Browse through the fan comments on Goo Goo Dolls videos and fan sites, and you’ll find heartfelt statements along the lines of, “No album before this one has moved me as much as this one has. Every song has a message “; “Johnny Rzeznik saved my life,” and “John Rzeznik is a musical poetic genius.”

The deep affection comes from a sense of connection that lead singer -songwriter -guitarist Rzeznik cultivates with his listeners.

“I just want you to know who I am,” he sings in “Iris,” one of the band’s biggest hits, on the 1998 album “Dizzy Up the Girl,” which went triple-platinum. (The song and other massive hits for the band were re-released on a 2007 “Greatest Hits” collection.)

Combine Rzeznik’s sensitive lyrics with the band’s populist rock and you’ve got the key to the Goo Goo Dolls’ longevity.

THE BAND hasn’t lost that essential empathy in its latest music. It returns to that winning idea — “take me as I am” — in the track “As I Am” from last year’s “Something for the Rest of Us” (Warner Bros.). For millions of fans, stretching back to the ’80s and ’90s when Goo Goo Dolls took off with a Replacements-influenced blend of clanging guitar, roughened, honeyed vocals and intuitive lyrics, it’s been just the ticket.

“I have listened to the Goo Goo Dolls since I could walk,” one YouTube listener wrote.

“Something for the Rest of Us” pays attention to people who are struggling, and to those affected by our ongoing wars.

“People are having a hard time making ends meet — really hard times. I wanted to delve into the emotional underpinnings of that,” Rzeznik said politely, calling from California a few days before the band’s appearance at the Pro Bowl pre-game show on Sunday at Aloha Stadium. “I know people who have lost their homes … who are fighting 6,000 miles away, and no one’s sure why they’re there or for how long. ”

He named “Not Broken,” which includes the line, “And if the world should turn its back, you know that I’m still here,” and “Soldier,” two explicit shout -outs to deployed soldiers, as “special” songs that have resonated from the latest album.

“‘Not Broken’ came out of a brief meeting with a woman … telling me her husband was wounded in Iraq,” Rzeznik said. “I wanted to write a love letter to him in a song, to tell him that he was loved and accepted just as much as before. ”

He took his time responding to interview questions, his voice slightly roughened from months of touring, but brightened when talking about Hawaii. When he visits Oahu, Rzeznik likes to drive out to the Windward side. “I drive through the tunnel, and when I come out on the other side — it’s like a different world,” he said. The band will be getting to Honolulu a day early, so he plans to do that again this time around.

Then it will be back to touring. A month in the winter’s cold in Canada is up first. But Rzeznik still knows he’s got a good thing going.

“Honest to God, there’s never a night that goes by that I don’t feel, ‘Wow, do you know how lucky you are to do this?’” he said earnestly.

He and fellow band members still hole up in Buffalo, N.Y., where the Goo Goo Dolls began, to write songs. He and bassist Robby Takac have been together since the beginning, while drummer Mike Malinin has been with them for 16 years.

While the last two releases have been about four years apart, Rzeznik expects that there will be a shorter window between “Songs For the Rest of Us” and the next album. “This time, I’ve been doing a lot of writing, so I don’t want to wait,” he said.

MAUI singer-songwriter Anuhea Jenkins and “American Idol” winner Kris Allen will round out the Pro Bowl entertainment on Sunday.

Jenkins and her full band will be performing the Hawaiian-themed halftime show at the Pro Bowl, and she expects a portion of that will be broadcast live on FOX. She’s a self-taught guitarist and songwriter who attended Kamehameha Schools, and won awards for Most Promising Artist and Contemporary Album at last year’s Na Hoku Hanohano Awards.

Allen will perform the National Anthem, Pro Bowl organizers announced. The Season 8 “Idol” winner has been on tour promoting his self-titled debut album. He’s had multiple singles on the Billboard charts.

Rzeznik said the band will get about five minutes to perform, just before kick off at the Pro Bowl. “They give us enough time to mash up about two songs,” he said. He’s thinking “Not Broken” will be one of them.

—Elizabeth Kieszkowski