Fools Gold (song) explained

Fools Gold
Cover:FoolsGoldWhatTheWorldIsWaitingFor.jpg
Type:single
Artist:The Stone Roses
A-Side:"What the World Is Waiting For" (double A-side)
Released:13 November 1989
Recorded:Mid and late 1989
Label:Silvertone
Producer:John Leckie
Prev Title:I Wanna Be Adored
Prev Year:1989
Fools Gold
Title2:What the World Is Waiting For
Next Title:One Love
Next Year:1990

"Fools Gold" is a song by British rock band the Stone Roses. It was released as a double A-side single with "What the World Is Waiting For" on 13 November 1989 through Silvertone Records. "Fools Gold" would go on to appear on certain non-UK versions of their self-titled debut studio album (1989). "Fools Gold" became the band's biggest commercial hit at the time. It was their first single to reach the top ten of the UK Singles Chart and stayed in the top-75 for fourteen weeks, peaking at number eight.

Recording and composition

"Fools Gold" and "What the World Is Waiting For" were recorded at Sawmills Studios in Cornwall during mid-1989, with additional vocal and guitar parts recorded later at London's Battery Studios, during late 1989. The tracks had been worked on for four months, and the intention was to put "What the World Is Waiting For" as the A side; however, when Roddy Mckenna, Silvertone's A&R man, heard "Fools Gold" he urged the band to use that as the A-side. The band were not completely convinced, and agreed to release the two tracks as a double A-side instead.[1]

"Fools Gold" has been described as a Madchester,[2] [3] [4] dance-rock,[5] and funk rock song.[6] The dance-oriented song showcased the rhythm section of Mani on bass and Reni on percussion. Ian Brown stated the song was written over "The Funky Drummer" by James Brown, which Reni had to learn the beat from.[7] However the actual source of the beat is "Hot Pants" by Bobby Byrd.[8] John Squire also plays guitar with various wah-wah pedal effects. Ian Brown sings the vocals in a whispered delivery. He would also perform with this technique for the track "Something's Burning".

The bassline was adapted from Kevin O'Neal's bassline in "Know How" by Young MC,[9] which Mani heard after going clubbing "looking for things to pinch".[10] The lyrics reference Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" and Marquis de Sade. According to Brown, the song's verses were inspired by John Huston's 1948 film adaptation of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and tells about "three geezers who are skint and they put their money together to get equipment to go looking for gold, then they all betray each other...".[11]

Release

The single was released in 1989 and entered the UK top ten. It was promoted with a music video, showing the Stone Roses performing outdoors and walking across the volcanic landscape of Lanzarote, Canary Islands. The cover art was a painting by John Squire, "Double Dorsal Dopplegänger",[12] which was later exhibited at Squire's 2004 art exhibition.

The band's appearance on the same November Top of the Pops as the Happy Mondays, who performed "Hallelujah" from the Madchester Rave On EP,[13] is regarded as a "cultural high-water mark", exposing the emerging Madchester scene to a wider audience, and popularizing a new dance-oriented music genre, baggy.[14]

Although a non-album double A-sided single, both tracks have appeared on the compilation albums Turns into Stone, The Complete Stone Roses and The Very Best of The Stone Roses. Both tracks have also appeared on some reissued editions of their debut album The Stone Roses, although "Fools Gold" has appeared more often than "What the World Is Waiting For".

Legacy

In May 2007, NME magazine placed "Fools Gold" at number 32 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever.[15] The same magazine later placed the song at number 31 in their "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list in 2014.[16]

In 2009, listeners of the Australian radio station Triple J voted "Fool's Gold" number 76 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time.[17]

Track listings

1989 UK release

  1. "Fools Gold 4.15" (4:15)
  2. "What the World Is Waiting For" (3:55)
  1. "Fools Gold 9.53" (9:53)
  2. "What the World Is Waiting For" (3:55)
  1. "Fools Gold 9.53" (9:53)
  2. "What the World Is Waiting For" (3:55)
  3. "Fools Gold 4.15" (4:15)

1990 US release

  1. "Fools Gold 9.53" (9:53)
  2. "What the World Is Waiting For" (3:55)
  3. "Fools Gold 4.15" (4:15)

1989 Japanese release

  1. "What the World Is Waiting For" (3:55)
  2. "Fools Gold" (4:17)
  3. "She Bangs the Drums" (12" mix) (3:43)
  4. "Elephant Stone" (12" mix) (4:51)
  5. "Guernica" (4:23)
  6. "Going Down" (2:26)

Fools Gold 1992 UK reissue

12" vinyl, cassette and CD are the same as 1989 releases

  1. "Fools Gold" (The Top Won Mix!) (10:03)
  2. "Fools Gold" (The Bottom Won Mix!) (7:00)

Fools Gold '95

  1. "Fools Gold" (The Tall Paul Remix) (7:21)
  2. "Fools Gold" 9.53 (9:53)
  3. "Fools Gold" (Cricklewood Ballroom Mix) (4:16)
  1. "Fools Gold" 4.15 (4:15)
  2. "Fools Gold" (The Tall Paul Remix) (7:21)
  1. "Fools Gold" 4.15 (4:15)
  2. "Fools Gold" 9.53 (9:53)
  3. "Fools Gold" (The Tall Paul Remix) (7:21)
  4. "Fools Gold" (Cricklewood Ballroom Mix) (4:16)

