Launched on 13th November 1989, Fools Gold marked a musical shift for The Stone Roses. The biggest band of the moment, it was also their biggest single hit of that era and went into the top 10 of the UK charts.

The song is iconic and attributed to “starting the Nineties”.

For some time it was one of our least favourite tunes from the band. But we now view it as a funky groove monster of a song. One that caught the excitement of that era with a band at the peak of its powers.

The Funky Swagger of Fools Gold Launched the 1990s

Back in 2008 we were living in Fallowfield (of Manchester) as a kind of post-uni gap year. We met a bunch of new people really into their music, but none of them had properly listened to The Stone Roses.

One of them said this was because he’d heard Fools Gold and presumed that type of music just wasn’t his cup of tea. To be clear, the song is far removed from what the band had just done on The Stone Roses (their eponymous debut album). It was a marked shift away from their iconic sound, in fact, and saw the band trying something a bit new.

Compare it to their previous single Standing Here and it was a step away from indie pop type numbers.

But it’s important to stress Fools Gold’s impact in late 1989.

It’s attributed with kickstarting the 1990s, ushering in a new era of cool in the form of Britpop. We were kids when that all exploded and liked Blur a great deal, but never did take to Oasis. The era did create some interesting music, though, with the Roses laying the foundations for that.

To think of Fools Gold represent the band’s sound is wrong, though, so it’s best to approach the number as a one-off. Even if the track embraced the band’s dance-rock, acid house rhythm section Reni and Mani were always nodding towards.

Also, this was a double A-side single. What the World Is Waiting For launched with Fools Gold as a double-whammy of the band’s stunning creative output in 1989.

A nod, then, to the more jangly guitar, upbeat type of music they’d been pelting out over the last few years. But the inclusion of Fools Gold alongside it suggest the band had big things in mind for the future.

Fools Gold’s Lyrics, Meaning, and Themes

As with many of the band’s songs, what this is about is up for debate. It was written by Ian Brown and John Squire. The former said it was based on the Humphrey Bogart movie The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

“Three geezers who are skint and they put their money together to get equipment to go looking for gold. Then they all betray each other. That’s what the song is about.”

The term “fools gold” means a flashy but worthless investment. That’s a good indication of what the lyrics are all about.

The gold road’s sure a long road,
Winds on through the hills for fifteen days.

The pack on my back is aching,
The straps seem to cut me like a knife.

I’m no clown, I won’t back down,
I don’t need you to tell me what’s going down.

Down, down, down, down, da-down, down, down.
Down, down, down, down, da-down, down, down.

The lyrics then shift into the central enigmatic theme of it all.

I’m standing alone,
I’m watching you all,
I’m seeing you sinking.

I’m standing alone,
You’re weighing the gold,
I’m watching you sinking,
Fool’s gold.

A lot of the debut album was an attack on the avarice of capitalism.

As well as making a giant middle finger to the UK’s Conservative (Tory) government and monarchy system. The gist of Fools Gold is a “told you so” anthem calling for a revolution—all whilst sounding cool and funky as hell.

It doesn’t outright say “Fuck the Tories”, but along with tracks such as the chillout Shoot You Down it’s close enough to it.

The Conservatives did eventually get booted out of government in 1997, but since 2010 we’ve had them back again causing chaos. Once again, The Stone Roses’ music remains as pertinent as ever.

And Fools Gold is a track we’ve come to love (over time).

Not as instantly accessible as the band’s other music, and perhaps an acquired taste not for everyone, but it’s a funky groove monster we can get well behind.

The Two Single Versions of Fools Gold, an Official Music Video, and Making Of Footage

There were two versions of the song, one almost at 10 minutes. The other a single release 7″ single at just under 5 minutes.

On the 20th anniversary of the eponymous debut album, the special edition launch brought with it footage of the band recording the song. They did that at Sawmills Studios (Cornwall) in mid-late 1989.

You can see/hear the single version above. We couldn’t find any information on where the music video shoot was, but the footage was doubled up for the I Wanna Be Adored single as well. This was a band always on a budget, so makes sense (but it’s in stark contrast to the Silvertone Records Sally Cinnamon video that landed everyone in a whole lot of bother).

Really… where the hell are they? In a desert? Well, it turns out it’s the volcanic landscape of Lanzarote, Canary Islands.

If you’ve seen the behind the scenes footage for the debut album, it’s no big surprise what was going on here—young guys arsing around, having fun, but also making an iconic track.

