'Silver and Gold' - raw and criminally underrated

[Michael Griffiths]

Some of Bono's best songwriting and Edge's best atmospherics. Bono at his most passionate. Even the B-side (found on the 1st Best Of) gives me chills. I'm really digging the studio version of this these days. Lyrically amazing...my favourite lines: "These chains no longer bind me / Nor the shackles at my feet / Outside are the prisoners / Inside the free (set them free)."

'Sillver and Gold'

In the shithouse a shotgun
Praying hands hold me down.
If only the hunter was hunted
In this tin can town, tin can town.
No stars in the black night
Looks like the sky fall down.
No sun in the daylight
Looks like it's chained to the ground, chained to the ground.

The warden says "The exodus sold."
If you want a way out...
Silver and gold, silver and gold.

Broken back to the ceiling
Broken nose to the floor.
I scream at the silence
It's crawling, crawls under the door.
There's a rope around my neck
And there's a trigger in your gun.
Jesus, say something!
I am someone, I am someone.

Captains and Kings in the ship's hold
They came to collect
Silver and gold, silver and gold.

I seen the coming and the going
Seen the captains and the Kings.
Seen their navy blue uniforms
Seen them bright and shiny things, bright and shiny things.

The temperature is rising
The fever white hot
Mister I ain't got nothing
But it's more than you've got
These chains no longer bind me
Nor the shackles at my feet
Outside are the prisoners
Inside the free (set them free).

A prize fighter in a corner is told
Hit where it hurts - For Silver and Gold
You can stop the world from turning around
You just gotta pay a penny in the pound.

 

[U2girl]

I like the live version, with the tension building when Bono explains how the song was written and WHAM Edge's solo sort of bursts out of nowhere.
I have to say some of the lyrics are somewhat disturbing (broken nose, broken back, rope around the neck) but considering the topic, it's understandable. I like it how the ending is uplifting - the "mister I ain't got nothing" verse.

 

[gareth brown]

Out of nowhere? He introduces it...! And that speech just bugs me more and more as I listen to the record...I can practically recite the entire bloody thing...!

Original is much better, but I don't think it's underrated...

 

[Numb1075]

excellent song IMO. I enjoy the live version better. it sounds more aggessive to me than the studio version.

 

[zoopop]

The live version from Rattle Hum rocks. "Ok Edge play the blues." Bame, microphone slams.

 

[Popmartijn]

The original (and with that I mean the Bono, Keith Richards & Ron Wood) version has a tension and creepiness that is sadly lacking in a bit in the full band and live version. On the original (found on the Sun City record) Bono sounds like the protagonist, while in the other versions he sounds like someone singing from the first person perspective.

Coincidentally, I listened to the record again this weekend. Hearing Silver And Gold in that minimalist blues setting (with Ron Wood using Keith Richards' switch blade as a slide!) again gave me the shivers.



*who sadly expects we will never hear this song anymore, although that's also a good sign*

 

[david]

The Bono with Richards and Wood version is my favorite. Bono also goes crazy with his voice in that version.

 

[Jack In The Box]

I love the song (live with Richards and Wood and also the full band version)

I find in it fury and tension, I like that

 

[Numbology]

am i buggin' you?
don't mean to bug ya......
ok edge,play the blues.....

 

[kennerado]

I love this song!!!!!

 

[TheDaddy]

I don't like it to be honest...it's just another pompous rock song from R+H.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

I like the live version from R&H, too-I just particularly like the way Bono sings it then. But the studio version's not bad, either. .

Angela

 

[martha]

I like all three versions. Almost equally I guess, with the full band studio version barely in first place.

 

[david]

Hey, does anyone have a 192 kbps MP3 of the Bono/Richards/Wood version I could download off them? The one I have had forever is kind of poopy in quality.

 

[bratty_cat]

I 'forgot' about this song for a while and recently heard it again. Have to say that I was surprised by how much I liked hearing it.

 

[shaun vox]

ah ya the good old days

 

[jacobus]

Silver & Gold is a great song and God Part II is another great one.
I still believe that God Part II was the Wake Up Call for the things to come.... without God Part II no 'The Fly'

 

[Michael Griffiths]

Silver & Gold is a great song and God Part II is another great one.
I still believe that God Part II was the Wake Up Call for the things to come.... without God Part II no 'The Fly'

Finally!! Someone else notices it, too! I had posted a comparison between 'God Part II' and 'The Fly' a couple years ago. Lyrically and musically, 'The Fly' grew from the same seed that was planted by 'God Part II'.

Oh, I've never heard the Keith Richards/Ron Wood/Bono version of 'Silver and Gold'. Could someone please email it to me? Adress: mikey2india@yahoo.ca

 

[Axver]

it's just another pompous rock song from R+H.

You say that like it's a bad thing. We need more music like that. Someone mentioned God Part II, and I am totally addicted to that right now. The 30 December 1989 performance is mindblowing.

 

[beegee]

Some of Bono's best songwriting ... Lyrically amazing...

i completely agree.

 

[Michael Griffiths]

bonosgirl84! Hello from the sub continent! I've missed you!

Yes, what was I saying? Ah yes, lyrically.....amazing.

 

[beegee]

hello to you too.

(and a happy belated birthday.)

now, back to your topic...

god part II is actually my favorite song from rattle and hum.

 

[U2Soar]

Great post Michael! Would Silver & Gold "fit" on JT? If it would I think it could go well before Bullet. It's anger could set up the anger of Bullet.

 

[OzAurora]

The original (and with that I mean the Bono, Keith Richards & Ron Wood)

I MUST hear this, where can I get a copy of it???

I have always loved Silver and Gold, however as a huge lover of the blues I always cringe a little when I hear the rattle version of this, cause Edge, sorry to say it, he just dosn't play the blues. I would love to hear the one with Keef and Ron, I am sure that must be blusey????

 

[martha]

I am sure that must be blusey????

'Tis.

(As much as it can be with three white guys from the British Isles.)

 

[gareth brown]

'Streets' Single B-Side version is the best.

 

[The Sage]

I don't know why so many people say that Edge hated that 'blues' solo in the R&H version (not on this site but in various mags)...I love it...

 

[Saracene]

It's an alright song with good lyrics. But Bono's cringe-worthy speech almost makes me sympathise with the U2 detractors of that era.

 

[Ellay]

Great song.. I love the R&H version.

I have a colleague at work who walks round the office quoting bonos 'am I buggin you' all the time..

I agree with one of the posts though that it sounds a bit pompous. That whole era gave the band an image that they've struggled to rid themselves of ever since. U2 fans know where they're coming from, but a lot of people still see the band as flagwavers and little else.

 

[Judah]

Small point Re: "The Exodus sold" line...

I always thought it was "The exit is sold...if you want a way out..."

That's what the lyrics say in R & H album anyway (and here on Interference.com). Funny u2.com, the official u2 site, would have "The Exodus sold," which, although nicely Biblical, doesn't really make sense within the context of the follow-up line.