Songfacts®:

• Speaking with Smash Hits in 1982, Simple Minds lead singer Jim Kerr explained the meaning of "Glittering Prize."
  
  "It's about getting a glimpse of something and going out on a chase for it against all the odds," he said. "If you're after something, or something's really beckoning, just go for it."
  
  The glittering prize could be a girl, or a dream.
• Simple Minds had been chasing the glittering prize of rock stardom (or at least sustainability) since forming in Glasgow in 1978. They released four albums from 1979-1981 in the art rock vein before landing a wider audience with the more accessible New Gold Dream in 1982. The first single, "Promised You a Miracle," was a breakthrough, landing at #13 in the UK. "Glittering Prize" was the next single, reaching #16. In America, these songs got some play on college radio, but the band had to wait until their Breakfast Club hit "Don't You (Forget About Me)" in 1985 to break out there.
• The music video shows Simple Minds performing the song in a room that looks like King Midas got to first. There's also a sarcophagus and a woman painted like a certain Bond girl. The band was touring Asia and Australia around this time so the video was a good way to get the song some exposure in Europe. Videos like this one sometimes crossed over to America, but MTV ignored it.
• Simple Minds didn't particularly like this song when it was released, but it grew on them. In 2008, Jim Kerr told the Sunday Herald about showing up late for a rehearsal as the band was playing the song. "I came in as the band were playing 'Glittering Prize' - obviously without me," he said. "And I just heard the track in a way I'd never heard it before and it sounded fantastic. And it struck me that it was a much better pop song than I ever knew it was. And I was really, really delighted."
• The New Gold Dream album held up as a classic and a milestone for the band. In 2008, they played it start to finish on their 30th anniversary winter tour. On October 6, 2022, the band, still going strong, performed the album at Paisley Abbey in Scotland as part of the Sky Arts "Greatest Albums Live" series. This performance was later released as the album New Gold Dream – Live from Paisley Abbey.