A lot of the time it’s as if they don’t quite know what they’re about to unleash on the world.

Behind this malarkey you’ve got some serious thinkers with well read minds who, at that point in late 1989, had arguably hit creative genius. They were pelting out classic after classic, seemingly with no effort.

The band’s habit of arsing around is kind of how a lot of guys behave in general. Goofing around to mask intellectualism? Well, it’s all amusing to watch.

Reni’s Drumming Take on James Brown’s Hot Pants for Fools Gold

The drumming for Fools Gold was Reni’s take on Hot Pants by James Brown. For a long time it was believed to be Funky Drummer, but as it turns out it wasn’t (although they are pretty similar pieces of funk drumming).

Clyde Stubblefield, a hell of a drummer in his own right, was the man in action on James Brown’s most celebrated moments.

The Stone Roses stood out in the late ’80s as they acknowledged the emerging dance scene in their rhythm section. Mani is a great bass player, but the driving force of it was their genius drummer who could adapt to any style necessary.

And the funk he jammed into this track made it the band’s most danceable number.

As you can hear in isolation below, Fools Gold is a homage to funk drumming. Reni also added bongos over the top to make it a percussion masterclass.

Unfortunately, the song’s popularity has kind of typecast Reni as a drummer.

We’re still baffled the wider drumming community seems at a loss to who he is—major publications rarely mention him and YouTube channels such as Drumeo have no idea at all.

It reminds us when the band reformed and toured America. They headlined the major Coachella festival in 2013 and we remember the amount of people on Twitter baffled by who the band was.

Of Reni, the band’s first bassist (Pete Garner, who sadly passed away recently at 59) noted this.

“Reni was so much better than any drummer in a little band, like another level. He’d learned his craft. Everyone else I knew in bands had started like we did and you work at it, but he was already…. he’d been doing gigs when he was a kid. Those early gigs basically people would just lock onto him, it was pretty mindblowing really. Now, he’s gone down in history as the hat and the Fools Gold riff but most people have not seen Reni drum like he can drum. Later on in the band he toned it down. Those early gigs it was always him people would talk about afterwards, ‘Where did you find that fucking drummer!?'”

The band’s reformation helped redress the balance a bit. But if you’re still not in the know, and you love your drummers, we urge you delve further as Reni was effortlessly the best drummer of his generation.

The Stone Roses Mime Their Way Onto Top of the Pops (A Brief History of Their Lip Synced Performances)

On 30th November 1989 both The Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses appeared on Top of the Pops, marking a double-whammy for the Madchester era.

The baggy clothes generation was real! Another Sixties summer of love beckoned and the band brought with them a sense of youthful optimism.

However, not helping his case with what we were on about before with the drummer (see above section), Reni looks bored out of his mind during this appearance.

We’ve never seen him as subdued as that before.

For another mimed performance, this time over in Japan, the band seemed a bit more excited about things. Except in the (very rare) interview afterwards, they then revealed they weren’t excited about things. So there we go.

The band never did like dealing with the press. One of their press conferences even ended in a riot back in 1990 as they stonewalled the journalists before their Spike Island festival.

And this attitude continued on into their reformation, as the band gave exactly one interview (October 2011) and then never again before disbanding for good in June 2017.

Then there’s this stunning rarity!

The joys of the internet mean this type of thing suddenly pop up out of nowhere, plucked from obscurity. And it’s a 1989 mimed run on Dutch TV.

It was common back then for bands to lip sync, for some reason, and on this occasion the band put in another blinding non-performance! Good on them.

Notable Live Fools Gold Performances

The song is at its best live (at least in our opinion). The swagger and danceability of the number are unmistakable. And the band at their peak here in 1990 makes that Finland video a vital historic record.

We also think Fools Gold was the highlight of the band’s reformation.

Our opinion of the song did a total about-face in 2012. When we finally got to see The Stone Roses live at Heaton Park (they unexpectedly reformed! Happy days!) they turned the song into a 15-minute groove monster.

Shane Meadows captured the performance of this for his Made of Stone documentary. It was included to round off the end of the film.

Hearing that live in a giant Mancunian field was very impressive indeed. Hell of a groove! And it remained a highlight of their live set going forward.

Other songs didn’t work quite as well for the reformation, but this one did and the band leant into its power very effectively. John Squire went full God mode with this one.