“Close to Gold” is the first track of Hippo Campus' second publicly available EP, South. It refers to the lead singer Jake Luppen’s own personal experiences with religion, as he used to be a member of the Mormon Church. The song was performed in 2013, long before its public release:
[Verse 1: Jake]
And I could not tell by the power of
The prophet spit fire all through your blood
If Jesus had brothers like I do here
Then walking on water is a blissful fear
[Verse 2: Jake]
The demons and lions bow their heads in shame
The devil appeared and the Bible came
You baptize my grief with a kiss of grace
Then cut off my ears and I feel no pain
[Verse 3: Jake]
The pictures are plagued with amazing grace
And Mary held liquor, so passionate
I kill a man, with fists, so he knew me well
[Chorus: Jake]
It's like home, it's like home, it's like home, hey
It's like home, it's like home, it's like home, hey
It's like home, it's like home, it's like home, hey
It's like home, hey
It's like home, hey
It's like home, it's like home, it's like home, hey
[Bridge: Jake]
I've seen it all
It's poetry, it's poetry, it's close to gold
It's poetry, it's poetry, it's close to gold
It's gold, it's gold, it's gold
I've seen it all
It's poetry, it's poetry, it's close to gold
It's poetry, it's poetry, it's close to gold
It's gold, it's gold, it's gold
I've seen it all
It's poetry, it's poetry, it's close to gold
It's poetry, it's poetry, it's close to gold
It's gold, it's gold, it's gold
[Outro: All]
And I could not tell by the power of
The prophets spit fire all through your blood
If Jesus had brothers like I do here
Then walking on water is a blissful fear
Close to Gold was written by Lupin & brotherkenzie & Whistler Isaiah & Mono Moon & Hippo Campus.
Close to Gold was produced by Alan Sparhawk.
Hippo Campus released Close to Gold on Fri Oct 02 2015.