The Stranglers Golden Brown Meaning

Playing down the drug angle was not for fear of repercussions but because they didn t want the song reduced to merely a drug song.

The stranglers golden brown meaning. An alternative interpretation is that the song was about cornwell s mediterranean girlfriend at the time with golden brown skin. As far as i know it isn t specifically about a prostitute like someone else said. The band has denied persistent accusations that the lyrics are about heroin use and trade. It was the most unlikely single from punk rock band the stranglers.

Following the sad news that its chief writer david greenfield has passed away let s take a look back at the fantastic record that still sounds fresh today. Full of harpsichords straight out of classic baroque music golden brown was a massive success in 1982. There has been much controversy surrounding the lyrics. But eventually hugh crowell who sings and co wrote the track did fess up that golden brown is indeed heroin.

In his book the stranglers song by song 2001 hugh cornwell states golden brown works on two levels. The main body of the song has a 6 8 feel and is. It s about heroin and also about a girl. Hugh nailed it though and the parallels are perfect.

Essentially the lyrics describe how both provided me with pleasurable times musical composition. In the early days of this song fans postulated that golden brown is actually a reference to heroine which at first the stranglers denied.