"Gold Lion" is the first single by American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

Yeah Yeah Yeahs Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O (born Karen Lee Orzolek), guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are compleme ...

from their second album, ''

Show Your Bones ''Show Your Bones'' is the second studio album by American indie rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, released on March 22, 2006 by Interscope Records. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 2007. Background and mus ...

''. Distinct in the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' discography, it features acoustic guitar and a more slowed-down pace in contrast to earlier works like "Bang!" and " Date with the Night". It was released on March 20, 2006, and became the band's second major hit after 2004's "

Maps A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...

". "Gold Lion" was named after the two Gold Lion awards won by the

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

commercial ''

Hello Tomorrow {{about, , the Dave Koz album, Hello Tomorrow (album), the Apple TV+ series, Hello Tomorrow! ''Hello Tomorrow'' is the title of a 2005 Adidas television advertisement, and also the name of the song used in the commercial. The 90-second spot was cre ...

'' at the 2005

Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (formerly the International Advertising Festival) is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. It is considered the largest gathering of the ...

Karen O Karen Lee Orzolek (born November 22, 1978) is a South Korean-born American singer, musician, and songwriter. She is best known as the lead vocalist of the indie rock band the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Early life Karen Lee Orzolek was born in Seoul, So ...

had contributed vocals to ad's song composed by Sam "Squeak E. Clean" Spiegel, brother of Karen's then-boyfriend

Spike Jonze Adam Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze (), is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes films, commercials, music videos, skateboard videos and television. Jonze ...

who had directed the ad.

In popular culture

It has been noted by some music critics that "Gold Lion" sounds similar to "No New Tale To Tell" from 1980s alternative band Love and Rockets. In 2010 the instrumentals of the song were used in a commercial for

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...

iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...

device. In 2019

The Accidentals The Accidentals are an American band, formed in Traverse City, Michigan in 2012 by singer-songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Sav Buist (now Sav Madigan) and Katie Larson. The group has featured an eclectic blend of indie folk, pop music, pop ...

included a cover of the song on their album ''Live''.

Track listing

#"Gold Lion" – 3:09 #"Let Me Know" (Demo) – 3:31 #"Gold Lion" (

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is a co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer; a member of the supergroup LSD (group), ...

's Optimo remix) – 4:04 #"Gold Lion" (

Nick Zinner Nicholas Joseph Zinner (born December 8, 1974) is the guitarist and record producer for the New York rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Zinner is also a photographer. Musical career Before forming the Yeah Yeahs Yeahs with Karen O and Brian Chase in 2000 ...

remix) – 3:14

Music video

The music video directed by

Patrick Daughters Patrick Daughters (born 1976 in Berkeley, California) is an American music videomaker and commercial director currently signed to Anonymous Content. Daughters is a graduate of Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland. While still in colle ...

features the band playing in the

Nevada desert Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the List of U.S. stat ...

at sunset and eventually night. At first we see

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan (given name), Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish language, Irish and Breton language, Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan language, Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. ...

holding a large pile of drumsticks with more tied to his back. Then, Nick is seen walking dragging a number of acoustic guitars behind him. Brian then sits at his drumkit with the pile of drumsticks. As he begins to play Brian's drumkit shoots out flames from his snare drum, which sets his drumstick alight and the ground around him as he continues to play. He then throws the stick on a pile of other drumsticks starting another fire. The rest of the band are seen performing, however they are all covered in sand and dust. At the pre-chorus

Nick Nick may refer to: People and fictional characters * Nick (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Désirée Nick, German actress and writer Places * Nick, Hungary, a village * Nick, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland, a ...

smashes his guitar on the ground, at the same time

Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding white woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand * House of Karen, a historic ...

wipes the dust off her face and takes off her sooty clothes to reveal her 'shiny' dress. Nick then plays the lead part on his electric guitar, the smashed guitar then sets on fire adding to the flames. The band continues playing in the same fashion with Nick smashing another acoustic guitar. The fire builds and the flames create a circle divided into 6ths surrounding the band. The video concludes with the band performing while surrounded by flames.

Charts

References

External links

* {{authority control 2006 singles Yeah Yeah Yeahs songs 2006 songs Interscope Records singles Songs written by Karen O Songs written by Brian Chase Songs written by Nick Zinner