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"Concrete and Gold" is the closing song of the Foo Fighters ninth studio album and also serves as the record's title track. Asked about the disc's name by BBC Radio 6 Music, frontman Dave Grohl said:
"There's sort of a theme within the eleven songs that goes from beginning to end, so this is kind of the resolve of the entire record. The chorus says, 'I have an engine made of gold, something so beautiful. The world will never know. Our roots are stronger than you know. Up through the concrete we will grow.' It's kind of beautiful."
The song features an unlikely collaboration with Boyz II Men's Shawn Stockman, whose powerful vocals are layered to create a towering choir.
Asked by BBC radio presenter Matt Everitt what was the weirdest moment the band experienced making the record, frontman Dave Grohl replied:
"The guy from Boyz II Men walking through the parking lot and me saying, 'Oh dude, will you sing on our record?' And he does. On the heaviest song on the entire record. It sounds like if (Black) Sabbath and Pink Floyd made their… It's the last song on the record, with the guy from Boyz II Men, his name's Shawn, singing and it's like 40 vocals stacked."
Concrete and Gold was produced by Greg Kurstin, the man behind hits for the likes of Kelly Clarkson ("What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger)"), Adele ("Hello") and Sia ("Cheap Thrills.") Dave Grohl told The Guardian:
"Four years ago a song came on the radio called 'Again & Again,' by The Bird and the Bee. I became obsessed. Three months later I was in Hawaii and I see the guy from The Bird and the Bee. I said: 'I don't want to interrupt, but I'm such a huge fan and you're a genius.' I asked about a new Bird and the Bee record and he said he had to finish producing Sia, Pink, Beyoncé and Adele. I had no idea he was a producer too! Then, while Foo Fighters were taking our break – which was basically just us making a record in secret – I asked the guys what they thought about Greg Kurstin. I played them Adele, Sia and Beck, and the guys were like: 'Are you sure?'
I thought if we made the biggest-sounding Foo Fighters record sonically, but we incorporated Greg's sense of melody and composition, we could make something that sounds like Slayer making Pet Sounds. And the crazy thing is, we actually did what we set out to do. Nobody wants to say 'this is the best album we've ever made,' but when you hear it, you'll be surprised. It does not sound like something we've done before."
This track's lush seven-part harmonies add a lavish twist to a sound Dave Grohl described to Q magazine as "The Beatles colliding with Motorhead." He said: "I just wanna make Lenmy proud. He'd understand, like on the 50 guitars on Make It Right. I think we pulled it off."
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