Stay Gold by First Aid Kit

Today I'm gonna talk more about my favourite song of the year, and it is Stay Gold by First Aid Kit. This song (and the same-titled album) was released in June this year and I fell in love with it instantly! I discovered First Aid Kit last year, thanks to Jango haha. I think the sister-duo, Johanna and Klara, has one of the most beautiful voices in our time. I think that their voices are very unique, and definitely not a lot of people can sing like them. I discovered them from their song "Emmylou" and well, just fell in love.

So when they announced that they're releasing a new album this year, I was pretty excited and I couldn't wait for it. Although it is very saddening that I couldn't get a physical copy of it till now. HMV Singapore didn't have it, and let's not talk about CD store here hah. But anyway gotta thank Candy for helping me buy their album in Australia! And she found it :D Can't wait to get a hold of it!

Stay Gold is definitely my favourite from their new album. I love everything about it. The melodies, the harmony, the feel, and most importantly the lyrics of the song. To me Stay Gold is a song about hope in times of uncertainties. The lyrics goes like Oh I wish for once, we could stay gold. I think "gold" here refers to us being strong, brave, great and awesome all the time, despite the situation we're facing.

The first verse goes like:

The sun shone high those few summer days
Left us in a soft, wide-eyed haze
It shone like gold, it shone like gold.
But just as the moon, it shines straight
So dawn goes down today
No gold can stay, no gold can stay

The first verse talks about the great and hopeful days in life, basically the "awesome" days where we feel like we can do anything, become anything and our future shining brightly. But then in these days we seem to forget that our days don't stay like this forever, that we'll get "visited" by the not so bright days when we are filled with doubts and worries - Our days will not stay "gold" forever. 

I love the chorus especially, which goes like:

What if our hard work ends in despair?
What if the road won't take me there?
Oh I wish for once, we could stay gold.

The chorus to me talks about uncertainties, and the wish we have to always be hopeful, optimistic and confident about the choices we make in these times. Which is something I was kinda experiencing last year, and sometimes this year. I'm pretty sure we all have dreams and well sometimes we decide to take another path which is of a different direction from them. But we are always hopeful that one day this path will still take us to our dreams, or at least the life we always wish of living.

The second part of the chorus goes like:

What if to love and be loved is not enough?
What if I fall and can't bear to get up?
Oh I wish for once, we could stay gold.

This part talks about those days when we feel like giving up. When we feel like the things we do are no longer worth it, and we should just stop chasing for what we want. And how much we wish we can be remain brightly hopeful like the sun of the summer days.

And then goes the second verse which goes like:

We're on our way through rugged lands
Top of that mountain we wanted to stand
With hearts of gold, with hearts of gold
But there is only forward, no other way
Tomorrow was your hope at the end of the day
And gold turns grey, and gold turns grey

I think the second verse talks about our journey, or life in general. Like how we go through "rugged lands" to reach the "top of that mountain we wanted to stand". How we struggled through life's challenges to reach our goal. And to reach our goal, we can only continue to move forward each day, closer to them. But then we realised that this is not an easy task, that's when "gold turns grey" but hey, we have no choice but to always hope for a better tomorrow. And to get us closer to our dreams.

Last but not least, the bridge goes like:

All of my dreams, they fall and form a bridge of memories, where I can't get back
All of my dreams, they fall and form a bridge of memories, where I can't get back to you

I'm not sure about this part of the song but to me the "you" here refers to our dreams and goals. And this "bridge of memories" is basically the memories of the past, the reminders to why we chase for our dreams in the first place. However... I'm not sure if the lyric goes as "where I can" or "where I can't" get back to you. If it goes where I can get back to my dreams, the bridge of memories is the reminders we have to why we begin chasing our dreams in the first place. And these reminders will then serve as a bridge for us to get to our dreams.

If the lyric goes where I can't get back to my dreams, well sometimes we give up chasing our dreams. And dreams being dreams, when shattered, will be difficult to go chasing it back again.

Well so yep, this is my full analysis of this beautiful song. I hope you like the song too, and I hope this song will be a great beginning and addition for the new year. To conclude, basically this song is all about not losing our hope in times of uncertainties. A song about chasing our dreams without being deterred by the uncertainties in our minds. Thank you First Aid Kit for this wonderful song, a song that carried me through this year and more years to come. I hope you can one day go to Indonesia and hold a concert. I'd love to see you both live one day! Tack!