Death Cab for Cutie - 'Gold Rush' (Official Video)

The new album ‘Asphalt Meadows’ out 9/16/22.


Director: Alex Southam

They’re digging for gold in my neighborhood
Where all the old buildings stood
And they keep digging down, down
So that their cars can live underground
The swinging of a wrecking ball
Through these lath and plaster walls
Is letting all the shadows free
The ones I wished still followed me

Change, please don’t change
Stay, stay the same

I remember a winter’s night
When we kissed beneath the street lamp light
Outside our bar near the record store
That have been condos for a year or more
And now that our haunts have taken flight
And been replaced with construction sites
Oh how I feel like a stranger here
Searching for something that’s disappeared

They’re digging for gold in my neighborhood
For what they say is the greater good
But all I see is a long goodbye
A requiem for a skyline
It seems I never stop losing you
As every dive becomes something new
And all our ghosts get swept away
It didn’t used to be this way

Change, please don’t change
Stay, stay the same
Cranes devour the light
Strange appetites

I’ve ascribed these monuments
A false sense of permanence
I’ve placed faith in geography
To hold you in my memory
I’m sifting through these wreckage piles
Through the rubble of bricks and wires
Looking for something I’ll never find

They’re digging for gold in my neighborhood
Where all the old buildings stood
And they keep digging down, down
So that their cars can live underground
It seems I never stop losing you
As every dive becomes something new
And all our ghosts get swept away
It didn’t used to be this way

[RangerHouston]

The lines "I've ascribed these monuments. A false sense of permanence. I've placed faith in geography, To hold you in my memory" really hit me. I lost my dad when I was 6 and everyday for work I pass by the old bus station he would always use to visit me and where I have some of the very few memories of him.

[stevegibbs]

"Requiem for a skyline" that line is painfully poetic.

[kaytam]

The writings of Ben Gibbard will survive as poetry that goes on to live through ages.

[kylelauterhahn]

Finally, a wistful love song about a place, and not about a person!

[DufDavis]

This song was playing on the radio as I was driving in to the UPenn hospital in Philadelphia to see my pancreatic cancer surgeon. I didn't know who did it but it stuck to me. After I got home I looked at the radio station's playlist and found the song here on youtube and proceeded to listen to it for about an hour straight. Cancer can propel you to have intense moments and Gold Rush brings that on.

[Mr.Obiology]

What a serious lyrical genius. He is the master of taking the ordinary and making it beautifully poetic. Bless you DCFC

[dilatedbeholder]

This song is something else. Really helps me reminisce about my old local pub in the UK that me and all my mates would hang out when we were younger. When it finally got knocked down it felt like my youth was over. Treasure the good times always.

[alexniznik]

Im an Urban planning student and we study the impacts of gentrification on the existing residents of these neighborhoods. This song conveys this sense of loss better than any journal article could ever dream of. Thank you.

[RespecTheLevYT]

This is real art dude, I don't get how this didn't blow up more

[iiyrbhavocii]

this is such a banger, I’ll check back in 2030 🤯

[songOmatic]

It's like Bittersweet Symphony with more colour! Love it. Times they were a changin'... Just walking down and enjoying the beauty of a lively street.

The narrative is there...and the lyrics are well written and wordy. That's what I appreciate about it.

[Perdoname_Mikkwwy-Opp]

Conocí esta musica por Fifa 19 y me encanta, por la nostalgia y por lo buena que es

[santrollencio]

0:20 40’s
0:43 50’s
1:02 beginning of the 60’s
1:24 transition between 60’s and 70’s
1:37 70’s
1:50 transition between 70’s and 80’s
2:00 80’s
2:20 90’s
2:40 2000’s
2:54 2010’s

God I used to be so cringe back in the day

[deeveeuhs]

“And if you feel just like a tourist in the city you were born then it's time to go”.

[hen]

Literally drove around the City with a tear in my eye when it came over the radio. I love how the repetition of 'Gold Rush' sounds like miners digging in a mine throughout the song. So many poignant levels to this.

[seeit]

This song is perfection in that feeling that your youth faded without you realizing it.

[Cyanideism]

Been listening to the old stuff and the new stuff for years. The reason I enjoy this band is the emotional melody, lyrics and vibes, this song does not disappoint.

[davidj.hancockjr.]

I never liked this band before. but... they released this song at a time where I felt the most desperate and hurt. It gave me comfort where I has thought there was none. Their style of music is something that I did not understand or gravitate to. This song helped me realize that I wanted to go on living. I find it strangely wonderful in the comfort that I get from listening to it. I just hope that this song has the same impact that is has on me to help others who deal with mental health issues like I have to. It may be the feeling of nostalgia that it gives me, but sometimes it is just that easy to make to make a person feel better. Those simple things can make a huge difference. Thank you Death Cab for giving me a song that I can blast and sing along to. Especially when singing can feel like it is so hard to do.

[iangetz]

Am I the only one to notice the incredible progression of decades of fashion in the people he encounters from start to finish? The 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and on can all be seen. So many beautiful layers to this dirge lamenting a precious past since lost. I have sincere respect for this art.

[kristianadeleon]

I played this song on repeat as I went on the Alaskan Way Viaduct for the last time and I had all the feels. Clearly Death Cab's way of saying farewell to a swiftly changing Seattle.