music.wikisort.org - Composition

"Golden Brown" is a song by the English rock band the Stranglers released as a 7-inch single on EMI's Liberty label in 1982, noted for its distinctive harpsichord instrumentation. It was the second single released from the band's sixth album La folie and peaked at No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart, the band's highest ever placing in that chart.[4] It has also been recorded by many other artists.

"Golden Brown"
Single by the Stranglers
from the album La folie
B-side	"Love 30"
Released	11 January 1982 (UK)[1]
Genre	New wave[2] baroque pop[3]
Length	3:30
Label	Liberty BP 407 (UK, 7-inch)
Songwriter(s)	Hugh Cornwell Jean-Jacques Burnel Dave Greenfield Jet Black
Producer(s)	The Stranglers Steve Churchyard
The Stranglers singles chronology
"Let Me Introduce You to the Family" (1981) "Golden Brown" (1982) "La Folie" (1982)
The Stranglers singles chronology
"Always the Sun (Sunny Side Up Mix)" (1991) "Golden Brown" (1991) "Heaven or Hell" (1992)
Music video
"Golden Brown" on YouTube

Composition

The main body of the song is in ¹³
₈ time, with the instrumental sections alternating with three bars of ³
₄ and then one bar of ⁴
₄, while the vocal sections stay in straight ³
₄,[5]^: 217 and is pitched halfway between the keys of E minor and E-flat minor. The music was largely written by keyboardist Dave Greenfield and drummer Jet Black, with lyrics by singer/guitarist Hugh Cornwell.[6]

The song has been described as "the most unlikely single from punk rock band The Stranglers. Full of harpsichords straight out of classic Baroque music."[7]

Lyrics

In his book The Stranglers Song By Song (2001), Hugh Cornwell states, "'Golden Brown' works on two levels. It's about heroin and also about a girl." Essentially the lyrics describe how "both provided me with pleasurable times."[5]^: 215

Release and reception

Originally featured on the group's album La folie, which was released in November 1981, and later on the USA pressings of Feline, "Golden Brown" was released as a single in January 1982, and was accompanied by a video. It was a top 10 hit around the world. David Hamilton, disc jockey on the comparatively conservative BBC Radio 2, which was a middle-of-the-road (MOR) music radio station at that time, made the single his "record of the week".[1]

The single reached No. 2 in the official UK Singles Chart in February 1982, remaining there for two weeks behind double A-sided record "Town Called Malice/Precious" by the Jam.[8][9] In a 2017 interview for Dutch television station Top 2000 a gogo, Hugh Cornwell says he believes that the song would have got to Number 1 if bass player Jean-Jacques Burnel had not told the press that the song was about heroin, at which point broadcasters removed it from their playlists, prejudicing sales. "I would have waited till it got to Number 1 and then said it," he commented.[10]

In 1995, Black, Burnel and Greenfield appeared with impressionist Rory Bremner on his satirical Christmas special[11] performing a parody version of the song about future Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was then Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.

It was also featured in the film Snatch and is included on its soundtrack album.[2]

In a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the nation's favourite singles to have peaked at number two, conducted in late 2012, "Golden Brown" ranked fifth behind "Vienna", "Fairytale of New York", "Sit Down" and "American Pie", and just ahead of "Waterloo Sunset" and "Penny Lane"/"Strawberry Fields Forever".[12]

In January 2014, NME ranked the song at No. 488 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[13]

Music video

The video for "Golden Brown" was directed by Lindsey Clennell.[14] It depicts the band members both as explorers in an Arabian country in the 1920s and performers for a fictional "Radio Cairo".

In addition to the Pyramids, the video is intercut with stock footage of the Mir-i-Arab Madrasah in Bukhara, the Shah Mosque in Isfahan, the Great Sphinx, Feluccas sailing, Bedouins riding, and camel racing in the United Arab Emirates. The performance scenes were filmed in the Leighton House Museum in Holland Park, London, which was also used in the filming of the video for "Gold" by Spandau Ballet.[15]

Track listing

Songs, lyrics and music by the Stranglers.

7-inch: Liberty / BP 407 (UK)

Side one[16]

1. "Golden Brown" – 3:28

Side two[16]

1. "Love 30" – 3:57

1991 7-inch: Epic / 656761 7 (UK)

Side one[16]

1. "Golden Brown" – 3:29

Side two[16]

1. "You" – 3:09

1991 Reissue – CD-Maxi: Epic / 656761 2 (UK)

1. "Golden Brown" – 3:31[16]
2. "You" – 3:08
3. "Peaches" – 3:59
4. "Skin Deep (12-inch Version)" – 7:09

Charts

Chart (1982)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[17]	10
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[16]	7
France (IFOP)[18]	73
Germany (Official German Charts)[19]	63
Ireland (IRMA)[20]	3
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[21]	8
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[22]	10
UK Singles (OCC)[8]	2

Chart (1991)1	Peak position
Ireland (IRMA)[20]	25
UK Singles (OCC)[23]	68

Remix

Chart (2013)	Peak position
UK Singles (OCC)[24]	98

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[25]	Platinum	600,000
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

In 1996 British hip hop group Kaleef's re-working of the song reached number 22 in the UK Charts.[26] The following year, a cover version by soul singer Omar reached number 37.[27]

In 2020 British YouTuber and saxophonist Laurence Mason's cover of "Golden Brown", in the style of classical American jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, was viewed over a million times, leading to a commercial release via Amazon and iTunes, and as a vinyl single under the title "Take Vibe EP".[28] The vinyl release stayed two weeks in the Official Vinyl Singles Chart's Top 40, peaking at No 24.[29]

References

External links

• Guitar Tablature
• Golden Brown – The Story Behind the Song at Wow-Vinyl

На других языках

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[de] Golden Brown

Golden Brown ist eine Ballade der britischen Rockband The Stranglers. Sie entstand 1981 und ist deren bislang erfolgreichste Single. Aufgrund der in Titel und Text enthaltenen Anspielung auf eine gängige Szene-Metapher für Heroin wird das Stück oft als Drogensong verstanden; die Band hat diese Interpretation früh bestätigt. Als bekannt-beispielhaftes Stück der Punk- und frühen New-Wave-Ära wurde Golden Brown trotz der ungewöhnlichen musikalischen Form in unterschiedlichen Versionen gecovert und neu eingespielt.

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- [en] Golden Brown

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[ru] Golden Brown

Golden Brown — песня из шестого студийного альбома La Folie британской рок-группы The Stranglers, выпущенная синглом 28 декабря 1981 года в США (10 января 1982 года — в Великобритании) лейблом Liberty Records.

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