Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you new tunes with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Parade of Lights' lead vocalist Ryan Daly urges us to get "golden" in the 2014 release of the same name.
The Los Angeles-based electronic rock band uses the word "golden" as a metaphor for youthful spirit in a dance anthem that manages to harness the group's frenetic energy and deliver a message of hope.
In the powerful hook, Daly sings, "Everybody get golden / Everybody get golden / And put your hands up to the sky / Everybody get golden / Just for tonight / Everybody get golden / So we can go until we shine."
"Golden" was originally released as the title track of the band's 2014 EP. It then reappeared as the fourth track on the band's 2015 LP titled Feeling Electric. The EP charted at #44 on the Billboard US Top Heatseekers Albums list, and the LP ascended to #24 on the Billboard US Dance Electronic Albums list.
Writers love to use the term "golden" to describe the exuberance of youth. We've discussed this phenomenon while reviewing a number of popular songs for this column, including Sabrina Carpenter’s “We’ll Be the Stars,” Stevie Wonder's "Stay Gold," and First Aid Kit's “Stay Gold.” Each of those songs was likely inspired by Robert Frost’s eight-line poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay.”
In that poem, which was originally published in 1923, Frost writes about striving to hold onto the wondrous, pure, innocent and exciting “goldenness” of youth.
His poem begins with these two lines, “Nature’s first green is gold / Her hardest hue to hold,” and ends with these, “So dawn goes down to day / Nothing gold can stay.”
Formed in 2010, Parade of Lights features the talents of Ryan Daly (lead vocals/guitarist), Anthony Improgo (drummer), Randy Schulte (bassist) and Michelle Ashley (keyboardist). The group was signed by Astralwerks in 2014 and released its first LP a year later.
The Parade of Lights official website defines the group's mission: "Making music is a matter of turning their shared obsessions with distortion-drenched shoegaze, heady synth-pop and epic stadium rock into a hook-heavy, yet deeply inventive, alt-electro hybrid."
Please check out the video of the group's exciting live performance of "Golden." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...
"Golden"
Written and performed by Parade of Lights.
We’re gonna shake the ground tonight
I lose myself under the lights, oh
I put my hands up to the sky
I feel it come alive
Everybody get golden
Everybody get golden
And put your hands up to the sky
Everybody get golden
Just for tonight
Everybody get golden
So we can go until we shine
Now it’s as good as it can get
Silver hills and silhouettes, oh
You press your hands against my chest
This isn’t over yet
Everybody get golden
Everybody get golden
And put your hands up to the sky
Everybody get golden
Just for tonight
Everybody get golden
So we can go until we shine
Just for tonight
And put your hands up to the sky
Just for tonight
So we can go until we shine
So we can go until we shine
I feel it come alive
So we can go until we shine
I feel it come alive
So we can go until we shine
Credit: Screen captures via YouTube.com.
