Back in the 1996 AD, rave music producers Darren Styles and DJ Force came together to write and produce music for an obscure. yet new genre referred to as Happy Hardcore. They had previously worked together in a different group known as DJ Force & The Evolution, but now they were on to something great, something that would really get the ravers of the mid to late 90s going, something to get a listener to experience euphoria… and it was a series of banging but melodic songs released from 1996 to 2000.

There is one song that I want to focus today, despite the others being just as journey as this one is. It’s titled “Heart of Gold.” The producers being Darren Mew (Styles) and Paul Hobbs (Force.) The vocalist being Jenna Barr, whose name was proudly printed on the decal of all the vinyl records of the song. Also a man named Mark Yates, who pitched in with some sound design for the track.

Now to talk about the actual song. For the first 20 seconds, all you hear is this high pitched synth bell over warm synth pads. Then a kick put through a delay effect occurs with the vocalist singing “You have a heart of gold.” This happens for another 20 seconds until a highstring in the background is heard. This goes on for another 20 seconds as well. Then a snare builds up layered with 4 crash symbols to drive us into the kick drum that forces us to bounce on our feet for every 1/4th beat it plays. The kick has been put through slight distortion for a taste of grunginess and this was common to have that distorted kick in early Happy Hardcore songs. Aside from the kick, there is a lead synth to provide some bass after each kick.

At 1 minute a 38 seconds in the song, the kick and bass stops to let us hear the vocalist sing “You have a heart of gold. A precious tune through which I was sold, but I just can’t justify you love. It hurts to see you walk away, and I’d like to ask you back to stay. To hold you in my arms just one more time.” This first verse just opens up with lyrics that when closely looked at, an emotional story is shown. The next few follow the same story with “Another day has passed me by. Our shattered dreams, the tears we cried, and a feeling that I lost my world to you.” analyzing these melancholy lyrics, one must wonder why did they write them. It’s because Happy Hardcore isn’t just all about the happy stuff. There can be some ups and downs to the songs. The third verse follows the same course “For a thousand years here I could stand. Your precious stone held in my hand. But I just can’t justify your love.” That’s it for the lyrics. Of course “heart of gold” gets repeated throughout the song along with “It hurts to see you…”

The rest of the song is mixture of these first few song elements making the high exciting parts and the low resting parts. Some new elements are introduced in the middle of the song like a pan flute playing the high melody in the low resting parts of the song, and heavily distorted guitar playing the chords of the song, layered with the flute melody. The song has a lot of variety to it, making it a timeless listen. Though not as popular with today’s youth, it still has a place in the hearts of those who’ve listened and love the song.