Song of the Week: White Gold

Let's see, where to begin? Ah yes, of course... THIS SONG IS ABOUT COCAINE!! Sorry, I just had to take that round out of the chamber early or you'd be spending the rest of your time here learning every funny name I can think of for Booger Sugar. On second thought, there's still time, and I do love to multitask...

But if that association is the only reason you've come here today, I'll save you some time and tell you that you can just change the playback speed on the video to 1.15x and thank me later. It's a much more realistic depiction of cocaine use in action, and I've been laughing at it for almost an hour now.

Is there anyone out there that actually skips White Gold when it comes up on their playlist? Because if there is, I'd love to meet them and see what other whacky things they have wrong with their psyche firsthand. They're probably the kind of people that make tea in the microwave—and if that is you, I mean that as disrespectfully as possible. I feel like this is one of those songs that everyone likes to some degree, and even if it isn't your first choice as a favorite it's still on the list somewhere, making it impossible to pass by.

I can't even explain it, it just makes you smile. The opening line is iconic— A quote from someone asking for words of congratulations on their third-year anniversary of sobriety, and instead being told “Nah mate, I preferred him when he was on the gear”. Absolutely savage. So savage, in fact, that it took me until just now to notice that at the very same time they were playing the drums with sticks in the video. Not drumsticks, mind you—actual sticks. From a tree. Found in nature. I have several questions, but some mysteries are better left unsolved.

And then, almost simultaneously, the Lord of the Riffs himself swoops in (I'm going to keep calling him that until it catches on, by the way... resistance is futile) with that Sublimesque guitar trill that makes you feel like you're sunbathing on a yacht somewhere, and suddenly you realize you never stood a chance at hating this song. You were already hooked from the moment it started playing. That's why they called it White Gold, in case you were wondering—because it's instantly addictive. Seriously, look it up! I would never lie to you... unless I thought it would be funny. But either way, this is another in a long line of light, summer tunes that were released around the same time, and I can't get enough of them! They make you want to dance, and spend your evening sitting around a bonfire at sunset with your friends as the waves crash against the shore.

Between the time that White Gold was released in November of 2024 and now, this song has sent me down so many different rabbit holes it's almost impossible to keep up. More so than any other song the Skinner Brothers have released, to be honest.

The first one was the Stone Roses reference, which I think I mentioned somewhere else before, but I don't remember where. I had never heard of the Stone Roses prior to this song being released, so when it got to the line “banging on the drum just like a Stone Rose” I remember thinking that that was an oddly specific thing to say if there wasn't some kind of hidden meaning behind it. But of course I didn't ask, because I like to assert dominance over knowledge by not seeking it out directly and instead waiting for it to find me of its own accord. It's a long game, but surprisingly effective in the end. Anyway, I don't remember if it ended up being White Gold that led me to looking them up, or a different song where they were mentioned again (All Our Days, perhaps?) but either way I heard it here first and I did eventually end up checking them out. I'll never complain about having more great artists to add to my playlist!

And then, just as soon as I started writing this article with the cocaine references, I ended up getting the Grateful Dead's song Casey Jones stuck in my head. Which is strange because I don't even listen to the Grateful Dead, and I haven't heard this song in years! I didn't even know it was one of theirs until I stopped to look up the lyrics! But of course, that got me wondering who the hell Casey Jones was, and why he was driving a train high on cocaine...

Apparently, he wasn't. That part was a bit of artistic license. But Casey Jones was real, and he was, in fact, an engineer on a train. He died when his engine collided with another train that he couldn't see was stalled on the tracks ahead while he was speeding into the next station. He heroically stayed at his post until the very end, attempting to slow the train while others fled, which resulted in his being the only casualty of the entire wreck. Of course, he also caused the wreck by ignoring all the safety protocols to try and make up lost time, so take from that what you will. But still, these are the weird things I learn while researching Skinner Brother's songs.

Another thing that I would like to know is what potentially cancer-causing agent they were spreading around during the creation of this video in place of real cocaine? Unless it actually was cocaine, who knows. Can you imagine the impact that that would have on local wildlife, though? This is how we get Cocaine Bears, guys.

Come to think of it, they did a fascinating study on the effects of psychoactive drugs on spiders a few years back, and it was eye-opening. It's short, but if you haven't seen this yet, be prepared to have everything you thought you knew about the effects of drug use turned on its head!

That's right. I bet you'll give a second thought to experimenting with the Devil's Dandruff after watching that, won't you?

Who am I kidding, this song is the most effective marketing campaign for cocaine I have ever seen in my life. I was sold with the “credit card buff” line, honestly. So go forth, (don't) do your drugs and be merry. Who needs a septum, anyway? It's not even one of the cool bones.

☘️🖤

Lyrics courtesy of Bandcamp:
She got that white gold,
Trapped with a little bit of wood,
She got that bass tone,
Banging on the drums just like a stone rose,
Don't point that camera at me man, I won't pose,
These motherfuckers don't know nothing about me,
Jump about they made adrenaline free,
Dead face your looking like a zombie,
Ted talks and everything that come in between,

I'm on the white gold,
In it too tuff,
White lines and white stuff,
Credit card buff,
Cut it up,
On the white gold,
I'm tearing up the rug to this Motown,
With no sleep, you know the vibes tougher when you don't sleep

She got that white gold,
Trapped at the bottom of the top,
But got that base smoke,
Forever underdog, they said I'm lame bro,
Pretending like they don't know but they know
Coming like a

These motherfuckers don't know nothing about me,
Jump about they made adrenaline free,
Dead face you're looking like a zombie,
Ted talks and everything that come in between,

I'm on the white gold,
In it too tuff,
White lines and white stuff,
Credit card buff,
Cut it up,
On the white gold,
I'm tearing up the rug to this Motown,
With no sleep, you know the vibes tougher when you don't sleep

She got that Monday - Tuesday sick of all the above,
Got a couple people telling me I got buzz,
But I don't care coz tonight I want love,
Love, love, love and a little bit of drugs
These motherfuckers don't know nothing about me,
Jump about they made adrenaline free,
Dead face you're looking like a zombie,
Ted talks and everything that come in between,

I'm on the white gold,
In it too tuff,
White lines and white stuff,
Credit card buff,
Cut it up,
On the white gold,
I'm tearing up the rug to this Motown,
With no sleep, you know the vibes tougher when you don't sleep