When we think of the album “Dizzy Up the Girl,” what songs first come to mind? You’re probably thinking, “Iris, duh,” or maybe you’re more of a “Black Balloon” sad-girlie, heck, you might be looking to bounce around a bit more to a song like “Slide.” These aren’t the only bangers on the album, though. The final single from the album didn’t quite hit as hard in the charts, but it’s a sleeper by the name of “Broadway.”
“Dizzy Up the Girl” is their most popular and best-selling album by far, and would propel them to worldwide stardom. It’s not difficult to see why, as it’s jam-packed with fantastic songs that span anywhere from acoustic ballads to sway to with eyes closed, to all-out rock hits that you can bounce off of fellow fans in the packed crowd of a concert.
“Broadway” follows “Slide” early on the album, delivering real emotional weight and keeping your toes tapping. It’s a rocker that recalls early albums before acoustic guitars and open tunings became prevalent in the Goo Goo sound.
The track’s title refers to a Buffalo, NY neighborhood where John Rzeznik grew up. He describes a troubled relationship with his alcoholic father, who died while Rzeznik was a teen. He remembers his father taking him to a local dive, where he would give him a soda or a quarter for pinball, while he drank with his friends. He watched neighborhood boys grow up, taking the open seats next to their fathers before inevitably taking their fathers’ seats.
We see this reflected in lines like, “See the young man sitting in the old man’s[i.e., his father’s] bar, waiting on his turn to die.” Lyrically, the song is wrought with heaviness from beginning to end, and never really gives us a sense of there being a way to escape it. The song paints a picture of a working-class town, where people get trapped in traditions that perpetuate trauma from father to son and so forth.
Not an easy song to want to turn to over and over when you can lament on heartache with a song like “Iris” comfortably instead. “Broadway” is almost bleak in its story, but if you were to take those lyrics away and just listen to the instrumentation and melodies, one could almost feel hopeful and joyous, even. The chord changes are emotional, but the guitars and drums are punchy as hell. You could throw lyrics about wanting to get married, and it would fit the vibe naturally.
Let’s discuss a specific live performance. We are watching them play in their hometown of Buffalo in July 2004; rain pours down—true to Buffalo’s sporadic summer gloom. The rain is intense, almost cinematic, as they play.
Any time I watch an artist perform in the rain like this, it just feels like a moment that we are lucky to be experiencing, especially when we are in the comforts of our own homes, watching it on YouTube. Think Prince at the Super Bowl ripping into the solo in Purple Rain as the rain starts to fall on him, or maybe something a bit closer to the Goo Goo’s sound and era, like Gavin Rossdale playing Glycerine live at a rainy MTV spring break in 1996. It’s a visual that’s almost cliche, but it works for me, I’ll take the free shivers it elicits.
Anyway, the Goos are just coming out of a solo guitar and vocals older track called “Two Days in February,” which is a pretty dialed-back downer, if I’m being honest, and as they are now nearing the end of their set, they kick into “Broadway,” to much applause from their hometown crowd. They’re all fully soaked at this point, but this song is so sonically and rhythmically fun that it’s hard to even think about how miserably wet they all are moving and grooving up there. They seem to be having a blast, and you can see that energy reflected in the crowd, making this “rainy, emotional performance” a little different from what you’d expect.
It carries a joy that one would not expect, like a puppy playing with a sprinkler, or a child stomping through puddles in their galoshes. There will be time for tears in the rain when they play “Iris” after this song, but right now, everyone is all smiles. How can they not be grinning from ear to ear during a performance like this? We get wet confetti being blasted into the air, palm-muted, distorted guitars, and a rockin’ solo on sax before they’re through with the song. The content of the lyrics be damned, we are partying in the rain and loving it, both audience and band together. An anthem to the hardworking folk who bear bleak winters and blue-collar industry day in and day out, this performance resonates deeply with this crowd, and it’s written on all their faces.