Name

"Name" is the sixth single by the Goo Goo Dolls, released on September 26, 1995 through Warner Bros. Records and Medal Blade Records. It is the third single released from their fifth studio album, A Boy Named Goo.

History
As the band's first hit, the song topped both the US Modern Rock chart and the US Album Rock chart, and reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Although the Goo Goo Dolls were considered an alternative group prior to the single's release, "Name" crossed over to pop and adult contemporary radio, greatly increasing the band's fan base.

Prior to the release of Dizzy Up the Girl three years later, "Name" was the band's most successful single, currently it is their third most successful single after "Iris" and "Slide".

The band re-recorded this song for their compilation album, Greatest Hits Volume One: The Singles. The re-recorded version featured minimal arrangements and production.

Song composition
The song's unusual guitar tuning, D-A-E-A-E-E is accomplished by replacing the B string with a high E string. In an interview with Guitar World Magazine, the singer and songwriter, John Rzeznik, explained, "Both the top strings are high E strings. Whenever I tried tuning a regular B string up to E, it would pop. It was really tough on the tension. I've seen guys play 'Name' with regular tuning. It doesn't sound right." Rzeznik says the song's unusual composition happened "quite accidentally." In an interview with KFOG he explained, "It was weird, I was just sitting on my couch randomly twisting the tuning pegs, and I couldn't figure out what notes the guitar was tuned to, so I had to grab my tuner to find out, and then I jotted them down on a post it. ... I just sat there and let my fingers play the fretboard openly, and that is what became the progression of 'Name'."

In her book The Kennedy Chronicles, former MTV VJ Kennedy claimed that the song was actually about her complicated relationship with Rzeznik, with the lyrics referring to their time together and her full name being a secret to most. Rzeznik admitted to the inspiration in the book, saying "I was trying to capture a moment...it was pretty interesting to have a song inspired by a moment. And I thought it was a very sweet song."

Reception
In October 2012, "Name" was ranked #24 on Billboard's "Top 100 Pop Songs 1992-2012" chart, which also featured Goo Goo Dolls hits "Slide" (#9) and "Iris" (#1). The Goo Goo Dolls are the only musicians to have three songs chart on the list, two breaking the top 10 and all three falling within the top 25. They are also the only musicians that have back to back singles ("Iris" and "Slide") featured on the list.

Band members

 * John Rzeznik – guitars, vocals, composer
 * Robby Takac – bass
 * George Tutuska – drums

Other personnel

 * Lou Giordiano – engineer, mixing, producer