Pure Gold

Pure Gold
Album	Songs About Fire
Released	1995
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	1:52
Next Track	"Papagallo"

Pure Gold is the first song on the single Songs About Fire. It was re-released on the compilation Ghana.

Lyrics

Hey don't touch the door
Because the door will surely kill you
I hear you saying that you don't see what I mean
Well you better look again

Stop looking at the floor
'Cause the whole building's turning and turning and turning
And don't touch the door
Can't you see the door's burning

And all at once the street is filled with light
And all at once the street is filled with sound
When I hold you I know our number's being called somewhere
Let them come on down

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song

• "This is a song about those times, those times when love seems confusing. You're not sure whether or not it's time to just move back in with Mom and admit defeat. It's called 'Pure Gold'." -- 2003-02-18 - Uffes Källare - Växjö - Gothenberg, Sweden

Things Referenced in this Song

• The line "don't touch the door" is likely to be a reference to the 1993 Bally pinball machine Twilight Zone, in which this phrase is called out before the first multiball. In the liner notes to Ghana, John writes, "To date nobody has spotted the pinball reference in one of these four songs."

Live Shows this Song Was Played at

• 1994-xx-xx - Stache's - Columbus, OH
• 1994-08-18 - Under ACME - New York, NY
• 1995-04-20 - Magasin 4 - Brussels, Belgium
• 2002-03-07 - Independent Media Center - Urbana, IL
• 2002-10-08 - McGarrigle's - Sligo, Ireland
• 2002-10-09 - The Cobblestone - Dublin, Ireland
• 2002-11-06 - Knitting Factory - New York, NY
• 2003-02-18 - Uffes Källare - Växjö - Gothenberg, Sweden
• 2013-06-03 - 9:30 Club - Washington, D.C.
• 2013-06-04 - Strand-Capitol Performing Arts - York, PA
• 2013-06-05 - Maxwell's - Hoboken, NJ
• 2013-06-07 - Center Church on the Green - New Haven, CT
• 2013-06-08 - Port City Music Hall - Portland, ME
• 2013-06-11 - Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead - Munhall, PA
• 2013-06-12 - Majestic Theatre - Detroit, MI
• 2013-06-14 - Taft Ballroom - Cincinnati, OH
• 2013-06-15 - Buskirk-Chumley Theatre - Bloomington, IN
• 2013-06-16 - Space - Evanston, IL
• 2013-06-17 - Lincoln Hall - Chicago, IL
• 2013-06-19 - The Record Bar - Kansas City, MO
• 2013-06-20 - Old Rock House - St. Louis, MO
• 2013-06-22 - The Bottletree - Birmingham, AL
• 2013-06-23 - High Dive - Gainesville, FL
• 2013-06-24 - Culture Room - Ft. Lauderdale, FL
• 2013-06-26 - The Charleston Pourhouse - Charleston, SC
• 2013-06-27 - New Brookland Tavern - West Columbia, SC
• 2013-06-28 - The Soapbox - Wilmington, NC
• 2013-10-10 - Arches - Glasgow, Scotland
• 2013-10-13 - People's Place - Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 2013-10-14 - Luxor - Cologne, Germany
• 2013-10-16 - La Gaite Lyrique - Paris, France
• 2013-10-19 - Caprichos de Apolo - Barcelona, Spain
• 2014-04-17 - Club Helsinki - Hudson, NY

Videos of this Song

• 2013-10-13 - People's Place - Amsterdam, Netherlands