“New Gold” by Gorillaz (ft. Tame Impala & Bootie Brown)

Gorillaz is one of those musical acts whereas fully appreciating the meaning behind their songs may require some imagination on the part of the listener. So with that in mind, what it appears the titular “new gold” is symbolic of is the vanities of life. These vanities would be the irrelevant things we tend to put so much value in.

In the grand scheme of things, these vanities lack any type of true value and “will” ultimately “disappear”.

Of course making such assertions, that people have a tendency to prioritize temporary material objects versus, let’s say what really matters in life, isn’t anything that we haven’t heard before. But the reason such objects are designated as “new” in this piece is because for instance in the second verse the main vocalist, Bootie Brown, is speaking to dependency on social media, which is in fact a recent phenomenon. 

Or more specifically, he is criticizing those who ‘live for Twitter’. These would be people who measure their life’s worth by how many online followers they’ve acquired or what have you.

And it’s a good thing the meaning of that particular passage is discernible, because it then theoretically clarifies what the rest of the song, which can be deemed more confusing, is about in general. 

Extremely Deep Lyrics

In terms of making sense out of each line specifically, well, good luck with that cause. But in Gorillaz defense, it can be said that “New Gold” is a case of a non-religious act attempting to speak to what is in fact a spiritual concept (a practice that Tame Impala is also kinda known for). This concepts involves valuing internal matters over being successful in the eyes of the world. And sometimes when the attempts are made, the message may come out – for lack of a better word – convoluted. That may arguably be the case here. 

But keep in mind that Gorillaz’ earlier collaboration with Bootie Brown, 2005’s “Dirty Harry“, features its own challenging-to-decipher lyricism. So this modus operandi is also along the lines of being their established artistic style.

Takeaway

Conclusively, “New Gold” seemingly serves the purpose of reminding us not to get too caught up in the BS, if you will. As 2D states in the bridge, “nothing here is ever real”, and it’s like the message of this song is that if you don’t take time, you may find yourself spending your life endeavoring towards a certain goal which ultimately proves worthless.

Release of “New Gold”

Gorillaz debuted this track on 19 August 2022, at a London-based event they headlined called All Points East. “New Gold” was officially released about a week later on 31 August.

This song is a part of “Cracker Island”, the Gorillaz’ 2023 album. The entire project is a product of Parlophone Records and Warner Bros.

Credits for “New Gold”

Gorillaz’s Damon Albarn, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, behind-the-scenes’ guru Greg Kurstin and Bootie Brown wrote this song. Additionally, the credited producers of “New Gold” are Parker, Kurstin and the entire Gorillaz crew (which is, in essence, Damon Albarn).

The Collaboration

“New Gold” marks the English band’s first collaboration with Australian act Tame Impala. It is also their second collabo with American rapper Bootie Brown.