"We nailed New Gold Dream right away. Derek was playing this really fast pumping bass and it meant nothing, and just before that I'd been doing this guitar riff thing and it meant nothing either. Then by accident we put the two together and Jim went off his nut, he went 'Yeeees! Fucking brilliant' Then we just went for it right away." - Charlie.

"It was like a festival - we pictured it as being something like Kraftwerk, motorway music. Up in Fife, once we got a cassette version of it, we recorded it onto the audio channel of a video cassette of Jean-Michel Jarre in China, and it was great watching him do his concerts in China with Festival Riff coming out." - Pete Walsh.

When it came to recording the song, Mike Ogletree and Mel Gaynor recorded their drum parts simultaneously at four o'clock in the morning.

The final song lasted ten minutes. Pete Walsh edited it down to produce the extended mix and album mix. More of the orginal track can be heard on the DVD-Audio version of the album.

The dates were added at the last moment. "After an album obsessed by fear we'd made an album looking to the future. In spite of everything. That explains the years to come. Also, 1984 was taboo. New Gold Dream went against that. It said: let's hear the news, good or bad" - Jim.

"For many, the New Gold Dream album remains our finest work. The song and the album certainly mark the point where artistically, everything fell into place" - Jim

"We were struggling. We had the backing track. One of the big influences on us was a genre music called Kraut Rock - it's not one of the most flattering terms - it was essentially these German garage bands namely Neu, Can and another called La Dusselldorf, and basically they'd hit on a chord and repeat it and repeat it - until you actually felt the thing was moving. And New Gold Dream was an exercise in that. Again the lyrics were coming from this idea - I suppose we felt there was some sort of alchemy going on in our band and we felt we'd used our influences and with our influences we'd cooked up something of our own. And I think New Gold Dream is about that - and the title track itself is also in a way about that." - Jim, Sunday Herald interview, 2008.

New gold dream, She is the one in front of me, the siren and the ecstasy. New gold dream, Crashing beats and fantasy, setting sun in front of me. New gold dream, And the world goes hot, And the cities take, And the beat goes crashing, All along the way. She is your friend until the ocean breaks. And when you dream, dream in the dream with me, And when you dream, dream in the dream with me. 81 - 82 - 83 - 84. 81 - 82 - 83 - 84. New gold dream, Sun is set in front of me, worldwide on the widest screen. New gold dream, Burning bridge and ecstasy, crashing beats and fantasy. Dream in the dream with me. And the world goes hot, And the cities take, And the beat goes crashing, All along the way. She is your only friend until the ocean breaks. And when you dream, dream in the dream with me, And when we dream, dream in the dream with me, 81 - 82 - 83 - 84. 81 - 82 - 83 - 84. New gold dream, The siren and the ecstasy, she's the one in front of me. New gold dream...

