I’m glad that Goon chose “Pink and Orange” as the title for the opening track on their 2022 album Hour of Green Evening,because pink and orange are two colours that don’t get the attention they deserve.
With the exception of one token day a year – Halloween and Valentine’s Day – these two noble colours are shamefully overlooked, remembered either as either a relic of 1970s décor (Orange) or a gendered stereotype (Pink).
But they are colours that deserve some love. Here in Canada they are hues of the underdog: the anti-bullying Pink Shirt Day tradition started in Nova Scotia in 2007, and a few years later Orange Shirt Day was first recognized, going on to symbolize the push in Canada for truth and reconciliation between the country’s government and its indigenous population.
So break out of your usual palette with this modest and lovely instrumental number.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. The synth is a very 1970s orange kind of sound.
2. The light shaker percussion is a very soft pink kind of sound.
3. Listen carefully and you’ll hear more instruments a bit further back in the mix: guitar, bass, and a variety of other colours just under the surface, barely audible before the track’s abrupt ending.
Recommended listening activity:
Wearing colours that clash and not really caring.