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Always Gold Lyrics
We were tight knit boys
Brothers in more than name
You would kill for me
And knew that I'd do the same
And it cut me sharp
Hearing you'd gone away
But everything goes away
Yeah everything goes away
But I'm going to be here until I'm nothing
But bones in the ground
And I was there, when you grew restless
Left in the dead of night
And I was there, when three months later
You were standing in the door all beat and tired
And I stepped aside
Everything goes away
Yeah everything goes away
But I'm gonna be here until I'm nothing
But bones in the ground
So quiet down
We were opposites at birth
I was steady as a hammer
No one worried 'cause they knew just where I'd be
And they said you were the crooked kind
And that you'd never have no worth
But you were always gold to me
And back when we were kids
We swore we knew the future
And our words would take us half way 'round the world
But I never left this town
And you never saw New York
And we ain't ever cross the sea
But I am fine with where I am now
This home is home, and all that I need
But for you, this place is shame
But you can blame me when there's no one left to blame
Oh I don't mind
All my life
I've never known where you've been
There were holes in you
The kind that I could not mend
And I heard you say
Right when you left that day
Does everything go away?
Yeah, everything goes away.
But I'm going to be here 'til forever
So just call when you're around.
Brothers in more than name
You would kill for me
And knew that I'd do the same
And it cut me sharp
Hearing you'd gone away
Yeah everything goes away
But bones in the ground
Left in the dead of night
And I was there, when three months later
You were standing in the door all beat and tired
And I stepped aside
Yeah everything goes away
But I'm gonna be here until I'm nothing
But bones in the ground
So quiet down
I was steady as a hammer
No one worried 'cause they knew just where I'd be
And they said you were the crooked kind
And that you'd never have no worth
But you were always gold to me
We swore we knew the future
And our words would take us half way 'round the world
But I never left this town
And you never saw New York
And we ain't ever cross the sea
This home is home, and all that I need
But for you, this place is shame
But you can blame me when there's no one left to blame
I've never known where you've been
There were holes in you
The kind that I could not mend
Right when you left that day
Does everything go away?
Yeah, everything goes away.
So just call when you're around.
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At the Oct. 15 show in Chicago Ben said that Always Gold was about the adventures of two brothers, one who is good and caring, the other who is mischievous. He explained that plenty of songs deal with the latter brother, and all of the trouble he gets in to. Few songs though, according to Ben, deal with the former brother, who always has to stay at home and be an anchor for his troubled half. Always Gold is about the love between two brothers, and the extent to which they will go to take care of each other, no matter how serious the bad brother's problems become.
While not explicitly stated, I believe that "The Crooked Kind" from the second Family Tree album follows up on these two brothers as their lives have advanced. Mainly I believe this because of the line in Always Gold where Ben sing:
"And they said you were the crooked kind That you would never have no worth But you were always gold to me"
In "The Crooked Kind" the brothers get into some serious trouble that may, or may not, involve the massacre of several other people. At the end of the song the good brother comforts his other half while sitting in a pile of bodies and absorbing the bloody and tragic history of his family.
I love this song. It has an incredible sense of acceptance and calm.
My favorite line is probably this one: "You can blame me when there's no one left to blame I don't mind"
That's the true meaning of love. To forgive, and to support, regardless what happens.
The ending of the song sounds sadder than it might seem. "there were holes in you | the kind that I could not mend" at first sounds like they were emotional holes, but what if he meant it literally? The brother was hot-headed, "crooked," and it was stated that he didn't know where his brother went. I think the brother did something reckless, and got shot. And he "left that day", as in he died. The brother asks if "everything goes away", which he means "does the pain go away?". Then the last two lines are the protagonist comforting his dying brother, saying that their parting is only temporary, and he'll be there for him, optimistically (imp)lying that his brother wasn't really gonna die.
I saw in a unplugged version of this song that Ben said "it was about a couple of brothers" its about 2 brothers who maybe aren't alike, or aren't as close as they used to be/or were, yet they still look out for each other. At least thats what I think.
this song reminds me of Mykonos by Fleet Foxes with the brother-who-ran-away storyline. However, the narrator in Mykonos has a very different tone while in this song, the narrator is more willing to accept his brother back into his life and will be there for him when he returns.
In re the title:
Nothing Gold Can Stay
by Robert Frost Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.
This song reminds me of the Kite Runner so much. Almost makes me believe it was written for the Kite Runner, that's how much resemblance it has. Hassan's last message to Amir.
I'm reading East of Eden and this song aligns pretty perfectly within it! The plot is of course one seen through the history of humanity but I totally wonder if they were first inspired by East of Eden.
What a wonderful, open, emotional song.