Goo Goo Dolls cover the naughty and nice sides of Christmas with latest holiday tunes

NewsDecember 14, 2020ABC News Radio

It's Christmas All Over, the holiday album by Goo Goo Dolls, features the sweet, sentimental hit "This Is Christmas." Lead singer John Rzeznik says after such a terrible year, he wrote the song as an attempt to give people what he felt they would need emotionally this holiday season.

"We sat down and we had a discussion like, 'What is this Christmas going to be like for a lot of people?'" he tells ABC Audio. "Y'know, people are losing their jobs. People can't get to the people that they love. People are dying. We're isolated. What do you need to hear, y'know? What do people need to hear to help lift their spirits a little bit?"

"And it might be a little corny, but it's a Christmas record! Relax!" he laughs.

But, as John explains, the group also wrote a hilarious song that's not sentimental at all -- on purpose.

"The counterpart to ['This Is Christmas'] is the other original...'You Ain't Getting Nothin',' -- the story of my childhood!" he laughs.

As the title suggests, the song details the ultimate punishment for a little kid who's at the top of Santa's "naughty" list.

"We just thought it was kind of fun because that's kind of song every parent wants to say, but you can't say it out loud," notes John, who has a young daughter. "And I'm like, 'No, now that I'm a dad, I'm saying it out loud!'"

"It was always such a big threat when you were a kid: "'That's it! We're calling Santa!' 'No, don't call Santa!'" recalls John, who admits he personally heard 'You ain't gettin' nothin'" from his parents every year.

"It works. It truly works," he laughs. "You threaten a kid with no Christmas presents and they start to behave themselves really quickly!"

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