Silver and Gold Lyrics
In the shithouse a shotgun
Praying hands hold me down
If only the hunter was hunted
In this tin can town, tin can town
[Verse 2]
No stars in the black night
Looks like the sky fall down
No sun in the daylight
Looks like it's chained to the ground, chained to the ground
[Chorus]
The warden says, "The exit is sold"
If you want a way out...
Silver and gold, silver and gold
[Verse 3]
Broken back to the ceiling
Broken nose to the floor
I scream at the silence
It's crawling, crawls under the door
[Verse 4]
There's a rope around my neck
And there's a trigger in your gun
Jesus, say something!
I am someone, I am someone
Captains and kings in the ship's hold
They came to collect
Silver and gold, silver and gold
[Verse 5]
I seen the coming and the going
Seen the captains and the kings
Seen their navy blue uniforms
Seen them bright and shiny things, bright and shiny things
[Verse 6]
The temperature is rising
The fever white hot
Mister I ain't got nothing
But it's more than you've got
[Verse 7]
Chains no longer bind me
Nor the shackles at my feet
Outside are the prisoners
Inside the free (Set them free)
Set them free
[Chorus]
A prize fighter in a corner is told
Hit where it hurts
For silver and gold, for silver and gold
About
“Silver and Gold” is a track by U2, notably included on the 20th anniversary rerelease of their landmark LP The Joshua Tree.
It was originally released as a b-side to the album’s third single, “Where The Streets Have No Name,” alongside “Race Against Time” and “Sweetest Thing.”
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
“This song was written in a hotel room in New York city ‘round about the time a friend or ours, Little Steven, was putting together a record of Artists Against Apartheid. This is 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 peacemakers 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.”
- Bono, Rattle and Hum
- 10.Exit
- 14.Spanish Eyes
- 16.Silver and Gold
- 17.Sweetest Thing
- 24.Rise Up