Gold Lion

"Gold Lion"
Single by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
from the album Show Your Bones
ReleasedFebruary 28, 2006 (2006-02-28)[1]
Genre
Length3:07
LabelInterscope
Songwriters
Producers
Yeah Yeah Yeahs singles chronology
"Y Control"
(2004)		 "Gold Lion"
(2006)		 "Turn Into"
(2006)

"Gold Lion" is a song by American indie rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs from their second studio album, Show Your Bones (2006). It was written by the band and produced with David Andrew Sitek, and released by Interscope as the album's lead single in February 2006. "Gold Lion" is an alternative rock song that departs from the garage rock sound of their earlier works.

"Gold Lion" was praised by reviewers and won the BMI London Pop Award in 2007; it charted in five countries, reaching number 88 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 18 on the UK singles chart. The song's music video was directed by Patrick Daughters and nominated for a MVPA Award.

Background

Yeah Yeah Yeahs began work on their second album, Show Your Bones, with the goal of reinventing their sound and not creating "Fever to Tell part 2".[2] From early to late 2005, the band faced various problems during production, including scrapping and restarting the album,[2] and tensions rising between lead singer and lyricist Karen O and guitarist Nick Zinner from the pressure.[3] "Gold Lion", in particular, was conceived after Karen O performed on the Adidas commercial Hello Tomorrow in 2005 created by her then-boyfriend, Spike Jonze, and composed by Show Your Bones producer Squeak E. Clean.[4][5] Drummer Brian Chase said that he did not understand the music until a month after they had finished recording.[6]

Composition

"Gold Lion" is characterized as an alternative rock and indie rock song with a length of three minutes and seven seconds.[7] The title of the song derives from two awards received by Jonze at the 2005 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.[4][5] The song is built around a drumbeat by Chase that resembles the one in "We Will Rock You" by British rock band Queen, along with acoustic guitar riffs played by Zinner, who uses a distortion pedal in the choruses.[8][9]

Reception

"Gold Lion" was well-received by critics and won the BMI London Pop Award in 2007.[10] Some critics have noted the song's similarities to "No New Tale To Tell" by English rock band Love and Rockets and "Peek-a-Boo" by Siouxsie and the Banshees.[11][12] Journalists at Spin and NME were pleasantly surprised at the song's melodic direction, which the latter publication deemed "preternaturally brilliant".[8][13] In their reviews of Show Your Bones, writers for Rolling Stone and The Village Voice thought that "Gold Lion" represented the band at their most brass and "Beck-like",[9][14] and AllMusic called it a cryptic earworm.[11] A writer for Drowned in Sound was more critical, stating that Yeah Yeah Yeahs shouldn't have deviated from their previous formula.[15]

Music video

The music video for "Gold Lion" was directed by Patrick Daughters, who has directed many videos for the band.[16] It features the band playing in the Nevada desert at sunset and eventually night. At first we see Brian holding a large pile of drumsticks with more tied to his back. Then, Nick is seen walking dragging a number of acoustic guitars behind him. Brian then sits at his drumkit with the pile of drumsticks. As he begins to play Brian's drumkit shoots out flames from his snare drum, which sets his drumstick alight and the ground around him as he continues to play. He then throws the stick on a pile of other drumsticks starting another fire. The rest of the band are seen performing, however they are all covered in sand and dust. At the pre-chorus Nick smashes his guitar on the ground, at the same time Karen wipes the dust off her face and takes off her sooty clothes to reveal her 'shiny' dress. Nick then plays the lead part on his electric guitar, the smashed guitar then sets on fire adding to the flames. The band continues playing in the same fashion with Nick smashing another acoustic guitar. The fire builds and the flames create a circle divided into 6ths surrounding the band. The video concludes with the band performing while surrounded by flames.

