What does "Pure Gold" by half•alive mean?
“Pure Gold” Lyrics Meaning
(The following blog post is a transcript created by Xalma of the below video.)
Today we are going to talk about a song that is pure gold, literally "Pure Gold"; and yes, I just made that joke, and so did just about every single YouTube comment on the video for the official audio for "Pure Gold" by half.alive; anyway I have to say that it is probably one of the most confusing songs that I have looked at in the last year or so; there's not a lot to go on, there's no research, very few theories online, the band has said almost nothing, as far as I've been able to see; and so yeah, we got to figure it out; all of that being said, this is probably going to end up sounding more like a theory post than an explanation; but let's go ahead and jump into what we've got here.
Verse One
Breathe, what defines and describes your words
Climb, measure height by the winds, discern
Wait, for the tides of change will come
And reach, for the sight of being undone
There are four or maybe five keywords here that I think are really important; we've got "breathe", "climb", "wait", and "reach"; and then there's a possibility that "discern" is one of those as well; but if you look at those words, they are all like growth-centered words. I had to ask for April's help on this particular explanation, and she agreed with me that it really sounds like it could be about personal growth; so you know, when you learn to just breathe and then figure things out, you grow; when you climb and keep moving towards something better, you're growing; when you discern and make wise choices, you're growing; and finally same with with waiting and reaching.
Then you look at the rest of these, "what defines and describes your words?", well, it's a fair question, who are you basically? Then "measure hiked by the winds", and that seems to be about how your success can be measured by the amount of difficulties you come into contact with; the more difficult, the windier, the harder it is perhaps; then we have "wait for the tides of change, it will come" and "reach for the site of being undone"; and April and I both were very confused by that last line in particular, but a lot of this song is about looking at something beautiful; so "the sight of being undone" seems to be the goal, it seems to be the pure gold, it seems like like you and everything that you represent being taken back down into pieces, and then no longer mattering, this seems to be the pure gold; if that sounds weird... it is; but maybe we will be able to understand more in the chorus; and please keep in mind that Josh Taylor, the lead singer of the band is -as far as I know- a Christian; so I'm applying some of what I know of Christian theology to this as well.
Chorus
Oh no, oh no, a beauty to hold
So close, so close, I'm recognizing
So this is something that he's seen before, but maybe forgotten; and now that he's seen it again, he's like "where was that the whole time?!"
Culture unfold, an order restored
The culture maybe was messed up; maybe it was only half of what it could be; but now it's been unfolded, and then the order has been restored.
Oh Lord, oh Lord, I'm recognizing
(Gold, gold, gold, gold)
(Gold, gold, gold, gold)
(Gold, gold, gold, gold)
(Gold, gold, gold, gold)
That "oh Lord" really makes it sound like there could be some Christian theology being put into this. If I'm going to go full theory, and you put my feet to the fire, and had to theorise something here, I would say that it's almost like he is anticipating the moment when he meets God face to face; and it's kind of less about him and who he is; because he is undone, and it's just this beauty to hold and to be a part of, you know? This thing that he has recognised, and his soul remembered from long ago perhaps; and so now he feels like he's coming home. That's one theory, okay? It's pretty crazy; like a pretty big theory; and it is definitely deeper than most songs you would get; so that's why I feel like I'm going out with a little bit of a limb here.
Verse Two
Stop when the waves take your name beneath
A move, with the grace of your value redeemed
April thought this meant that when people are piling on you, and you feel like everybody's being unfair to you; she says that maybe "with the grace of your value redeemed" means that you have value beyond what other people are saying, beyond what's going on around you; and I think that this could be a very strong interpretation; I think "the grace of your value redeemed" sounds like - if he's a Christian, and he's saying "Oh Lord, Oh Lord" in the chorus - then maybe that it could be referring to finding one's own value in God; rather than "how the waves treat your name"
Bridge
Something's gotta to give in
When you hide a problem
Something's got to give
Something's got to give in
So you have got to find what's true.
Chorus
Wrapped up in pure gold, tenfold
Oh Lord, I know it's the beauty to hold
Wrapped up in pure gold, tenfold
Oh Lord, I know, now I'm recognizing
(Gold, gold, gold, gold)
(Gold, gold, gold, gold)
(Gold, gold, gold, gold)
(Gold, gold, gold, gold)
I don't know exactly what is "wrapped up in pure gold"; it could be that he's been undone, and now he finds out that his soul was gold all along or something; or maybe that this value that his soul had was basically gold given by God; or it could be him talking about the experience with God, so he's kind of metaphorically being wrapped up in gold; but either way, I think what's really important here is that in verse one we see this story of personal growth; the choruses are all about kind of interacting with this thing of beauty that leaves whatever he was in the verse kind of in the dust; and then in the bridge we know that there's some kind of a pressure that's not supposed to be there currently, and something's got to give in.
So yeah! There is a lot that's going on in this song, that is deep and crazy; it's a very beautifully-worded, and put together song. Josh Taylor if you're reading this, you know I'd love to interview you about the song; and the rest of you guys, please tell me what your theories are about "Pure Gold" by half.alive; because obviously the song has plenty more to be talked about.
