Lyric discussion by Parachi 

Cover art for Gold Lion lyrics by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Okay, so at first, I wanted to believe this was indeed about Vegas or maybe even a crime that took place there. In fact, did anyone notice that synthesized/guitar noise that comes up right as she starts to sing "outside, inside..."? It sounds EXACTLY like a car alarm. I don't know if that holds any connection to the meaning, but hey...

Anyway, reading all of these interpretations, I'm thinking it's a mix with the Gold Lion award thing being the focus. I'm surprised nobody mentioned the running metaphor of seeds/plants being connected to something other than drugs. She describes "the height I grew/ the weight, the shell was crushing you" as the music crescendos. In the music video too, the flames eventually surrounded them and appear obviously reflected in her eyes. She covers her face in her hands as she moans and that shot of her figure dwarfed by her shadow in the smoke comes up. There's a lot of imagery and sounds that play on that overwhelming feeling which makes me think that, as she "grows" and "crushes" those around her, she is growing with the band, as a musician, a person and it's just alarming how "out of control" everything feels. She feels like she's on a "moon without a tide" (which, albeit, could mean a BUTTLOAD of things), like a world with no weight/meaning.

"We'll build a fire in your eyes/ we'll build a fire/ when the colors/ getting brighter/ cold desire" could be that the music industry, the dream and/or the award she won lights a fire in her which only grows bigger. This "desire" builds on itself burns everything in its path, eventually she herself, which "makes a moon without a tide" or an existence without a meaning.

Rodan2000 said this part best, though: "I seem to have gotten the feeling that the "moon without a tide" is some sort of relationship that has lost many of its attractions. The Moon, it's own existence, is there, but it doesn't have that gravitational pull, or attraction, the tide. "Cold desire", or desire that has become stagnant sound about the same."

A lot of songs speak to me about depression and the existence, but this song is just a bit more specific with the circumstances, making it somewhat difficult to understand from an outsider's point of view. If you think there's anything to what I'm saying, go check out the lyrics to "Empire Ants" by Gorillaz. Cheers~

You make some great points. This song is a bit enigmatic for sure.

sure, why not