The music video was nominated for the MVPA Award for Cinematography in 2007.[17]

Other versions

  • In 2010, the instrumentals of "Gold Lion" were sampled in a commercial for Apple's iPad device.[18]
  • In 2019, American folk rock band the Accidentals covered "Gold Lion" while performing live.[19]

Track listing

All songs are written by Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Charts

Chart performance for "Gold Lion"
Chart (2006) Peak position
Canadian Singles (Nielsen SoundScan)[21] 2
Irish Singles (IRMA)[22] 37
UK Singles (OCC)[23] 18
UK Singles Downloads (OCC)[23] 34
UK Physical Singles (OCC)[23] 12
US Billboard Hot 100[24] 88
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[24] 14

References

  1. 1 2 Gold Lion (CD liner notes). Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Interscope Records. 2006. B0006336-32.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. 1 2 "Yeah Yeah Yeahs scrap songs for second album". Contactmusic.com. March 22, 2005. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  3. ↑ Jonze, Tim (April 12, 2013). "Yeah Yeah Yeahs: they wear it well". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 18, 2023. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Behind the work: Adidas "Hello Tomorrow"". Ad Age. March 1, 2005. Retrieved April 25, 2026.
  5. 1 2 Zoladz, Lindsay (March 14, 2025). "An 'In like a lion, out like a lamb' playlist". The New York Times. Retrieved April 25, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Yeah Yeah Yeahs – 'We scared each other'". NME. February 24, 2006. Archived from the original on August 9, 2025. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Gold Lion – Song". iTunes (US). March 21, 2006. Archived from the original on April 27, 2026. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  8. 1 2 "Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Gold Lion". NME. March 3, 2006. Archived from the original on July 9, 2024. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  9. 1 2 Fricke, David (March 20, 2006). "Show Your Bones". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 31, 2025. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  10. ↑ "2007 BMI London Awards: Song list". BMI.com. Broadcast Music, Inc. October 16, 2007. Archived from the original on March 20, 2025. Retrieved April 25, 2026.
  11. 1 2 Phares, Heather. "Show Your Bones - Yeah Yeah Yeahs". AllMusic. Archived from the original on November 27, 2024. Retrieved April 25, 2026.
  12. ↑ Greenblatt, Leah (June 16, 2006). "Do you copy?". Entertainment Weekly. No. 883. Archived from the original on November 8, 2006. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
  13. ↑ Klosterman, Chuck (February 2006). "Spring preview: 15 must-hear albums". Spin. Vol. 22, no. 2. p. 38. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  14. ↑ Catucci, Nick (March 21, 2006). "Loving the skin they're in". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on July 25, 2014. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  15. ↑ Brainlove, John (March 20, 2006). "Single review: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold Lion". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  16. ↑ Minsker, Evan (June 24, 2013). "Watch: Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Despair" video, filming on top of the Empire State Building". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on March 11, 2025. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  17. ↑ Gottlieb, Steven (March 26, 2007). "News: 2007 MVPA Award nominees". VideoStatic. Archived from the original on June 23, 2025. Retrieved April 25, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Chrysalis cashes in from Apple's choice of advert song". Evening Standard. April 11, 2012. Retrieved June 12, 2019. The use of songs from its catalogue included Rapture by Blondie in the film Sex and the City 2, as well as Gold Lion by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in the Apple iPad commercial...
  19. ↑ Boldrey, Ryan (April 26, 2019). "The Accidentals get funky, frisky, grateful and personal in album-release show". Local Spins. Retrieved June 12, 2019. The band opened the show with a rendition of The Yeah Yeah Yeah's 'Gold Lion', one of three covers that shows up on the album...
  20. ↑ Gold Lion (CD liner notes). Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Polydor Records. 2006. 987 735-1.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  21. ↑ "Yeah Yeah Yeahs | Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on July 2, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2026.
  22. ↑ "Discography Yeah Yeah Yeahs". irish-charts.com. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2026.
  23. 1 2 3 "Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on December 14, 2025. Retrieved April 25, 2026.
  24. 1 2 "Yeah Yeah Yeahs Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved October 6, 2025.
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