cold hands touching my face
don't hide - the snake can see you
old friends you might not remember
fading away from you

the goldheart mountaintop queen directory
the goldheart mountaintop queen directory

and we looked
and we passed
through the hallways of shatterproof glass

she runs through the night as if nobody cares
she screams and she cries and ignores all the stares
she wants me to come, but i'm never going there

the goldheart mountaintop queen directory
the goldheart mountaintop queen directory


Lyrics submitted by one hit wonder

The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

16 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +2
    General Commenti cant make much out of it...but i think its basically about a girl he loves possibly. wonderful song though. one of gbv's best.
    clapyourhandssayon March 21, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General CommentFucked if I know what it means but it's one of my favorite songs. It's alot different then Teenage FBI and the other more popular songs though.
    clarion113on December 23, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General CommentMy intuition is that he's singing about a woman he once loved who is having terrible problems with mental illness, and is perhaps confined to an institution.

    ("...we passed through the hallway of shatterproof glass..." i.e. they can see but they can't touch. The glass imprisons those on one side, while on the other side it protects the "normal" world from being "infected" by insanity)

    He desperately wishes he could do something to help, but fears that if he gets too involved with her, his own mental state will succumb to the same downward spiral.

    Bob only knows what "goldheart mountaintop queen directory" means. It could be an example of the kind of (apparently?) meaningless "word salad" spoken by people who are schizophrenic or who have brain damage.
    foreverdroneon June 26, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General CommentRobert pollard once said that this was about how he took acid and looked in the mirror and his face changed into that of his sons. I don't really get how the lyrics convey this though.
    goeataclamon April 10, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General CommentThis song has a clear sexual theme. The most prominent example is the second 'verse':
    "she runs through the night as if nobody cares
    she screams and she cries and ignores all the stares
    she wants me to come, but i'm never going there"
    The literal meanings of these lines are most definitely related to public sex, or exhibitionism. It's possible Pollard is talking about erection dysfunction with the line "she wants me to come, but i'm never going there" and the line "she screams and she cries, and ignores all the stares" is pretty self explanatory here.

    "the hallways of shatterproof glass" are a metaphoric reference to the vaginal passage, and "we passed
    through" is another reference to sex.

    "cold hands touching my face
    don't hide - the snake can see you"
    This is slightly more tricky, and more perverse. Pollard said in an interview that these lines were relating to a darker side of sex; necrophilia ("cold hands touching my face") and unconsensual sex ("don't hide, the snake can see you" - snake being a common colloquial term for penis)

    This leaves the most important, and most cryptic part of the song - the title. At first it may seem like a meaningless sentence, "Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory" but there's actually a story behind the name. In the same interview previously mentioned, Pollard tells of an incident back in 1973 that occurred on a mountain in the Sierra Nevada known to locals as Goldheart Mountain. Apparently the details are sketchy, but Pollard tells the interviewer that there was a building, or encampment somewhere on the mountain that housed captive immigrants or missing girls (Queens) for the purpose of sex. A sort of nonconsensual brothel - clients would enter and pick which girl they would sleep with (the Directory). The operation was discovered and shut down in '73. But it explains the title - The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory.

    -- 0037
    MVN0037on January 07, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General CommentYou're all way off. Bob said himself this song is about an acid trip.
    jakeburtonon November 17, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General CommentTrough lyrical medium Pollard throws splashes of imagery on a canvas of jagged disconnected thought bubbles. He is the Pablo Picasso of Rock and Roll lyrics.
    Karnenyenon February 19, 2015   Link
  • 0
    General Comment"the goldheart mountaintop queen directory"... what the FUCK does that mean
    countess of persiaon June 20, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General CommentI think by the "she runs throught the night" she's been released from the institution.

    The goldheart mountaintop queen directory: It is possible since they have split up or were once in love that one of them has a heart shaped locket made of gold with ones picture inside. not sure about mountaintop. 'Queen' is a synonym( I think) for pretentious manner. not sure about directory either.
    mybodyisacageon April 26, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Commentfor me the song is about a girl you really love, but you know you cant get her because shes a way to good for you. shes the "gold heart mountain top queen directory" .
    Labertascheon August 09, 2008   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top