its amazing how far music can come.. 24 years after it released and its one of the most heartfelt songs ive heard
Copper, let us take you to a furnace where we'll break you, fire's so big and
pretty, you could cry,
as you buckle, you could ask me what was wrong with me before -
did I need the silver to be suitable?
Copper, I have a use for you, it's easy work and it suits you,
dazzled dirty beauty, you must know
Copper is a conductor and makes for decent cooking,
dazzled by your beauty still, you know,
plated or anodized, you even fool a layman's eyes,
presentable though you might be, it's unwise to try to fight me.
Copper, never be gold.
pretty, you could cry,
as you buckle, you could ask me what was wrong with me before -
did I need the silver to be suitable?
Copper, I have a use for you, it's easy work and it suits you,
dazzled dirty beauty, you must know
Copper is a conductor and makes for decent cooking,
dazzled by your beauty still, you know,
plated or anodized, you even fool a layman's eyes,
presentable though you might be, it's unwise to try to fight me.
Copper, never be gold.
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He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
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Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
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I consider this to be a great geek song. Not too surprising considering how Albini is quite the nerd himself, being an audio engineer. In these lyrics, he seems to be writing a ballad to the most beloved medium of the trade: copper. Almost all wiring is made up of copper. It is the second best conductor known to humanity -- the best being silver ("Did I need this silver to be suitable?"). Since silver is so absurdly expensive, however, we tend to stick with copper. Now gold, contrary to popular belief, is not as conductive as copper, but it does have the advantage of never corroding. Also, gold is more valuable outside of electronics.
What I don't quite get is the chorus ("Copper -- you'll never be gold"). To me, it seems like Albini is trying to say that while copper is an excellent conductor, it still will not be as widely valued as gold. Or, it could be that Albini is saying that copper will not be able to "fight him" as gold can. The latter does not seem as likely to me, since gold is the third most conductive element, but it is possible.
Dhampir Boy, I quite like your write-up & explanation (on copper/silver/gold as varying conductives all with their own advantage vs. disadvantage). Being a geeky audio engineer, it all makes sense.<br /> <br /> As for the chorus- maybe it's a metaphor for Steve's path in the recording industry up to the point of at least writing that song. This song came out in the mid-to-late '90s, yeah? Steve being an analog loylist... when now there are so many other methods & ways to record an album. Everyone will always question Albini for being loyal to analog, even in 20 yrs from now when technology has expanded even more. "Copper- you'll never be gold" could mean a lot of things, but from the perspective of this song (and after reading your writeup) I would guess it is biting frusteration about balancing your roots and ethics vs. trying to make a living in a skewed recording industry. Copper- you'll never be gold (gold record? audio engineer?... despite Albini's well-known and revolutionary style for production, countless of records by mainstream artists he has put out, and all of the rest i can't cram intothis box before i hit X amount of characters or had an add-moment, his mechanisms are still constantly brought into play... "never be gold")<br /> <br /> what's interesting though. Compared to a lot of Shellac's music I've heard, this is one of the more straight-up gritty punk/rock & roll songs they ever put out. Sure it's noisy and has that albini sound still, but it is structured unlike most Shellac songs..