Edit (4:46) Producer: Pete Walsh Arrangement: Pete Walsh Engineer: Pete Walsh
Album Version (5:38) Producer: Pete Walsh Arrangement: Pete Walsh Engineer: Pete Walsh
German 12" Remix (6:52) Producer: Pete Walsh Arrangement: Pete Walsh Engineer: Pete Walsh
German 12" Remix Extended (7:01) Producer: Pete Walsh Arrangement: Pete Walsh Engineer: Pete Walsh
Live Version (12th, 13th August 1986) (5:29) Recorded: Le Zenith, Paris, France Producer: Bruce Lampcov Mastered by: Bob Ludwig Head Engineer: Steve Riddle Additional mixing: Callum Malcolm and Tom Cadley
Live Version (5th Jan 85) (12:32) Recorded: Barrowlands, Glasgow, UK Mastered by: Simon Heyworth
DVD-Audio Extended Mix (6:07) Producer: Pete Walsh DVD-Audio Producer: Ronald Prent
Live Version (3:54) Recorded: Black And White Tour 2006 Mixed By Jez Coad
Live Version (3rd November 2009) (7:24) Recorded: Arena, Vienna, Austria Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (5th November 2009) (7:33) Recorded: Saschall, Florence, Italy Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (6th November 2009) (7:15) Recorded: Neon Concept Club, Ancona, Italy Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (7th November 2009) (7:28) Recorded: Atlantico, Rome, Italy Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (8th November 2009) (7:02) Recorded: Gran Teatro Di Padova, Padova, Italy Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (18th November 2009) (7:12) Recorded: La Riviera, Madrid, Spain Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (19th November 2009) (7:29) Recorded: Kursaal, San Sebastian, Spain Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (23rd November 2009) (7:08) Recorded: Solnahallen, Stockholm, Sweden Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (24th November 2009) (7:20) Recorded: Sentrum Scene, Oslo, Norway Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (26th November 2009) (7:26) Recorded: Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (27th November 2009) (6:54) Recorded: Sporthalle, Hamburg, Germany Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (28th November 2009) (7:06) Recorded: Forest National, Brussels, Belgium Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (30th November 2009) (7:06) Recorded: Metro Arena, Newcastle, UK Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (2nd December 2009) (7:05) Recorded: NEC, Birmingham, UK Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (3rd December 2009) (7:28) Recorded: MEN, Manchester, UK Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (5th December 2009) (7:07) Recorded: Arena, Sheffield, UK Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (6th December 2009) (6:52) Recorded: CIA, Cardiff, UK Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (7th December 2009) (6:36) Recorded: Arena, Wembley, UK Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (9th December 2009) (6:40) Recorded: 02, Dublin, Ireland Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (10th December 2009) (7:09) Recorded: Odyssey, Belfast, Northern Ireland Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (11th December 2009) (6:59) Recorded: SECC, Glasgow, UK Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (12th December 2009) (7:06) Recorded: AEC, Aberdeen, UK Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (17th December 2009) (6:44) Recorded: Popcentrum, Tilburg, Netherlands Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (18th December 2009) (7:11) Recorded: Autostadt Piazza, Wolfsburg, Germany Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (10th June 2011) (5:32) Recorded: Bedgebury Pinetum And Forest, Gouldhurst, Kent, UK Mixed By Concert Live
Live Version (16th June 2011) (5:23) Recorded: Hampton Court Palace Festival, London, UK Mixed By Concert Live
Live Version (25th June 2011) (5:20) Recorded: Cannock Chase Forest, Near Rugeley, Staffordshire, UK Mixed By Concert Live
Live Version (16th July 2011) (5:39) Recorded: City Rocks, Inverness, UK Mixed By Concert Live
Live Version (31st July 2012) (5:13) Recorded: Villa Bellini, Catania, Sicily Recorded by: Olivier Gerard Mixed by: Olivier Gerard Engineered by: Rudy Coclet
Live Version (29th March 2013) (5:30) Recorded: Sands Centre, Carlisle, UK Mixed By Concert Live
Live Version (6th April 2013) (5:11) Recorded: Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, UK Mixed By Concert Live
Live Version (15th April 2013) (5:26) Recorded: O2 Academy, Bournemouth, UK Mixed By Concert Live

Live Version (20th Nov 1982) (5:16) Recorded: Newcastle City Hall, Newcastle, UK Live Engineer: Pete Walsh

Live Version (16th Feb 06) (5:08) Recorded: Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium Recording Engineer: Patrick Demoustier Mixed By Jez Coad, Charlie Burchill and Andy Gillespie
Live Version (8th July 06) (4:56) Recorded: Werchter Classic 8, Werchter, Belgium
Live Version (3rd November 2009) (7:24) Recorded: Arena, Vienna, Austria Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (5th November 2009) (7:33) Recorded: Saschall, Florence, Italy Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (6th November 2009) (7:15) Recorded: Neon Concept Club, Ancona, Italy Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (7th November 2009) (7:28) Recorded: Atlantico, Rome, Italy Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (8th November 2009) (7:02) Recorded: Gran Teatro Di Padova, Padova, Italy Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (18th November 2009) (7:12) Recorded: La Riviera, Madrid, Spain Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (19th November 2009) (7:29) Recorded: Kursaal, San Sebastian, Spain Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (23rd November 2009) (7:08) Recorded: Solnahallen, Stockholm, Sweden Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (24th November 2009) (7:20) Recorded: Sentrum Scene, Oslo, Norway Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (26th November 2009) (7:26) Recorded: Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (27th November 2009) (6:54) Recorded: Sporthalle, Hamburg, Germany Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (28th November 2009) (7:06) Recorded: Forest National, Brussels, Belgium Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (30th November 2009) (7:06) Recorded: Metro Arena, Newcastle, UK Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (2nd December 2009) (7:05) Recorded: NEC, Birmingham, UK Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (3rd December 2009) (7:28) Recorded: MEN, Manchester, UK Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (5th December 2009) (7:07) Recorded: Arena, Sheffield, UK Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (6th December 2009) (6:52) Recorded: CIA, Cardiff, UK Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (7th December 2009) (6:36) Recorded: Arena, Wembley, UK Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (9th December 2009) (6:40) Recorded: 02, Dublin, Ireland Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (10th December 2009) (7:09) Recorded: Odyssey, Belfast, Northern Ireland Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (11th December 2009) (6:59) Recorded: SECC, Glasgow, UK Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (12th December 2009) (7:06) Recorded: AEC, Aberdeen, UK Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (17th December 2009) (6:44) Recorded: Popcentrum, Tilburg, Netherlands Mixed By Concert Online
Live Version (18th December 2009) (7:11) Recorded: Autostadt Piazza, Wolfsburg, Germany Mixed By Concert Online