else sees him). He would like her to understand his feelings for her - what makes up his world. It could also mean that she doesn't know who this man is at all and he wants her to meet him.
"when everything feels like the movies" shows that the love he has for this girl is like a love story from a movie - he loves her so much that it's almost un-real/ hard to believe. -
I'm going to tell you my own interpretation of this song.
And I’d give up forever to touch you
'cause I know that you feel me somehow
You’re the closest to heaven that i’ll ever be
And I don’t want to go home right now
The writer wants to reach out to someone who he/she knows will help him/her.
And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
’cause sooner or later it’s over
I just don’t want to miss you tonight
The happiness will only last for a short moment of time. Because there will be a time that it will start again.
And I don’t want the world to see me
’cause I don’t think that they’d understand
When everything’s made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am.
The writer thinks that he/she doesn't care about what the world thinks. he/she just cared about that "someone" who will be there for him/her.
And you can’t fight the tears that ain’t coming
Or the moment of truth in your lies
When everything feels like the movies
Yeah you bleed just to know you’re alive
Every negative feeling will always be revealed. But these revelations will always have a good side. But everything's getting out of hand, you will still fight for the right.
And I don’t want the world to see me
’cause I don’t think that they’d understand
When everything’s made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
And I don’t want the world to see me
’cause I don’t think that they'd understand
When everything’s made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
And I don’t want the world to see me
’cause I don’t think that they’d understand
When everything’s made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am -
"You're the closest to heaven that ill ever be" means that heaven is thought of as a beautiful,sacred, promised place...we all eventually hope to get there but for now "you are as close as I can get to paradise" comparing that the lover is equivalent to heaven!
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I think this is about some fangirls who are obsessed by an artist. Yeah, probably just me.
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i understand that this song was written for a movie, but if you forget about that and open your mind a little, you can find many meanings. i like to think of this song as this girl/boy who has someone in their life very special. someone who they can truly trust. this person is kinda alone and and all they want is for the world, meaning everyone else, because they dont know them like this person does, to see them because they dont think that they would understand how they feel. all this person wants is for this friend to know who they are. its a lovely song:) one of my favs all the way! the guitar is beautiful(i can play it OF COURSE!!!) and the lyrics are very touching nd emotional to those who fell like they are the only one in the world. I LOVE THIS SONG. I HOPE YOU DO TOO!
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However my interpretation of this songs may differ from everyone else is i will still speak it. I think this song may also be interpretation as if the singer is gay/bisexual and he/she is saying that 'they don't want the world to see me because i don't think that they'll understand' so basically suggesting that they are scared of being judged, the world in fact won't understand them. Also the singer wants to tell his/her love that they like them 'i just want you to know who i am' ect.
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its about pure love. not to be mistaken for your lives guyz. ts about the pain and forgiving. about mind and spirit. about two joining, about overthinking, and makeing it hard, dont think= know your self, know the one you are love' and he is love... life eternal!
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its about pure love. not to be mistaken for your lives guyz. ts about the pain and forgiving. about mind and spirit. about two joining, about overthinking, and makeing it hard, dont think= know your self, know the one you are love' and he is love... life eternal!
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I believe this song is about Bono
(the lead singer in U2) who lost his mother at the age of 14:(
His mother's name was Iris(a lot like the song). It is written from both persons point of veiw(Bono and his Mother).
Iris says she'll give up forever to touch her new son, cause she knows that he feels her somehow.
Bono says his dead mother is the closest to heaven that he'll ever be
(cause Iris is dead) and he doesn't want to go home right now( to face his father)
Iris says all she can taste is this moment and all she can breathe is his life cause sooner or later it's over and she just doesnt want to miss him tonight
Iris says she doesn't want the world to see her
Bono says he doesn't think that they'd understand
Iris says when everything's meant to be broken
They bothe say they just want each other to know who they are
Bono says Iris can't fight the tears that aren't coming(since she's dead)
Or the moment of truth in her lies
And when everything feels like the movies
Iris says yes, he bleeds just to know he's alive(Bono had many nosebleeds as a result of pshycilogical embalance)
Again, same thoughts as above...
The last three verses Bono and Iris just want each other to know who they are.
Anyway, that is what I truly feel this song is about. Decide for yourself:) -
I first became familiar with this song through "City of Angels." I was astonished at how perfectly the lyrics fit with the movie and later found out that the song was written solely for the film. So watch the movie and that will help tremendously.
The line "I'd give up forever to touch you" quite literally means that Nicolas Cage's character, Seth, the angel, would give up forever in order to touch Meg Ryan's character, Maggie. (In the film, angels have no sense of touch.) He loves her so much that he would sacrifice the eternity ahead of him to be with her. "You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be" refers to the fact that he will no longer be able to come and go to heaven as he pleases after he falls to earth, but Maggie is close enough to that paradise to be worth it. "And I don't want to go home right now" probably simply means that he doesn't want to leave Maggie to go with the other angels.
