"Broadway" is a song recorded by the

Goo Goo Dolls The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band formed in 1986 in Buffalo, New York, by guitarist/vocalist John Rzeznik, bassist/vocalist Robby Takac, and drummer George Tutuska. After starting off as a cover band and then developing a punk so ...

. The song was released in 2000 as the last single from their sixth studio album, '' Dizzy Up the Girl'' (1998). Although not as popular as the albums previous singles " Iris" and "

Slide Slide or Slides may refer to: Places *Slide, California, former name of Fortuna, California Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Slide'' (Lisa Germano album), 1998 * ''Slide'' (George Clanton album), 2018 *''Slide'', by Patrick Glees ...

", the song still managed to hit number 24 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 84 on the ''Billboard'' year-end Hot 100 singles of 2000. The single also peaked number 7 on the Canadian '' RPM'' Top Singles chart and number 6 on the Icelandic Singles Chart.

Content

The song refers to the Broadway-Filmore neighborhood of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, a lower income, working-class neighborhood in which songwriter John Rzeznik grew up. It also describes Rzeznik's difficult relationship with his

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

father, who died when Rzeznik was 15, and the "cycle of destruction" that he witnessed in the neighborhood. The lyrics ''"See the young man sittin' in the old man’s bar / Waitin' for his turn to die"'' specifically refers to a common occurrence he saw in the bar he and his father frequented:

Track listings

German maxi-single # "Broadway" (album version) # " Naked" (live version) # " Black Balloon" (live version) Australian maxi-single # "Broadway" – 3:57 # "Black Balloon" – 4:11 # "

" – 3:32 # "Naked" (live) – 3:55 # "Black Balloon" (live) – 3:42

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1998 songs 2000 singles Goo Goo Dolls songs Song recordings produced by Rob Cavallo Songs written by John Rzeznik Warner Records singles Culture of Buffalo, New York Songs about alcohol