10 Rock Music Songs That Aren't About What You Think
7. Slide - Goo Goo Dolls
As the band behind the criminally overplayed Iris, Goo Goo Dolls have often been accused of filling our ears with shmaltzy rubbish.
The New York-based outfit followed up their most famous song with this ditty called Slide, which was also from their 1998 album Dizzy Up the Girl.
Helmed by singer John Rzeznik's signature warbling, the song is a neat little soft rock number that bops along at a decent pace. It's nothing remarkable, just another love song from a band famous for them.
Or is it?
According to Rzeznik, who wrote the song, Slide has a much darker backstory than you might expect.
It's actually about a young Catholic couple who discover that they are pregnant. The pair debate whether or not to marry and keep the baby or to have an abortion.
Lines like "Do you wanna get married? Or run away?" may sound cliched at first, but suddenly become a matter of life or death with this added context.
Though it may sound like another piece of cookie cutter lovey-dovey rubbish, Slide is actually an entire ideological battle wrapped up in a three-and-a-half minute package.