‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Has 1 of the Best Songs of All Time
Marvel‘s Deadpool & Wolverine include far more pop songs than the average Hollywood movie. A track from the film is one of the best love songs of all time, but critics don’t give it much respect. Here’s a look at the angelic tune that made a surprising comeback through Marvel.
1 of the songs from ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ is about an angel
Deadpool & Wolverine includes popular songs like Madonna’s “Like a Prayer,” Avril Lavinge’s “I’m with You,” and Huey Lewis and the News’ “The Power of Love.” Those songs range from decent to excellent. The best of the bunch is “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls. A mystical love song, “Iris” is one of the rare 1990s easy-listening tracks that worked. It’s unusual, heartfelt, intense.
The track was also part of a 1990s resurgence of Irish music. The track takes some elements from Irish folk that make it sound intriguing to American ears. Considering “Iris” is about an angel and Ireland is a profoundly Christian nation, the fusion of the song’s instrumental and lyrics is perfect.
‘Iris’ was written for a movie that came out well before ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’
During a 2022 interview with Grammy.com, Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls explained how he penned “Iris.” He wrote the tune for City of Angels, a film where an angel (played by Nicolas Cage) falls in love with a human woman (played by Meg Ryan). Rzeznik wanted “Iris” to reflect the perspective of the fictitious angel.
“It was pretty interesting, because that was the first time I had ever written a song for a film specifically,” he said. “I had a guitar [that] had four strings on it because I broke two. I just wandered into this weird tuning, and I went back to my hotel room, and thought about it.
“I was able to write the song from the perspective of the character in the film, which was really a lot of fun, and it was great,” he added. “I played it for [Danny] on a four-string guitar, and then went in the studio with Rob Cavallo. Then it went boom.”
What Johnny Rzeznik wanted from his band’s big song
“Iris” peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was one of three top 10 singles from the Goo Goo Dolls, the other two being “Name” and “Slide.” “Iris” charted for 14 weeks in total.
The Goo Goo Dolls included the track on their album Dizzy Up the Girl. That record peaked at No. 15 and stayed on the chart for 105 weeks. It remains the group’s highest-charting and longest-charting album in the United States.
While speaking with Grammy.com, Rzeznik reflected on “Iris” ‘s inclusion on the City of Angels soundtrack. “I never expected that song to do so well,” he said. “I just wanted to be on a soundtrack U2, Peter Gabriel and Alanis Morissette were on. I thought, ‘Wow, that’d be really cool. It would be something cool to show people 20 years from now.'” “Iris” is a big deal over 20 years later, partly because Deadpool & Wolverine is far more prominent than City of Angels ever was.
“Iris” is a classic and hopefully, Deadpool & Wolverine will get a new generation to recognize its greatness.
