| Ben Howard – Oats in the Water Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Coke is a high carbon material derived from coal and used in the process of smelting iron ore to make steel. Midas was a king in Greek mythology who turned things to gold by his touch, this of course was a curse and not a blessing because even his food and drink turned to gold and he eventually died hungry despite his wealth. In gold smelting, coke is not normally used as it would be an impurity in the gold. "Coke in the Midas touch" is a metaphor possibly meaning that there is a cost to comfort and riches. This metalurgical metaphor is consistent with the next line which says "a joke in the way we rust." Again, rust destroys, just as coke would ruin the purity of gold. It is therefore, unlikely that the word "coke" refers to cocaine as the language of metaphor convincingly points to it referring to the coke used in smelting. | |
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