"And all I can taste is this moment/And all I can breathe is your life." Angels don't eat, and they don't breathe. Maggie is the only exposure Seth has to such experiences. Her life, essentially, is his, because he doesn't actually have a life to call his own. "'Cause sooner or later it's over/I just don't want to miss you tonight" isn't too difficult to understand. Seth can have only limited exposure to human life and cannot actually experience it firsthand when he is an angel, hence the "sooner or later it's over." "I just don't want to miss you tonight," in my opinion, could very well refer to the fact that angels don't sleep, and since humans do, at night Seth can't really be with her.
Now on to the refrain. "And I don't want the world to see me/'Cause I don't think that they'd understand."
The world literally CAN'T see Seth unless he wants to be seen. Like all angels, he rarely shows himself because the world has come to the point where many people don't believe in angels and wouldn't react well if they saw one. Even those who do believe don't expect to ever actually see an angel.
"When everything's made to be broken/I just want you to know who I am." The meaning of the first part is a little hard to pinpoint. Since angels can fall, perhaps it means that every angel will inevitably at some point want to become human, and going through that phase will change them somehow. "I just want you to know who I am" is literal. Seth wants Maggie to know who and what he is.
"And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming" is a straightforward movie reference. Angels don't cry. Seth converses briefly with Maggie about how and why tears form, and when he watches her cry towards the beginning of the film, he does it with a look of wonder. Seth can't cry. "Or the moment of truth in your lies" probably refers to the little moment where Seth is talking with his angel friend Cassiel and they mention how angels can't lie. "When everything feels like the movies" = when everything feels staged or fake. "Yeah, you'd bleed just to know you're alive" is another direct reference to a specific moment in the movie. When Seth finally falls and becomes mortal, he wakes up with blood on his hand. It is an immediate giveaway that he has passed from the eternal existence of the angels into a mortal life. He feels pain and sees colour and bleeds, and knows that he is now living.
So there's my say in the matter. Hope it helped to shed some light on the lyrics' meaning. :) God bless. -
You can look at this song however you want it got alot of meaning but frankly what this song means to me and why I relate to it is because ive been in a situation where ive fallen in love with the worng guy and I kno it wouldnt work and I was ashamed of falling that badly that I couldnt get bak up...i felt invisible.hurt..lost..and frankly I just wanted him back.
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The song is not a love song at all. It's actually about being trapped in addiction and not being able to be the person you really are. Also about society's ignorance to addiction(s) as an illness rather than a choice. "I don't want the world to see me, cos I don't think that they'd understand."
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I'm sorry but I just don't see how you are getting gay love out of this. The only thing I could see that would even suggest it would be the heaven thing but that could still mean anything about love and how that person is your heaven on Earth. But honestly, rather the song was written for the movie or for the artists own intentions, it doesn't really matter. This song could easily be about love but what matters is what it means to you. For instance, "I don't want the world to see me, 'cause I don't think that they'd understand." To me means that I don't want the world to see the real me because I don't think that they'd accept it. Sure ir could be about homosexuality but it could be about so much more as well. For instance I was born into a sports family but I am a musician so at times I pretend to like sports just to make them happy. But of course everyones interpretation is different just as the artists interprentation of the song was. Notice how the comment box says YOUR interpretation.
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I think this song goes beyond the movie, 'City of Angels', and can stand on its own, and have a distinct identity, without directly referring to the film.
This song transcends the limitations of a storyline or a plot and speaks of love. A love that verges on heartache, along with the feelings of need and desperation that result from loving someone so strongly.
The first verse pretty much sums up falling for someone badly, feeling that you're 'closes to heaven' with that person, because you see them as perfect, and too good for you and you see every moment you spend with them as precious and too good to be true.
And it's also about how 'all [you] can taste' is every moment you spend with them, how about nothing else matters but you and that person. Then the last two lines are about the sense of desperation and time limitations you have with that person, because you feel like it's too good to be true, and that nothing ever lasts.
The chorus accurately depicts the feeling where you realise how much you love this person, and you 'don't want the world' to see you, because you know that no-one could ever 'understand' how strongly you feel and how in love you are, and the sense of vulnerability one feels because of those feelings.
The second verse is that sense of paranoia that comes with loving someone so deeply. You see the person you love as being too perfect for you, and you wonder why they would ever pick you to be with.
And the last chorus, where 'I just want you to know who I am' is repeated for emphasis, is where I believe the Goo Goo Dolls want to express the feeling of wanting to be at one with the person you love, so much so that you're willing to giev up who and whatever you are to be with them -
hey peeps its bout a dude in a tower who sees a girl through a telescope and falls in love with her looking at her everyday through this telescope but hes so far away she cant see or notice him. Thats the actual meaning that the guy who wrote the song said. crazy shiz rite.
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