Formed in 1961, the band was active for 60 years, almost non-stop. They had 56 years of studio output, starting in 1965, which made them the world's longest surviving rock band, formed a year before The Rolling Stones, until their tragic end on 5 February 2021, when guitarist founding member George Kooymans revealed that he had been diagnosed with the neuro-muscular disease, ALS.
The band's core line-up of four was unchanged from 1970 to 2021, although extra musicians had short stints in the band in the 1970s. Golden Earring was always touring, except in 2000 (their only sabbatical year) and the final year of their existence, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 1961 George Kooymans (age 13) and his neighbour Rinus Gerritsen (age 15) formed The Tornado's in the Zuiderpark district of their home town of The Hague, The Netherlands. The band's first line-up mainly played The Shadows and The Ventures covers, as well as other instrumental tunes, and played its first gigs at school parties.
In 1963, as the band found out that there already was a British band called The Tornados, they decided to change their name into The Golden Ear-rings (after a Peggy Lee song). The band now performed around The Hague, soon had a devoted local following and landed a record deal with Polydor. Their début single, 1965's Please Go, immediately landed in the Dutch Top 10.
Under the Golden Earrings moniker the band eventually recorded four albums and had twelve hit singles in the Netherlands between 1965 and 1969, ten of which reached the Dutch Top 10. Several of their records were released internationally in Europe and even North America, although they failed to make an impact there.
One of the band's sixties singles became their first Dutch #1 hit: 1968's somewhat carnavalesque Dong-Dong-Diki-Digi-Dong, although that tune is now frowned upon by the band and generally regarded as inferior to other sixties Earrings gems, such as That Day (1966, the first Dutch pop single to have been recorded in the U.K., at London's Pye Studios), Sound Of The Screaming Day (1966) and the epic Just A Little Bit Of Peace In My Heart (1969).
The band's lead singer during the early Golden Earrings years was Frans Krassenburg. He was replaced by Barry Hay (ex-The Haigs) in 1967. The band's drummer for much of the 1960s was Jaap Eggermont. His successors were Sieb Warner (1969) and, in 1970, Cesar Zuiderwijk (ex-Livin' Blues), Golden Earring's definitive drummer.
The band's international career modestly started to take off in 1969, the year of their psychedelic Eight Miles High album, their first haphazard tour of the United States and also the year in which the band name was slightly changed into The Golden Earring and finally (dropping the article within a year), Golden Earring. On their early U.S. tours, their long, wild cover version of The Byrds' classic Eight Miles High impressed audiences and press alike. Golden Earring's 19-minute album version, as well as the stand-alone 1969 single, Another 45 Miles, were the first Golden Earring recordings to get some North American airplay.
The arrival of drummer, Cesar Zuiderwijk, in 1970, completed what would turn out to be the group's definitive line-up: Barry Hay (lead vocals/guitar/flute), George Kooymans (guitar/vocals), Cesar Zuiderwijk (drums) and Rinus Gerritsen (bass/harmonica/keyboards).
1970 saw a dramatic shift in Golden Earring's musical style. After the melodic, often Beatle-esque sixties beat of The Golden Earrings and a brief phase of psychedelia and hippie rock in 1968 and 1969, the single Back Home marked the birth of Golden Earring's trademark heavy, riff-based brand of hard rock with catchy hooks. Back Home hit #1 in the Dutch charts and 'broke' Golden Earring in most of Europe, notably countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France.
This marked the start of a decade of domestic and international glory. Between 1966 and 1976 seventeen consecutive Earring singles rocketed into the Dutch Top 10, while their international popularity increased, especially after their lengthy 1972 tour of Europe, supporting The Who. Buddy Joe (1972) achieved considerable chart success in the German-speaking countries of Europe, but 1973's Radar Love was their breakthrough smash hit worldwide: #13 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, #1 in the U.S. Cashbox chart, #5 in Britain, #8 in Australia, #10 in Canada, #5 in Germany, #6 in Belgium, #1 in Spain and also #1 in (last but not least) Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), to name but a few.
Radar Love remains an enduring 'car classic' and radio anthem of global fame to this day. Between 1969 and 1985 Golden Earring completed ten major tours of North America, building a considerable North American fanbase, as well as five headlining tours of Great Britain in 1973 and 1974 alone. Golden Earring toured as 'special guests' of The Who, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, .38 Special, Rush and many more, whereas bands like Aerosmith, KISS, ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd opened for Golden Earring. The album that spawned Radar Love, 1973's Moontan, was certified 'Gold' by North America's RIAA in 1974 and sold millions of copies worldwide.
