U2 "Silver and Gold", Live in Denver, CO, 1987
#U2 #SilverAndGold #RattleAndHum #JoshuaTreeTour1987
Live in Denver, Colorado, Nov 8th, 1987
In the shit house a shotgun
Praying hands hold me down
Only the hunter was hunted
In this tin can town
Tin can town
No stars in the black night
Looks like the sky fell down
No sun in the daylight
Looks like it's chained to the ground
Chained to the ground
The warden said
"The exit is sold
If you want a way out
Silver and gold"
Broken back to the ceiling
Broken nose to the floor
I scream at the silence, it's crawling
It crawls under the door
There's a rope around my neck
And there's a trigger in your gun
Jesus say something
I am someone, I am someone
I am someone
Captain and kings
In the ships hold
They came to collect
Silver and gold
Silver and gold
Seen the coming and the going
Seen them captains and the kings
See them navy blue uniforms
See them bright and shiny things
Bright shiny things, yeah
The temperature is rising
The fever white hot
Mister, I ain't got nothing
But it's more than you got
Chains no longer bind me
Not the shackles at my feet
Outside are the prisoners
Inside the free
Set them free
Set them free
A prize fighter in a corner is told
Hit where it hurts
Silver and gold
Silver and gold
Yeah, silver and gold
This song was written in a hotel room in New York City
Right about the time a friend of ours, Little Steven
Was putting together a record of artists against apartheids
It's a song written about a man in a shanty town outside of Johannesburg
A man who's sick of looking down the barrel of white South Africa
A man who is at the point where he is ready to take up arms against his oppressor
A man who has lost faith in the peace makers of the West
While they argue and while they fail to support a man like Bishop Tutu
And his request for economic sanctions against South Africa
Am I bugging you?
Don't mean to bug ya
Ok Edge, play the blues
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Bono wrote this after going on a relief mission in Ethiopia. It's an anti-apartheid song, but the lyrics make a broad political statement about how money seems to be more important than personal freedoms in the eyes of many world leaders.
Bono was part of Little Steven Van Zandt's 1985 Artists United Against Apartheid collaboration, which brought attention to the racist policy in South Africa and to the plight of Nelson Mandela. Over the years, Bono has been part of many causes as he uses his celebrity status to gain access to political leaders and raise money for relief organizations.
This was first released as an acoustic song on the compilation Artists United Against Apartheid, with Keith Richards and Ron Wood from the Rolling Stones sitting in with Bono. Little Steven put Artists Against Apartheid together with the intention of releasing just one song - "Sun City." Some of the artists offered other songs, so they were able to release a full album.
Bono got the lyric "I have seen the comings and goings, the captains and the kings," from Irish poet Brendan Behan. The line, "I am someone" came from a quote by US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson.
Before The Edge's guitar solo, Bono says: "OK Edge, play The Blues."
This appeared on the 7" single that also included "Where The Streets Have No Name" and "Sweetest Thing."
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©U2