Rocky Votolato is an American musician. He was born in rural Texas in 1978,… Read Full Bio ↴Rocky Votolato is an American musician. He was born in rural Texas in 1978, though was raised in the Pacific Northwest. When his former band Lying on Loot disbanded in 1996, Rocky Votolato, along with friends Rudy Gajadhar (drums) and Andrew Hartley (bass), started playing under the name Waxwing. Rocky's younger brother Cody (The Blood Brothers) soon joined the band on second guitar, and the band recorded their debut 7" for Henry's Finest Recordings. In 1999, Second Nature Recordings released their first full-length, entitled 'For Madmen Only'. Blending straight-up rock with elements of post-hardcore, and Cody's metal reminiscent guitaring, Waxwing soon established a strong local following. It was a feat built upon with their two succeeding albums 'One For the Ride' (2000) and 'Nobody Can Take What Everybody Owns' (2002).

In 1999, Rocky Votolato branched out from his work with Waxwing, having written a handful of songs which did not really fit in with their more aggressive, fast tempo syle. Along the way he has toured with the likes of Damien Jurado, Small Brown Bike, The Get Up Kids, The New Amsterdams, Owen and The Casket Lottery, members of the latter having provided assistance as backing musicians on occasion. His studio albums have also been littered with appearances from some of Seattle's finest musicians (including players in the bands Red Stars Theory, Sharks Keep Moving, The Blood Brothers, Death Cab for Cutie, Pedro the Lion and Sub Pop solo artist Rosie Thomas). On the production side, Votolato has worked with Matt Bayles (Pearl Jam, Botch, Murder City Devils, Hayden), along with Chris Walla (of Death Cab for Cutie). It is a creative input which has helped see Rocky progress sylistically with every release, from his low key self-titled album released in 1999 - all pretty much recorded live, right through to his recent, alt-country, folk-esque offering, 'Makers'. A video was shot for the first track of Makers, "White Daisy Passing", a song which also appears on the soundtrack of the forthcoming Seattle indie feature film Cthulu.

Rocky also starred in the film 'The Edge of Quarrel', which he worked on with Dave Larson from Excursion Records. It also includes members of the Murder City Devils and Botch, and is about a gang war between straightedgers and punk rockers.

He is married with two children, and lives in Seattle.

Fool's Gold
Rocky Votolato Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Like dead leaves floating on
Black river water
Voices carried by the current under the surface
It holds the whispers down until it
Suffocates the sound
Of any voice of reason
You're not even listening

You're chasing fool's gold
Chasing fool's gold

Everybody knows that illusion is a prison
Leave it underground
Where you found it
Fool's gold, leave it alone

Like looking for the morning water's reflection
Looking for the truth in a holy translation
When the moonlight is shining in the sky
The keys hide behind your eye
You reach out through smoke, you try to hold
To a broken mirror
It disappears

It's a fool's gold
Chasing fool's gold
Leave it alone

What you do with you time
It screams so loud
I can't hear a single word come out of your mouth

You can't see that hook hiding under the shining of--

You're chasing fool's gold
Chasing fool's gold
Chasing--
Keep on searching
One day you'll be free

Keep on searching
One day you'll be free

Overall Meaning

In this verse from Rocky Votolato's song "Fool's Gold," he uses imagery to represent the futility of chasing after things that are not valuable or real. The dead leaves floating on the black river water and the whispers carried by the current under the surface represent the things we chase after in life that are not tangible, but seem to hold value to us. However, in reality, they are just illusions that suffocate any voice of reason we may have. Despite this, we continue to chase after these illusions, like chasing after fool's gold, even though we know that they are not real.

Votolato also uses metaphors to describe the quest for truth and enlightenment. He talks about looking for the morning water's reflection, which is an impossible task since it is constantly changing, much like the constantly shifting nature of truth. He also references a "holy translation," which could refer to religious or spiritual texts that people turn to for guidance and truth. However, he suggests that these texts can be misinterpreted or misunderstood, leading us further away from the truth.

Line by Line Meaning

Like dead leaves floating on Black river water
Like lifeless objects floating on murky waters

Voices carried by the current under the surface
Whispers drowned by the overpowering noise

It holds the whispers down until it Suffocates the sound
The sound of reason is suppressed and choked

Of any voice of reason You're not even listening
Rejecting the sound advice of those trying to help

You're chasing fool's gold Chasing fool's gold
Pursuing something worthless and illusory

Everybody knows that illusion is a prison Leave it underground Where you found it Fool's gold, leave it alone
Acknowledging that the deceptive trappings of life are not worth pursuing and to let go of them

Like looking for the morning water's reflection Looking for the truth in a holy translation
Desperately searching for a semblance of truth

When the moonlight is shining in the sky The keys hide behind your eye
In the midst of illumination, the answer to one's problems is elusive

You reach out through smoke, you try to hold To a broken mirror It disappears
Trying to grasp hold of something that is not there

What you do with you time It screams so loud I can't hear a single word come out of your mouth
Actions speak louder than words, rendering them meaningless

You can't see that hook hiding under the shining of-- You're chasing fool's gold Chasing fool's gold Chasing--
Blinded by the tempting veneer of the foolish pursuit

Keep on searching One day you'll be free Keep on searching One day you'll be free
Keep striving to find a true purpose in life and eventually achieve freedom from the illusion

Contributed by Joseph H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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