The band failed to achieve similar chart success in the years after Radar Love: the progressive Switch (1975) and To The Hilt (1976) charted in Billboard's album charts, but yielded no major U.S. hits. The singles were clearly not what North American audiences wanted from the 'Radar Love guys'.
Golden Earring was forgotten by many outside of The Netherland and by 1980 even Dutch audiences started to lose interest: albums such as No Promises, No Debts (1979) and Prisoner Of The Night (1980) were commercial flops, leading to the band's decision (in 1981) to record a 'final LP and then call it quits.
The lead single from 1982's 'farewell album', Cut, a Kooymans-penned tune called Twilight Zone, surprisingly became an even bigger hit in the U.S. than Radar Love: #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks, thanks to heavy MTV rotation of the Dick Maas-directed video. The song (#1 in The Netherlands) revived Golden Earring's stateside career overnight. The Cut LP was certified 'gold' in Canada, with Twilight Zone hitting #3 in the Canadian charts.
In their native Netherlands the band did manage to extend their creative and commercial peak this time: the single When The Lady Smiles and the album N.E.W.S. ('NorthEastWestSouth'), both released in 1984, repeated the success of Twilight Zone and Cut. 'Lady' peaked at #3 in Canada, but fared disappointingly in the U.S. as MTV and even radio stations banned the track because of its controversial video, once again directed by Dick Maas, in which the rape of a nun was suggested.
After 1985 things rapidly went downhill for Golden Earring internationally (they would not tour the U.S. again), but - after a creative and financial crisis that lasted throughout the second half of the 1980s - the band wrote one of their most enduring Dutch hits in 1991 (the power-ballad, Going To The Run, which fared partially well in Russia) and discovered a new gold mine in their home country a year later: acoustic concerts in theatres, the concept of MTV Unplugged.
To everybody's surprise, the band's acoustic live album, The Naked Truth, slowly became their all-time biggest selling album in The Netherlands. Its sequels, Naked II (1997) and Naked III (2005) also went platinum at least once in The Netherlands.
Golden Earring's by far most succesful album internationally remains 1973's Moontan, which sold well over 3.5 million copies outside of The Netherlands and was certified 'gold' in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom (and platinum in the U.S. in later years).
Golden Earring released 25 studio albums, 9 live albums and countless succesful compilations. Almost all of these records were certified gold, often platinum, in The Netherlands. More than anything else, though, the band remained a live force of legendary status in their home country and beyond. They toured throughout each year until the very end, almost exclusively in the Netherlands, although there are still occasional live appearances in Belgium and Germany. 2009 saw Golden Earring's long overdue return to the United Kingdom: their sold out shows in Ipswich and London's Shepherd's Bush Empire were their first live appearances in England since 1978.
In 2011 the band recorded their first album of new material since 2003's Millbrook U.S.A.: Tits 'n Ass - studio album #25 for the Dutch legends - was released on 11 May 2012 on Universal Music and hit #1 in the Dutch album charts one week after its release to become Golden Earring's 8th #1 album in their home country. Certified 'gold' in The Netherlands, the album was generally believed to be Golden Earring's final studio outing, but December 2015 saw the release of a five-track mini album entitled The Hague, released more than fifty years after their début single and just before the band's sold out 'Five Zero' anniversary concert at Amsterdam's Ziggo Dome in front of a 17,000-strong crowd. 2019 saw the release of a stand-alone single, Say When: Golden Earring's final studio recording.
Nobody was aware of it at the time, but the band's 16 November 2019 performance at the Rotterdam Ahoy would turn out to be their final concert. After a year of Covid-19 lockdowns, guitarist George Kooymans announced his ALS diagnosis on 5 February 2021, the disease rendering him unfit to perform. Within hours, the band admitted that carrying on without Kooymans was unthinkable. In the words of lead singer, Barry Hay: "This is the end of the line for the band. It's a death blow. We always said: we'll keep going until the first one of us goes down. I never expected it to be George."
The band's final performance was released as a live CD and DVD in April 2022, named after Barry Hay's final words at the end of countless Golden Earring shows: You Know We Love You!.
