Black & Gold
Guillemots Lyrics

If the fish swam out of the ocean
Imagining an impossible event, of fish out of their natural habitat

And grew legs and they started walking
A further impossible event, of fish adapting to a new environment

And the apes climbed down from the trees
Another impossible event, of a species defying their instincts and habitat

And grew tall and they started talking
Another imaginative scenario, of apes adapting to communicate like humans

And the stars fell out of the sky
An impossible event, of celestial bodies leaving their place in the universe

And the tears rolled into the ocean
A metaphorical use of ocean to describe a flood of emotions

And now I'm looking for a reason why
Personal reflection on the significance of these imaginative events

You even set my world into motion
Acknowledgement of someone's impact on a person's life

'Cause if you're not really here
A conditional statement based on the state of a person's presence

Then the stars don't even matter
The importance of someone's presence over other things that are considered grand and awe-inspiring

Now I'm filled to the top with fear
The emotional state of being without someone's presence

But it's all just a bunch of matter
A philosophical thought that everything is made of atoms and molecules

Then I don't want to be either
The sentiment of wanting to be with someone rather than being alone

I wanna be next to you
The desire and need to be with someone who matters

I look up into the night sky
Observation of the sky, which has been mentioned earlier in the song

And see a thousand eyes staring back
A poetic description of stars in the sky

And all around these golden beacons
The imagery of stars as beacons of light in a dark sky

I see nothing but black
The void beyond the stars as perceived by the human eye

I feel the weight of something beyond them
The presence of something greater than the human experience

I don't see what I can feel
The limitations of the human vision in perceiving something greater than oneself

If vision is the only validation
The notion that one's reality is only based on what one can see

Then most of my life isn't real
The acknowledgment that there are things beyond what we can see and perceive

Black and gold, black and gold, black and gold
The repetition of the title, perhaps signifying the importance of the colors for the artist

Black and gold
The two contrasting colors, perhaps symbolizing the different emotions and states of being mentioned in the song