Fools Gold (1999 remix) UK release

  1. "Fools Gold" (Grooverider's Mix) (6:36)
  2. "She Bangs the Drums" (Kiss My Arse Mix) (4:02)
  3. "Fools Gold" (Rabbit in the Moon's Message to the Majors) (8:24)
  1. "Fools Gold" (Grooverider's Mix – Edit) (4:30)
  2. "She Bangs the Drums" (Kiss My Arse Mix) (4:02)
  1. "Fools Gold" (Grooverider's Mix – Edit) (4:30)
  2. "Fools Gold" (Rabbit in the Moon's Message to the Majors) (8:24)
  3. "She Bangs the Drums" (Kiss My Arse Mix) (4:02)

Fools Gold (1999 remix) German release

  1. "Fools Gold" (Rabbit in the Moon's Message to the Majors – Edit) (4:43)
  2. "Fools Gold" (Grooverider's Mix – Edit) (4:30)
  3. "Fools Gold" (Rabbit in the Moon's Message to the Majors) (8:24)
  4. "She Bangs the Drums" (Kiss My Arse Mix) (4:02)

Fools Gold (1999 remix) US release

  1. "Fools Gold" (Grooverider's Mix) (6:37)
  2. "Fools Gold" (Rabbit in the Moon's Straight Beat Pyrite Dub) (7:35)
  3. "Fools Gold" (Rabbit in the Moon's Message to the Majors – Extended) (9:42)

Fools Gold (UK 2009 remaster)

  1. "Fools Gold" (4:15)
  2. "What the World Is Waiting For" (3:55)

Charts

Weekly charts

YearChartPeak
position
1995
1999Australia (ARIA)[19] 87
2005
2009

Year-end charts

1990 year-end chart performance for "Fools Gold" / "What the World Is Waiting For"!Chart (1990)!Position
Australia (ARIA)[20] 93
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[21] 70

Notes and references

Notes
  • References

    • Notes and References

    1. Book: Middles, Mick . 1999 . Breaking into Heaven: The Rise and Fall of the Stone Roses . . 29–31 . 0-7119-7546-9.
    2. Web site: Stuart . Maconie . Pills'n'Thrills And Bellyaches . . 1 October 2003 . 12 December 2004 . https://web.archive.org/web/20041212191152/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/r2music/documentaries/madchester.shtml/.
    3. Book: Sennett, Sean . Simon . Groth . 2010 . Off the Record: 25 Years of Music Street Press . . 64 . 978-0-7022-4653-1 . 22 October 2016 .
    4. Web site: The Stone Roses: Fool's Gold . . https://web.archive.org/web/20130404152729/http://bestbritishsongs.xfm.co.uk/Top100/The-Stone-Roses-Fools-Gold . 4 April 2013.
    5. Kenneth . Partridge . Radiohead, The Cure & Stone Roses: How Revived British Rock Bands Come to Terms with Nostalgia . . 24 May 2016 . 23 October 2016 . 28 October 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161028014405/http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7385054/radiohead-cure-stone-roses-british-rock-band-nostalgia-2016 . live.
    6. News: Stephen . Dalton . So much to answer for . . Abu Dhabi . 9 August 2009 . 10 October 2020 . 4 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052425/http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/music/so-much-to-answer-for . live.
    7. Ian Brown – 'Fool's Gold' Was Inspired by James Brown . . 7 October 2009 . 15 December 2014 . 10 December 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141210085358/http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/ian-brown-fools-gold-was-inspired-by-james-brown . live.
    8. https://www.whosampled.com/sample/57319/The-Stone-Roses-Fools-Gold-Bobby-Byrd-Hot-Pants-(Bonus-Beats)/
    9. Web site: Young MC's Lasting, Stone Cold Debut . Relic . Peter . 2022-01-22 . Vinyl Me, Please . 2023-02-22 . With a nimble bass line by Kevin O'Neal....
    10. Book: Spence, Simon . 2012 . The Stones Roses: War and Peace . New York . St. Martin's Griffin . 146 . 978-1-250-03082-5.
    11. News: Robert . Webb . Story of the Song: Fool's Gold, The Stone Roses, 1989 . . 5 November 2010 . 8 February 2021 . 8 February 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210208133430/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/story-song-fool-s-gold-stone-roses-1989-2125295.html . live.
    12. Web site: Fools Gold . Pdmcauley.co.uk . 28 July 2002 . https://archive.today/20020728062924/http://www.pdmcauley.co.uk/FG.htm.
    13. Book: Taylor, Steve . 2004 . A to X of Alternative Music . . 123 . 978-0-8264-7396-7 . 22 October 2016 .
    14. Web site: Stone Roses Biography . Sing365.com . 8 October 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100119135511/http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Stone-Roses-Biography/A4905D4EB9840303482569EC002C1C2C . 19 January 2010.
    15. The Greatest Indie Anthems Ever – countdown continues . . 1 May 2007 . 2 June 2020 . 5 August 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140805062404/http://www.nme.com/news/nme/28031 . live.
    16. Emily . Barker . The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time: 100-1 . NME . 31 January 2014 . 9 February 2021 .
    17. Web site: Hottest 100 of All Time: 71-80 . . 1 January 2009 . 8 February 2021 .
    18. Book: Pennanen, Timo . Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 . 2021 . The STONE ROSES. 248. Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava . Helsinki. 18 June 2022.
    19. Book: Ryan, Gavin . 2011 . Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 . Moonlight Publishing . Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia.
    20. Web site: The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart 1990 (61–100) . ARIA Report . 50 . . 10 October 2016 . 10 October 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161010131357/http://i.imgur.com/vc5Ooqg.png . live.
    21. Web site: Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1990 . . 22 August 2021 . nl.

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