Editing Golden Brown

{{Distinguish|Brown gold (disambiguation)}}
{{About||the colour|Golden brown (colour)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}

{{Use British English|date=March 2012}}
{{Infobox song
| name          = Golden Brown
| cover         = Golden Brown cover art.jpg
| alt           = 
| type          = single
| artist        = [[the Stranglers]]
| album         = [[La folie (album)|La folie]]
| B-side        = Love 30
| released      = {{Start date|1982|1|11|df=y}} (UK)<ref name="twomey">{{cite book|first= Chris |last= Twomey |year= 1992 |title= The Stranglers – The Men They Love to Hate |publisher= EMI Records Ltd |pages= 106–107}}</ref>
| recorded      = 
| studio        = [[The Manor Studio]] (Shipton-on-Cherwell)
| genre         = *[[New wave music|New wave]]<ref name="snatch">{{cite web|first= Diana |last= Potts |title= Original Soundtrack – Snatch |website= [[AllMusic]] |access-date= 24 June 2013 |url= http://www.allmusic.com/album/snatch-mw0000109918}}</ref>
*[[baroque pop]]<ref>{{cite news|first= David |last= McNamee |title= Hey, what's that sound: Harpsichord |newspaper= [[The Guardian]] |date= 4 January 2010 |access-date= 7 May 2016 |url= https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/dec/14/whats-that-sound-harpsichord}}</ref>
*[[psychedelic pop]]<ref name= "Stanley 2013">{{cite book|first=Bob |last=Stanley|title=Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop|chapter= Pleasantly Antagonistic: New Wave|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9emZAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT7|date=13 September 2013|publisher=Faber & Faber|isbn=978-0-571-28198-5|page=453}}</ref>
| length        = 3:30
| label         = [[Liberty Records|Liberty]] BP 407 (UK, 7-inch)
| writer        = *[[Hugh Cornwell]]
*[[Jean-Jacques Burnel]]
*[[Dave Greenfield]]
*[[Jet Black]]
| producer      = *[[The Stranglers]]
*[[Steve Churchyard]]
| prev_title    = [[Let Me Introduce You to the Family]]
| prev_year     = 1981
| next_title    = [[La folie (song)|La Folie]]
| next_year     = 1982
| misc          = {{Extra chronology
 | artist     = [[The Stranglers]]
 | type       = single
 | prev_title = [[Always the Sun]] (Sunny Side Up Mix)
 | prev_year  = 1991
 | title      = Golden Brown
 | year       = 1991
 | next_title = Heaven or Hell
 | next_year  = 1992
}}
{{External music video|{{YouTube|UZJFFStQemI|"Golden Brown"}}}}
}}

"'''Golden Brown'''" is a song by English [[rock music|rock]] band [[the Stranglers]], released as a 7-inch single on [[EMI]]'s [[Liberty Records|Liberty]] label in 1982. Noted for its distinctive [[harpsichord]] instrumentation, it was the second single released from the band's sixth studio album ''[[La folie (album)|La Folie]]'' (1981). The single peaked at No. 2 on the [[UK Singles Chart]], making it the band's highest-charting single in the country.<ref>{{cite book|first= David |last= Roberts |year= 2006 |title= [[British Hit Singles & Albums]] |edition= 19th |publisher= [[Guinness World Records|Guinness World Records Limited]] |location= London |isbn= 1-904994-10-5 |page= 535}}</ref> 

