“‘Cause I don’t think that they’d understand,” Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls sang in “Iris,” wich topped charts in the spring and summer of 1998. Originally writen for “City of Angels,” the song has found a new audience nearly three decades later: Gen Z.

Google Trends reported on September 3 that search interest for “iris goo goo dolls” reached a 15-year peak, becoming the summer’s most-searched song.The track was a top 25 global hit on Spotify for months, even reaching No. 15, according to reports. This resurgence reflects a broader cultural trend fueled by nostalgia and evolving music consumption habits. Gen Z’s embrace of the “90s kid summer,” a longing for a pre-social media era, aligns perfectly with the Goo Goo Dolls’ late-90s success.

Gen Z’s Embrace of ’90s Nostalgia

When the Goo Goo Dolls played Berkeley’s Greek Theater with Dashboard confessional in september, Chris Carrabba, Dashboard Confessional’s frontman, noticed many teenagers wearing vintage band tees.As SF Gate reported, he remarked, “”Do they even have MTV anymore?” He then explained to the audience that families used to watch TV together, comparing it to “large format TikTok.” the crowd reportedly erupted during the show’s closing number: “Iris.”

The Song of Summer That Wasn’t

Nora primiotti of The Ringer argued on september 3 that the summer of 2025 lacked a definitive “song of the summer,” unlike past hits like “Old Town Road,” “Despacito,” “Hot in Herre,” and “Summer Nights.” She suggested the absence of a “monoculture” prevented any single song from dominating the airwaves as “Iris” did in 1998.

Yet, “Iris” found a way to dominate in 2025, fitting into a world where retromania reigns. Referencing the words of Mark Fisher, if the future has been canceled, then another Goo Goo Dolls’ lyric from their 1995 hit “Name,” rings true: “reruns all become our history.”