Good As Gold

“People who mind don’t matter
People who matter don’t mind at all
Oh oh, Oh oh
So do what you want
Be who you wanna be
Go where you want to
Who you wanna see
Just be yourself
You’re good as gold”

Good as Gold – Katie Thompson

It’s time to get back to home grown roots (and let’s be honest, the Kiwi music dedicated last blog of the month is always my favourite), and what better way then to give a nod to with fresh faced singer Katie Thompson. I should have blogged about this song ages ago, as Katie was kind enough to send me a free copy of her track just for following her on Twitter – cheers Katie! But who wouldn’t follow a sweet Kiwi chick who embraces the Kiwi spirit in one song and gives our music industry some country flair?

Our New Zealand chicks seem to love creating music about the ways in which New Zealand cultures works. Good as Gold, much like Jamie McDell’s song You’ll Never Take That Away on which I blogged about in May, is really about not caring what people think and doing your own thing – who cares if you’re having a glass of wine in the middle of the day as long as you are surrounded by those who mean a lot to you. And, really, who can argue with a song in which the chorus reminds us of that Dr Seuss quote we were always been told as kids?

I wonder if this need to incorporate these lyrics of wisdom with a nice, upbeat melody is because people need to be reminded to be themselves. Over the past few months I feel I have repeated the be yourself / do what you want / no one else should matter / people don’t need to care about what you think message a numerous amount of times, because it is so predominant in songs. Do we live in a society where we need to be constantly reminded to be themselves? Well, yes, because if you can’t think of a time you’ve hesitated about doing something because of what your peer thought, you’d be lying to yourself. So is it up to our musicians to remind us of this?

Honestly, I don’t have an answer. I like songs that remind us to be ourselves, because I think it is an important message. But if you want to take a step back and just enjoy a sweet, happy song by one of our lovely Kiwi lasses, then do it. After all, do what you want and be who you wanna be.