==Composition==
The main body of the song has a [[triple metre]] [[waltz]] rhythm, with beats grouped in threes, but the instrumental parts add an extra beat to create a phrase of thirteen beats.<ref name='goldradiouk'>{{cite web |title='Golden Brown' by The Stranglers: The making of the strange punk waltz|website=Gold Radio UK|publisher=Global|date=6 September 2021|url=https://www.goldradiouk.com/news/music/stranglers-golden-brown-lyrics-meaning-waltz/|access-date=21 December 2022}}</ref><ref name='allmusic'>{{cite web |title=Song Review by AllMusic|website=AllMusic|publisher=Netaktion LLC|url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/golden-brown-mt0014937095|access-date=21 December 2022}}</ref> The thirteen beats appear in the sheet music as alternating bars of {{music|time|6|8}} and {{music|time|7|8}},<ref name=musicnotes>{{cite web |url=https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0063905 |title=The Stranglers 'Golden Brown' |website=Musicnotes |date=20 March 2008 |access-date=21 December 2022}}</ref> which has also been described as three bars of {{music|time|3|4}} followed by one bar of {{music|time|4|4}}.<ref name=nomercy>{{cite book|first1=David|last1=Buckley|year= 1997 |title= The Stranglers - No Mercy: The Authorised and Uncensored Biography |publisher= Hodder & Stoughton|isbn= 0-340-68062-8}}</ref>{{rp|183}}<ref name="songbysong">{{cite book|first1= Hugh |last1= Cornwell |author-link1= Hugh Cornwell |first2= Jim |last2= Drury |year= 2001 |title= The Stranglers Song by Song |publisher= Sanctuary Publishing Ltd |isbn= 1-86074-362-5}}</ref>{{rp|217}} Sheet music of "Golden Brown" on musicnotes.com is published in [[B-flat minor]].<ref name=musicnotes/>

The music was largely written by keyboardist [[Dave Greenfield]] and drummer [[Jet Black]], with lyrics by singer/guitarist [[Hugh Cornwell]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Brown – Song Review |publisher= AllMusic |access-date= 9 July 2014 |url= http://www.allmusic.com/song/golden-brown-mt0015076815 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130711052333/http://www.allmusic.com/song/golden-brown-mt0015076815 |archive-date= 11 July 2013}}</ref> The music was adapted from an unused part of "Second Coming", a track which featured on their [[The Gospel According to the Meninblack|previous album]].<ref name=lafolie>{{cite book|first=Laura |last=Shenton  |year= 2022 |title= The Stranglers - La Folie |publisher= Wymer Publishing|isbn= 9781915-246028}}</ref>{{rp|43}}

According to bassist [[Jean-Jacques Burnel]], the song's atypical style for the group was intended to defy expectations: "The whole thing about that song is it really represented us sticking our fingers up to our detractors".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Brannigan |first=Paul Brannigan |date=2024-02-02 |title="Our new record label thought we were awful, and they hated Golden Brown. They said, you're finished": Jean-Jacques Burnel on why The Stranglers' best-known song was "a threat to the powers that be" |url=https://www.loudersound.com/news/jean-jacques-burnel-on-why-the-stranglers-best-known-song-was-a-threat-to-the-powers-that-be |access-date=2024-02-02 |website=Louder |language=en}}</ref>

===Lyrics===
In his 2001 book ''The Stranglers Song by Song'', Cornwell states: {{"'}}Golden Brown' works on two levels. It's about [[heroin]] and also about a girl... both provided me with pleasurable times."<ref name="songbysong"/>{{rp|215}}

==Release and reception==
Initially, the band's label was hesitant to release the song as a single. Burnel recalled, "We had to insist on it being released. We'd been taken over by EMI and they thought we were awful – and they hated 'Golden Brown'. They said: this song, you can't dance to it, you're finished".<ref name=":0" /> The label ultimately released the song during the Christmas season, leaving it to compete with [[Christmas music|Christmas songs]]. Burnel stated, "They thought, it's weak, it's gonna die, it's gonna drown in the tsunami of Christmas shit… but it didn't. It developed legs of its own, it became a worldwide hit".<ref name=":0" />

