So here comes a song from the late 90’s.

The Goo Goo Dolls are a rock band, founded in Buffalo in 1986.
They were quite popular in the USA, but international superstardom came in 1998 with ” Iris “.
John Rzeznik, the frontman of the band, wrote this song for the ” City of Angels ” soundtrack.
It was a top-ten hit and included on the triple-platinum album ” Dizzy Up the Girl “.

 

 

Ukulele Chords And Lyrics On 2 Sheets ( PDF )

 

You can watch the video in HD if you click on the bottom right on ” settings ” and ” 720p “.

This song is quite tricky. There’re rhythmic changes and some unusual chords for a rock ballad.

So I would suggest it for intermediate and experienced players.

 

1. Rhythm

In the intro the meter changes between 3/4 and 2/4 beat.
The rest of the song is written in a 3/4 beat.

 

2. Strumming

In the beginning I played an alternating down – up strumming.
For the rest of the song the strumming is like the original:

 

D		D	U	D	U
1	+	2	+	3	+

 

For a lot of players it’s easier to play this strumming intuitively than to count the beats.

 

3. Chords

We tried to come close to the original.
On ” Iris ” Mr. Rzeznik plays an unusual open tuning on his guitar ( B D D D D D ).
Here’re some notes to our video:

Bm

Bm is played in the intro  4 6 7 2  and in the rest  4 1 1 1 . The second one is easier if you make a barre over all strings ( with the 4th string included).

 

Dm

alternative fingerings are:

• thumb on the 4th string ( T 1 2 0 ) [ I play it this way in the video ]
• small barre on the 3th and 4th string with your forefinger ( 1 1 2 0 )

F#

An alternative fingering is with a barre in the first fret ( 3 1  2 1 ). As I said with the Bm chord, it’s easier if you make a barre over all strings ( with the 4th string included).

 

This song is not easy to play ( esp. when you sing too ), but it’s woth learning it.

Here’s a version with the lovely Avril Lavigne:

And here’s another chart breaker, together with Elmo:

 

So we hope you like our playalong.

Feel free to leave a comment below and rock on.

 

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