Goldmine

Album: Big TV (2013)
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Songfacts®:

  • Big TV is a concept album about a girl who's in a relationship with a guy in an unidentified provincial European area who moves to a much bigger, more glamorous city, This song finds the girl reunited with her boyfriend, but for how long? Bassist and lyricist Charles Cave explained to NME: "Even though she's back, he doesn't consider her to be back for good. She's got an itch built in to her – she'll always be digging for gold."
  • This was the last song that White Lies wrote for Big TV. Vocalist Harry McVeigh told Artist Direct: "It came together from parts of other tracks, but it was quite a spontaneous moment in the studio with a couple of days left. It came out of us playing in the room together with a melody in mind. That was it."
  • McVeigh expanded on the song's meaning to Artist Direct: "The basic narrative of the record is about a girl who leaves her hometown. It's implied it's somewhere in Europe, perhaps Eastern Europe. She moves to a big city, and it's implied the big city is in the States. She leaves her hometown thinking she's going to make this great new modern life for herself. Actually, it turns out that doesn't happen, and she moves back home. It's about her digging in the 'Goldmine,' trying to live the dream, and earn money. It's not working out though. She leaves a guy back at home, and it's also his view as well. That's my interpretation."

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