Originally featured on the group's album ''[[La folie (album)|La folie]]'', which was released in November 1981, and later on the US pressings of ''[[Feline (The Stranglers album)|Feline]]'' (1983), "Golden Brown" was released as a single in January 1982, and was accompanied by a music video. The single reached No. 2 in the official [[UK Singles Chart]] in February 1982.<ref name="UK" /><ref>{{cite web|title= Official Singles Chart Top 100: 14 February 1982 – 20 February 1982 |publisher= [[Official Charts Company]] |access-date= 7 March 2017 |url= http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19820214/7501/}}</ref> [[David Hamilton (broadcaster)|David Hamilton]], disc jockey on the [[Middle of the road (music)|middle-of-the-road]] and comparatively conservative [[BBC Radio 2]], made the single his "record of the week".<ref name="twomey" /> In a 2017 interview for Dutch television station Top 2000 a gogo, Hugh Cornwell said that he believed the song would have made it to the top spot if bassist Burnel had not told the press that it was about heroin, at which point broadcasters removed it from their playlists. "I would have waited till it got to Number 1 and <em>then</em> said it," he commented.<ref>{{cite web|title= Hugh Cornwell – Golden Brown (The Stranglers) – Het verhaal achter het nummer |publisher= Top 2000 a gogo |via= YouTube |date= 30 December 2017 |access-date= 21 January 2022 |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SioL8ba0Bo}}</ref> EMI instead blamed the single's failure to reach the top spot on sales of both the studio and live single releases of [[the Jam]]'s "[[Town Called Malice]]", the number one single at the time, being counted together.<ref name="500 Number One Hits">{{cite book |last=Rice |first=Jo |title=The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits |publisher=Guinness Superlatives Ltd |year=1982 |isbn=0-85112-250-7 |edition=1st |location=Enfield, Middlesex |pages=221–2}}</ref> The song also reached the Top 10 in Ireland, Flanders, the Netherlands, and Australia.

In 1995, Black, Burnel and Greenfield appeared with impressionist [[Rory Bremner]] on his satirical Christmas special performing a [[Parody in popular music|parody]] version of the song about future Prime Minister [[Gordon Brown]], who was then [[Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer]].<ref>{{cite magazine |date=December 1995 |title=Sound Bites |url=https://archive.org/details/strangled-vol-2-no-44-1995-12/page/3/mode/2up |access-date=1 November 2021 |magazine=Strangled |publisher=Stranglers Information Service |page=3 |volume=2 |issue=44}}</ref>

In a 2012 [[BBC Radio 2]] listener poll of the nation's favourite singles to have peaked at number two, "Golden Brown" ranked fifth.<ref>{{cite web|title= Ultravox's Vienna tops 'number two' poll |work= [[BBC Online]] |date= 1 January 2013 |access-date= 1 January 2013 |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20881216}}</ref>

In January 2014, ''[[NME]]'' ranked the song at No. 488 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".<ref>{{cite magazine|first= Emily |last= Barker |title= The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time – 500–401 |magazine= [[NME]] |date= 31 January 2014 |access-date= 28 July 2016 |url= https://www.nme.com/photos/the-500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-500-401-1421945}}</ref>

==Music video==
[[File:The Stranglers - Golden Brown.jpg|thumb|200px|Two shots from the music clip of "Golden Brown": the band performing the song in Leighton House and as explorers]]
The video for "Golden Brown" was directed by Lindsey Clennell.<ref>{{cite web|title= Lindsey Clennell |publisher= [[British Film Institute]] |access-date= 9 May 2020 |url= https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba1394227|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210515033609/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba1394227|url-status= dead|archive-date= 15 May 2021}}</ref> It depicts the band members as explorers in [[Egypt]] in the 1920s and performers for a fictional "Radio [[Cairo]]".

