Know something about this song or lyrics?
Add it to our wiki.
There's a voice on the phone
Telling what had happened,
Some kind of confusion
More like a disaster.
And it wondered how you were left unaffected,
But you had no knowledge.
No, the chemicals covered you.
So a jury was formed
As more liquor was poured.
No need for conviction,
They're not thirsting for justice.
But I slept with the lies I keep inside my head.
I found out I was guilty.
I found out I was guilty.
But I won't be around for the sentencing,
Cause I'm leaving
On the next airplane.
And though I know that my actions are impossible to justify
They seem adequate to fill up my time.
But if I could talk to myself
Like I was someone else,
Well then maybe I could take your advice,
And I wouldn't act like such an asshole all the time.
There's a film on the wall,
Makes the people look small
Who are sitting beside it,
All consumed in the drama.
They must return to their lives once the hero has died.
They will drive to the office
Stopping somewhere for coffee,
Where the folk singers, poets and playwrights convene,
Dispensing their wisdom,
Oh dear amateur orators.
They will detail their pain
In some standard refrain.
They will recite their sadness
Like it's some kind of contest.
Well, if it is, I think I am winning it,
All beaming with confidence
As I make my final lap.
The gold medal gleams
So hang it around my neck
Cause I am deserving it:
The champion of idiots.
But a kid carries his walkman on that long bus ride to Omaha.
I know a girl who cries when she practices violin.
Cause each note sounds so pure, it just cuts into her,
And then the melody comes pouring out her eyes.
Now to me, everything else, it just sounds like a lie
Telling what had happened,
Some kind of confusion
More like a disaster.
And it wondered how you were left unaffected,
But you had no knowledge.
No, the chemicals covered you.
So a jury was formed
As more liquor was poured.
No need for conviction,
They're not thirsting for justice.
But I slept with the lies I keep inside my head.
I found out I was guilty.
I found out I was guilty.
But I won't be around for the sentencing,
Cause I'm leaving
On the next airplane.
And though I know that my actions are impossible to justify
They seem adequate to fill up my time.
But if I could talk to myself
Like I was someone else,
Well then maybe I could take your advice,
And I wouldn't act like such an asshole all the time.
There's a film on the wall,
Makes the people look small
Who are sitting beside it,
All consumed in the drama.
They must return to their lives once the hero has died.
They will drive to the office
Stopping somewhere for coffee,
Where the folk singers, poets and playwrights convene,
Dispensing their wisdom,
Oh dear amateur orators.
They will detail their pain
In some standard refrain.
They will recite their sadness
Like it's some kind of contest.
Well, if it is, I think I am winning it,
All beaming with confidence
As I make my final lap.
The gold medal gleams
So hang it around my neck
Cause I am deserving it:
The champion of idiots.
But a kid carries his walkman on that long bus ride to Omaha.
I know a girl who cries when she practices violin.
Cause each note sounds so pure, it just cuts into her,
And then the melody comes pouring out her eyes.
Now to me, everything else, it just sounds like a lie
Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery
Track duration: 05:07
"Going for the Gold" as written by Oberst
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
Well, at least the 2nd verse. I think Conor is being very humbled. He is struggling with the fact that many poets, and folk singers (possibly including himself) that write such brilliant pieces of work may not be being completely honest in their deep emotions.
He compares it to a game, where he and his peers are competing to write the saddest song, and he feels like he is winning that contest. In essence, he is actually showing his true emotion in this song, as it is definately bothering him that anything he's written could be construed as "Fake".
He uses the kid with the walkman and the girl with the violin as examples of how music itself can bring emotions out of people, and that sad emotional songs like what he writes can relate to anyone.
Brilliant. I think I could listen to this song my whole life and pick up something new each time.
i really love bright eyes....but it's hard to describe exactly why. know what i mean?
connor doesn't have the best voice in the world but the way it is acts perfectly for his songs. its beautiful.
all bright eyes' songs give you this feeling that just becomes peaceful and calms yourself completely. and the lyrics are so powerful...straight from the heart.
to me...this song is about apologizing for all the times we screw up in life. but also about questioning whether any of it really matters at the same time. the girl who practices violin's music is so pure, and so real. he wonders what's the point of the little things? they seem worthless next to music so powerful.
but then he also makes fun of himself and people like him who feed off of music and videos that aren't real.
so isn't he just wondering what is real at all? what's the purpose of everything? and do the little things matter? or do they mean everything??
beautiful song. :D
Because each note sounds so pure
It just cuts into her
And then the melody comes pouring out her eyes"
..beautiful , undoubtedly
Oberst somehow harnesses the sadness until it's all so real that you feel you could reach out and touch it.
Sigh.
in the second verse, it sounds to me like he is commenting on how it is only the artists in society who are trying to actually make a change, while everyone else just goes about their daily lives. which is something that frustrates me all the time.
So I won't try to do that. I'll just write what I think it means.
The song is, essentially, part of the ongoing theme of the search for truth in bright eyes songs (False Advertising, No Lies Just Love, and yeah, this one too).
As an "independent" artist Conor probably feels that music should convey a certain feeling or say a certain thing, and should always have truth found within it. Music is just one of those things you shouldn't lie to, its too pure and will know instantly if you're being dishonest. Since Bright Eyes, rightly or not, has been accused of being an "emo" band, its understandable that Conor feels as though he's fabricating things or lying within (or to) his music. Basically, he's saying that music, when interwoven with people's different emotions and beliefs, can come off as lies, and so it is a "risky" thing to do.
I think it also goes back to the whole "can you put a price on music/art?" thing. Like Conor could be considered a lier or con artist (not actually saying that he is...) because he makes people pay for his music, when some would argue if he truly loved music, he would not need money as motivation to make it.
Anyway i feel like i've barely scratched at the surface of this song...there's just so much feeling in it...its impossible to listen to it and not feel something. Like everyone, I love the part at the end;
"I know a girl who cries when she practices violin
Because each note sounds so pure
It just cuts into her
And then the melody comes pouring out her eyes"
I wish I could be capable of feeling something so deeply.
So I won't try to do that. I'll just write what I think it means.
The song is, essentially, part of the ongoing theme of the search for truth in bright eyes songs (False Advertising, No Lies Just Love, and yeah, this one too).
As an "independent" artist Conor probably feels that music should convey a certain feeling or say a certain thing, and should always have truth found within it. Music is just one of those things you shouldn't lie to, its too pure and will know instantly if you're being dishonest. Since Bright Eyes, rightly or not, has been accused of being an "emo" band, its understandable that Conor feels as though he's fabricating things or lying within (or to) his music. Basically, he's saying that music, when interwoven with people's different emotions and beliefs, can come off as lies, and so it is a "risky" thing to do.
I think it also goes back to the whole "can you put a price on music/art?" thing. Like Conor could be considered a lier or con artist (not actually saying that he is...) because he makes people pay for his music, when some would argue if he truly loved music, he would not need money as motivation to make it.
Anyway i feel like i've barely scratched at the surface of this song...there's just so much feeling in it...its impossible to listen to it and not feel something. Like everyone, I love the part at the end;
"I know a girl who cries when she practices violin
Because each note sounds so pure
It just cuts into her
And then the melody comes pouring out her eyes"
I wish I could be capable of feeling something so deeply.
oh, and the guitar is beautiful too.