Studio albums (released as Golden Earring, unless noted otherwise)
Just Ear-rings (1965, as The Golden Earrings or The Golden Ear-rings)
Winter-Harvest (1967, as Golden Earrings, sometimes spelled as Winter Harvest)
Miracle Mirror (1968, as Golden Earrings)
On The Double (1969, as Golden Earrings)
Eight Miles High (1969, as The Golden Earring)
Golden Earring (1970, colloquially known as 'Wall Of Dolls')
Seven Tears (1971)
Together (1972)
Moontan (1973)
Switch (1975)
To The Hilt (1976)
Contraband (1976, U.S. title: Mad Love)
Grab It For A Second (1978)
No Promises... No Debts (1979, spelled as No Promises, No Debts on most online platforms)
Prisoner Of The Night (1980)
Cut (1982)
N.E.W.S. (1984)
The Hole (1986)
Keeper Of The Flame (1989)
Bloody Buccaneers (1991)
Face It (1994)
Love Sweat (1995, covers album)
Paradise In Distress (1999)
Millbrook U.S.A. (2003)
Tits 'n Ass (2012)
The Hague (EP, 2015)
Live albums
Live (1977)
2nd Live (1981)
Something Heavy Going Down (1984, includes one new studio track)
The Naked Truth (1992, acoustic)
Naked II (1997, acoustic)
Last Blast Of The Century (2000)
Naked III (2005, acoustic, incorrectly listed as Naked Truth III on some streaming platforms)
Live In Ahoy 2006 (2006, live DVD + CD set)
You Know We Love You! (2022, live DVD + CD set)
Additional information:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Earring
Official website: https://www.golden-earring.nl
Why Me
Golden Earring Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's disappointment time again, I've been up here before
The wind balloons my jacket, seabirds collide below
A pier stands on a hundred stilts, some stranded UFO
I've stopped the car, in a dead end street
Rear view mirror, nothing but empty seats
I could brace myself, smash through the concrete
Find what's behind that wall of insecurity
Selena, what a drag
Once we were, back to back
Almost there, but white was black
Why me, designed to compete
Always, flirtin' with defeat
Why me, I knew it when we met
Hell, what else could you expect
Why me, hungry for affection
It ends, with chaos and rejection
Through the wall and over the cliff
I made the decision, you took quite a risk
Selena says, as she strokes my head
With luck like yours, you should be dead
Forget the past and melt my silver spoon
Selena, not a minute too soon
Broke the chains of negativity
At last I score a victory
Why me, no need to compete
Nowadays, I think at defeat
She's me, I felt it when me met
That feel, cancels all regret
Me, the center of attraction
The end, adds to your confusion
I'm standin' on the cliff top, waving, waving
Why me, no need to compete
Nowadays, I wink at defeat
She's me, I felt it when we met
That feel, cancels all regret
Still me, the center of attraction
The end, adds to your confusion
I'm standin', on the cliff top
Waitin' for the cops
The lyrics of Golden Earring's song "Why Me?" describe a sense of disappointment and insecurity within the singer. The singer observes the storm clouds and seabirds from the cliff top, thinking about the uncertain future. As the song continues, the singer reflects on past relationships, specifically with Selena, who was once his partner. He talks about the struggles and chaos that ensued from that relationship, causing him to question why he was designed to compete and always flirting with defeat. However, towards the end of the song, the singer has a new partner who makes him feel understood and accepted, and as a result, he winks at defeat instead of competing with it.
The song has a melancholic tone, with the singer's musings about past relationships and the uncertainty of the future. The description of the storm clouds and the birds colliding below add to the sense of foreboding. The use of imagery, such as the pier standing on a hundred stilts like a stranded UFO, adds more depth to the lyrics. Ultimately, the song ends on a hopeful note as the singer finds someone who makes him feel understood.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm standing on the cliff top, watchin' storm clouds grow
I am standing on a high point observing the storm clouds that are gathering in the sky.
It's disappointment time again, I've been up here before
I am familiar with the feeling of disappointment that the current situation brings about as I have been in this scenario before.
The wind balloons my jacket, seabirds collide below
The wind is causing my jacket to swell and expand, and below me, seabirds are colliding with each other due to the strong winds.
A pier stands on a hundred stilts, some stranded UFO
In front of me is a pier standing on hundreds of stilts, giving off the impression of being a stranded UFO.
I've stopped the car, in a dead end street
I have parked my car in a street which is a dead end.
Rear view mirror, nothing but empty seats
Looking into the rearview mirror, I can see only empty seats in the car.
I could brace myself, smash through the concrete
I can gather the courage to break through the concrete and face any challenges that come my way.
Find what's behind that wall of insecurity
I can overcome my insecurities by digging deep to understand their root cause.