The video is intercut with [[stock footage]] of the [[Giza pyramid complex]], the [[Po-i-Kalyan|Mir-i-Arab Madrasah]] in [[Bukhara]], the [[Shah Mosque (Isfahan)|Shah Mosque]] in [[Isfahan]], the [[Great Sphinx of Giza|Great Sphinx]], sailing [[felucca]]s, [[Bedouin]]s riding camels, and [[camel racing]] in the [[United Arab Emirates]]. The performance scenes were filmed in the [[Leighton House Museum]] in [[Holland Park]], London, which was also featured in the video for "[[Gold (Spandau Ballet song)|Gold]]" by [[Spandau Ballet]] in 1983.<ref>{{cite web|title= Filming and Photo Shoots |publisher= [[Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea]] |access-date= 22 July 2022 |url= https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/museums/filming-and-photo-shoots-leighton-house|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220722100901/https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/museums/filming-and-photo-shoots-leighton-house|archive-date= 22 July 2022}}</ref>

==Track listing==
Songs, lyrics and music by the Stranglers.

===7-inch: Liberty / BP 407 (UK)===
'''Side one'''<ref name="BEL"/>
#"Golden Brown" – 3:28

'''Side two'''<ref name="BEL"/>
#"Love 30" – 3:57

===1991 7-inch: Epic / 656761 7 (UK)===
'''Side one'''<ref name="BEL"/>
#"Golden Brown" – 3:29

'''Side two'''<ref name="BEL"/>
#"You" – 3:09

===1991 Reissue – CD-Maxi: Epic / 656761 2 (UK)===
#"Golden Brown" – 3:31<ref name="BEL"/>
#"You" – 3:08
#"[[Peaches (The Stranglers song)|Peaches]]" – 3:59
#"[[Skin Deep (The Stranglers song)|Skin Deep]] (12-inch Version)" – 7:09

==Charts==
===Weekly charts===
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (1982)
!Peak<br/>position
|-
|Australia ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref>{{cite web|title= Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – CHART POSITIONS PRE 1989 |publisher= Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien |access-date= 9 July 2014 |url= http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=21533&pages=}}</ref>
|align="center"|10
|-
{{single chart|Flanders|7|artist=The Stranglers|song=Golden Brown|access-date=9 July 2014|refname="BEL"}}
|-
|France ([[Institut français d'opinion publique|IFOP]])<ref>{{cite web|title= Le Détail par Artiste |website= InfoDisc |access-date= 17 May 2016 |url= http://www.infodisc.fr/Tubes_Artistes_S.php |id= Select "Stranglers" from the artist drop-down menu |language= fr}}</ref>
|align="center"|73
|-
{{single chart|Germany|63|artist=The Stranglers|song=Golden Brown|songid=14675|access-date=9 July 2014}}
|-
{{single chart|Ireland2|3|song=Golden Brown|access-date=1 July 2014}}
|-
{{single chart|Dutch40|8|year=1982|week=11|access-date=9 July 2014}}
|-
{{single chart|Dutch100|10|artist=The Stranglers|song=Golden Brown|access-date=9 July 2014}}
|-
{{single chart|UK|2|date=19820213|access-date=9 July 2014|refname="UK"}}
|}

{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (1991)<sup>1</sup>
!Peak<br/>position
|-
{{single chart|Ireland2|25|song=Golden Brown|access-date=1 July 2014}}
|-
{{single chart|UK|68|artist=Stranglers|song=Golden Brown (1991)|date=19910324|access-date=9 July 2014|refname="UK1991"}}
|}

'''Remix'''

{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (2013)
!Peak<br/>position
|-
{{single chart|UK|98|artist=Stranglers|song=Golden Brown|date=20130616|access-date=24 December 2018|refname="UK2013"}}
|}

===Year-end charts===
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Year-end chart performance for "Golden Brown"
! Chart (1982)
! Position
|-
! scope="row"| Australia ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref name="aus82">{{cite web|title= National Top 100 Singles for 1982 |publisher= [[Kent Music Report]] |via= [[Imgur]] |issue= 445 |date= January 3, 1983 |access-date= January 22, 2023 |url= https://i.imgur.com/iP7HHqt.jpg}}</ref>
| 95
|}

==Certifications==
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Stranglers|title=Golden Brown|award=Platinum|relyear=2004|certyear=2021|id=2579-805-1|access-date=4 May 2021}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}

