Album: Rattle And Hum (1988)

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• In the shit house a shotgun
  Praying hands hold me down
  Only the hunter was hunted
  In this tin can town
  Tin can town
  
  No stars in the black night
  Looks like the sky fell down
  No sun in the daylight
  Looks like it's chained to the ground
  Chained to the ground
  The warden said
  "The exit is sold
  If you want a way out
  Silver and gold"
  
  Broken back to the ceiling
  Broken nose to the floor
  I scream at the silence, it's crawling
  It crawls under the door
  There's a rope around my neck
  And there's a trigger in your gun
  Jesus say something
  I am someone, I am someone
  I am someone
  
  Captain and kings
  In the ships hold
  They came to collect
  Silver and gold
  Silver and gold
  
  Seen the coming and the going
  Seen them captains and the kings
  See them navy blue uniforms
  See them bright and shiny things
  Bright shiny things, yeah
  
  The temperature is rising
  The fever white hot
  Mister, I ain't got nothing
  But it's more than you got
  
  Chains no longer bind me
  Not the shackles at my feet
  Outside are the prisoners
  Inside the free
  Set them free
  Set them free
  
  A prize fighter in a corner is told
  Hit where it hurts
  Silver and gold
  Silver and gold
  
  Yeah, silver and gold
  
  This song was written in a hotel room in New York City
  Right about the time a friend of ours, Little Steven
  Was putting together a record of artists against apartheids
  It's a song written about a man in a shanty town outside of Johannesburg
  A man who's sick of looking down the barrel of white South Africa
  A man who is at the point where he is ready to take up arms against his oppressor
  A man who has lost faith in the peace makers of the West
  While they argue and while they fail to support a man like Bishop Tutu
  And his request for economic sanctions against South Africa
  Am I bugging you?
  Don't mean to bug ya
  Ok Edge, play the blues Writer/s: Adam Clayton, Dave Evans, Larry Mullen, Paul Hewson
  Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 5

• U2fanIn the Rattle and Hum video, right as edge hits his solo, Bono unplugs his guitar so he can jam with edge but since he can't play, no one can hear.
• Peter from Buffalo, NyAfter doing a project for my 10th grade global class, i came to realize that Bono wrote this song to remind the world of the Apartheid that was going on in South Africa. It was written in 1988, just before the "iron curtain" was lifted from Europe and the Berlin Wall was taken down. Bono wanted to remind the people of the world that there were still human rights violations going on around them, and even though the Soviets had just about split up and the troubles in Europe were just about over. Nelson Mandela had been arrested for his Anti-Apartheid actions in the ANC in the 1960. He was imprisoned for 27 years, which would have him coming out in 1987. Being written in 1988, this song is about him. On the album rattle and hum, the song is preformed live. at the end, bono explains the significances of the song.
  
  "This is a song written about a man in a shanty town outside of Johannesburg. A man who's sick and tired of looking down the barrel of white South Africa. A man who is at the point where
  he is ready to take up arms against his oppressor. A man who has lost faith in the peacemakers of the west while they argue
  and while they fail to support a man like bishop Tutu and his request for economic sanctions against South Africa."
  
  this is what Bono says after preforming the song. He really wanted the world to rememeber Mandela. and in 1994, Mandela became the 1st Black president of the new South Africa, that was NOT under apartheid. Bono and U2 have always been good for songs about human rights violations and this time it paid off
• Marius from Lüneburg, GermanyAmy, don't you confound that with "desire"?!
• Amy Friel from Barrie, CanadaI like the "Money, money, money, money" line. It's very bitter, almost mocking. Kudos to U2 for having the balls to tackle apartheid.
• Ted from Los Angeles, NyThis is a remake of the Burl Ives hit sung by Sam the Snowman in "Rudolph the Reindeer."

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