Released: October 1, 2001

Songwriter: Duke Erikson Steve Marker Butch Vig Shirley Manson

Producer: Garbage

[Verse 1]
If I am silent, then I am not real
If I speak up, then no one will hear
If I wear a mask, there's somewhere to hide

[Chorus 1]
Silence is golden
I have been broken
Safe in my own skin
So nobody wins

[Verse 2]
If I raise my voice, will someone get hurt?
And if I can't feel, then I won't get touched
If no truths are spoken, then no lies can hide

[Chorus 2]
Silence is golden
I have been broken
Safe in my own skin
So nobody wins
Silence is golden
Nobody gets in
Safe in my own skin
So nobody wins

[Bridge]
Did you hear me speak?
Do you understand?
Did you hear my voice?
Will you hold my hand?
Do you understand me?

[Outro]
Won't someone listen?
Nobody gets in
My body's a temple
But nothing is simple
Silence is golden
I have been broken
Something was stolen
Safe in my own skin
Safe in my own skin
Won't someone listen?
My body's a temple
But nothing is simple
My body's a temple
But nothing is simple
Something was stolen
I have been broken
I have been broken
Silence is golden
I have been broken
Safe in my own skin

Garbage

Garbage is a Scottish-American Alternative rock band, formed April 8th 1994. Once producer Butch Vig decided to break out of the rock he had been producing ever since Nirvana’s Nevermind, he got together with his college/studio partners Duke Erikson and Steve Marker to write some demos that would basically be remixes in song form. Once someone commented that “it sounds like garbage”, Vig decided to embrace the name. Then they invited Scottish singer Shirley Manson after seeing her on MTV, and the band’s sound was completed with sly, dark and snarky lyrics delivered in a sultry way.

The band’s eponymous debut album was a surprise hit upon release in August 1995, selling more than 4 million copies worldwide. Follow-up Version 2.0 (1998) was equally successful, even receiving a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. Then the band recorded “The World Is Not Enough” to the eponymous James Bond movie, and the record industry started to bring the band down.

Beautiful Garbage (2001) was barely promoted due to a release too close to the 9/11 attacks, and underperformed at the charts. Fourth album Bleed Like Me (2005) had a troubled production where bandmembers were frequently arguing, and eventually the album’s tour was cut short and Garbage disbanded for 2 years, only regrouped in 2007 to record new tracks for greatest hits compilation Absolute Garbage.