==Cover versions and samples==
In 1996, British hip hop group [[Kaleef]]'s re-working of the song reached number 22 on the UK Singles Chart.<ref>{{cite web|title= Kaleef |publisher= [[Official Charts Company]] |access-date= 9 July 2014 |url= http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/2483/KALEEF/}}</ref>

In 1997, a cover version by soul singer [[Omar Lye-Fook|Omar]] reached number 37 in the UK.<ref>{{cite web|title= Omar |publisher= Official Charts Company |access-date= 9 July 2014 |url= http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/25480/OMAR/}}</ref>

In 2007, British singer [[Jamelia]] released the single "[[No More (Jamelia song)|No More]]", which heavily samples "Golden Brown".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/jamelia-don-t-call-me-a-celebrity-416946.html|title=Jamelia: Don't call me a celebrity|website=Independent|last=Mugan|first=Chris|date=2 September 2006|access-date=13 March 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://open.spotify.com/album/6mUrMQ5zqa9roedhQpMO1J?si=w49Rcz7XQVujoQ9YuqFFHg|title=Jamelia - No More (mixes)|website=Spotify|date=9 March 2007|access-date=13 March 2024}}</ref>

In 2012, Cornwell sang a [[mariachi]] version of the song, backed by Mexican-British band Mariachi Mexteca (later known as the Mariachis).<ref>{{cite news |last=Goodman |first=William |date=14 August 2012 |title=Check out 'Golden Brown' performed with a mariachi band |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/check-out-golden-brown-performed-with-a-mariachi-band/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124162310/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/check-out-golden-brown-performed-with-a-mariachi-band/ |archive-date=January 24, 2024 |access-date=24 January 2024 |newspaper=CBS News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy8Y3R4dXyc|title="Golden Brown" - Mariachi Mexteca (now known as The Mariachis) feat. Hugh Cornwell|date=18 July 2012|via=YouTube}}</ref>

In 2020, British [[YouTube]]r and saxophonist Laurence Mason's cover of "Golden Brown" in the style of [[Dave Brubeck]]'s "[[Take Five]]" was viewed over a million times, leading to a commercial release via [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]] and [[iTunes]] and as a [[Phonograph record|vinyl]] single under the title ''Take Vibe EP''.<ref>{{cite web |date=2 October 2020 |title=Single of the Week: The Take Vibe E.P. |url=http://www.djdmac.com/blog/single-of-the-week/single-week-take-vibe-e-p/ |url-status=dead |access-date=1 January 2021 |work=DJ D-Mac & Associates}}</ref> The vinyl release stayed two weeks in the top 40 of the [[Official Vinyl Singles Chart]], peaking at No. 24.<ref>{{cite web|title= Official Vinyl Singles Chart Top 40: 23 October 2020 – 29 October 2020 |publisher= [[Official Charts Company]] |access-date= 19 February 2021 |url= https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/vinyl-singles-chart/20201023/897/}}</ref> By 2025, the video had received more than 11 million views.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qs1J612nZs|title=Dave Brubeck - Golden Brown|date=11 May 2020|via=YouTube}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/s/stranglers/golden_brown_crd.htm Guitar Tablature]
*[https://www.wow-vinyl.com/thesingle.asp?c=4&d=147 Golden Brown – The Story Behind the Song] at ''Wow-Vinyl''
*{{discogs master|134269|type=single}}

{{The Stranglers}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:1981 songs]]
[[Category:1982 singles]]
[[Category:1997 singles]]
[[Category:The Stranglers songs]]
[[Category:Omar Lye-Fook songs]]
[[Category:Baroque pop songs]]
[[Category:Liberty Records singles]]
[[Category:Songs about heroin]]
[[Category:Songs written by Jet Black]]
[[Category:Songs written by Hugh Cornwell]]
[[Category:Songs written by Jean-Jacques Burnel]]
[[Category:Songs written by Dave Greenfield]]