From gin and jags, to squalor and scab
I have gone from enjoying alcoholic drinks and indulging in vices to living in squalor and being covered in scabs.
Selena, what a drag
I feel that Selena is a burden and is bringing me down.
Once we were, back to back
In the past, Selena and I used to rely on each other and be close allies.
Almost there, but white was black
We were close to the finish line, but something made our situation turn sour, making everything feel black.
Why me, designed to compete
I am always questioning why I am the one who has to compete in every situation, as if it is part of my innate nature.
Always, flirtin' with defeat
I always seem to be in situations where I am flirting with the possibility of losing or experiencing defeat.
Why me, I knew it when we met
I had a feeling that something might not be quite right between Selena and me from the very beginning.
Hell, what else could you expect
Given the circumstances, what else could I have expected other than things turning out the way they did?
Why me, hungry for affection
I always seem to be looking for affection and attention from others.
It ends, with chaos and rejection
My relationships always seem to end in chaos and rejection, causing me much distress.
Through the wall and over the cliff
I am charged up and ready to break through the wall of my limitations and soar over the edge of the cliff without looking back.
I made the decision, you took quite a risk
I have chosen to take a bold decision, and it seems that Selena has taken a risk by betting on me.
Selena says, as she strokes my head
As Selena comforts me by petting my head, she speaks to me.
With luck like yours, you should be dead
Considering my stroke of luck in life up until now, Selena is surprised I am still alive.
Forget the past and melt my silver spoon
I need to wipe the slate clean and forget my privileged past.
Selena, not a minute too soon
Selena has arrived and stepped in just in time to help me.
Broke the chains of negativity
With Selena's help, I have finally been able to break free from the chains of negativity that had been holding me back.
At last I score a victory
Finally, I have scored a significant victory, breaking through some long-standing obstacles in my life.
Nowadays, I think at defeat
These days, I am not as bothered by the possibility of defeat, as I have more faith in my abilities to emerge victorious.
She's me, I felt it when me met
Deep down, I recognize that Selena and I share many similarities, and the connection was evident from when we first met.
That feel, cancels all regret
The intense feeling that I have for Selena seems to wipe away any regret I may have had in the past.
Me, the center of attraction
I am at the forefront of attention and making things happen for myself.
The end, adds to your confusion
The end is near, and it may be causing Selena some confusion as to how everything will finally play out.
I'm standin' on the cliff top, waving, waving
I am standing on the edge of the cliff, waving and beckoning what's to come.
Nowadays, I wink at defeat
I am at a point in my life where I can wink or brush off the possibility of defeat, as I am more confident in myself and my abilities.
Still me, the center of attraction
I am still the focus of attention and making positive things happen in my life.
Waitin' for the cops
I am awaiting the arrival of the police.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ERWIN KOOYMANS, FREDERIKKE VEDEL, KEVIN MALPASS, MAX PREECE, NICK WOODBRIDGE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
glenn campbell
I've got 11 earring albums from my early days. I play them to people who only know radar love and they get blown away how good they are. Proud to be an earring fan
Ronnie Wall
GLENN CAMPBELL LIKE THE GUY FROM THE MISUNDERSTOOD?
Ronnie Wall
SAME HERE. I THINK RADAR LOVE HURT THEM.
VANILLA QUEEN IS SUCH A COOL SONG.
Robert Bailey
I have listening to Golden Earring, since I started my first job back in East Manchester, uk In 1972, this Dutch group, are one of the best in the history of modern music, they are original and have in my opinion
one of the best guitarists that has ever performed !
I saw them back in 2017 in West Frezland, in the North of Holland, at the Dicky Woodstock outside music festivals! They were out of this world, even as an live band, they are shit hot, the best I have seen anywhere on the planet !
Arnold Evertsen
This song and album is great. Pure musicianship. The same on contraband with Eelco. But this is much more adventurous
Linda Jones
Superb! Moontan was their best album imo, but I always loved To The Hilt. Still have many of GE's vinyl albums including this one, sensational band. Many thanks for this.
Max Classen
César is a superb drummer
martianshoes
I saw them open for the Doobies in ‘73.
He leaped over his drums at the end of the set..and he was thunderous, had a great foot.
Lars-Göran Myrland
Loved them over 40 years. To The Hilt is their peak.
Steven Vickery
I bought it when it first came out and really didn't like it, but the more I listened to it, the better it sounded. I especially like it with headphones at maximum volume. Violins is a great song