Freda Payne, “Band of Gold” | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 101^st edition of Throwback Vibez (2022), we recollect and reflect on “Band of Gold” by Freda Payne.   

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome – we don’t discriminate ‘round here! In the 101^st edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2022), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “Band of Gold”, performed by 🎙 Freda Payne. 

Theme & Lyrics ✍

“Now that you’re gone / All that’s left is a band of gold / All that’s left of the dreams I hold / Is a band of gold / And the memories of what love could be / If you were still here with me.” Woo! Versatile singer and actress 🎙 Freda Payne earned the biggest hit of her career with her 1970 single, 🎵 “Band of Gold”.  “Band of Gold” appeared on Payne’s album of the same title. It was written by 🎼 ✍ Ron Dunbar and 🎼 ✍  Edyth Wayne, with Edyth Wayne being a pseudonym for the legendary songwriting/production collective comprised of 🎼 ✍ Brian Holland, 🎼 ✍ Eddie Holland, and 🎼 ✍ Lamont Dozier.  “Band of Gold” was a pop hit, peaking at no. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and being certified gold by the RIAA.

“Band of Gold” is incredibly catchy, as exemplified by the excerpted chorus.  Furthermore, the music is groovy as albeit.  Vocally, Payne shows off her versatility without a hitch.  That said, what often draws the most interest with this song beyond its elite musicianship is the theme.  In the most general sense, literally right after becoming husband and wife, the marriage is effectively over, like, oh snap! “We kissed after taking vows,” she sings in the first verse, continuing, ‘but that night of the honeymoon / We stayed in separate rooms.” That’s exactly why Payne is singing “All that’s left is a band of gold!” Similarly, the second verse testifies to this sus union: “I’d wait in the darkness of my lonely room / Filled with sadness, filled with gloom / Hoping soon / That you’d walk back through that door.”  What’s interesting is, this record is subject to multiple interpretations with two popular takes including the sexual inabilities of the man in the relationship, as well as the fact she may have married a gay man.

Final Thoughts 💭

There’s plenty of speculation and colorful interpretations regarding the theme of 🎵 “Band of Gold”.  What isn’t disputed is the fact that this is a fabulous, fabulous record.  It may be north of 50 years old but it’s still utterly superb!

🎙 Freda Payne • 💿 Band of Gold • 🏷 HDH / Invictus • 📅 1970

Freda Payne, “Band of Gold”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 101 (2022) [📷: Brent Faulkner, Gerhard G., HDH, Invictus, JL G via Pixabay,  Karl Hörnfeldt via Unsplash,  The Musical Hype]