Goo Goo Dolls‘ latest single “You Are the Answer” is a message of encouragement, urging someone to look within themselves, and ignore the lies of those who’d “steal your soul.” But who exactly is this message for? The band’s John Rzeznik says it’s for his young daughter, and his bandmates’ kids as well — because protecting them in this age of social media is causing him a lot of “panic.”
“We’re having these conversations about, how do you instill real self-esteem in your daughter?” John tells ABC Audio. “And I worry about girls — and boys — and men and women — who they put themselves out there looking for approval. And they’re basing their opinion of themselves from the outside in rather than the inside out.”
“It’s not real because your opinion of yourself is at the whim of other people, you know?” he adds. “And you can’t live life like that because it can shatter you.”
John comments on social media in “Yeah I Like You,” another new song on the new Goo Goo Dolls album Chaos in Bloom. So as a father, how is he shepherding his five-year old daughter through this dangerous world?
“Panic!” he laughs. “Yeah, I panic. A lot of panic. A lot.”
“You know, she’s too young for it now, but but she loves to play with that little iPhone,” he moans. “You just got to limit it, and do all that.”
Of course, that may become more difficult once his daughter hits those teen years. Meanwhile, Goo Goo Dolls will wrap the current leg of their tour September 24 in their hometown of Buffalo, NY.
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