Subways Of Your Mind: Difference between revisions

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(Replaced ""Key Findings in the Search"" H2 by "Key Milestones:" since it conveys the same meaning but with less text.)
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|Search_community = ''various'' (mostly [https://reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong r/TheMysteriousSong])
|Search_community = ''various'' (mostly [https://reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong r/TheMysteriousSong])
}}
}}
'''The Most Mysterious Song On The Internet''' (also known as '''Like The Wind''', '''Blind The Wind''', '''Check It In, Check It Out''', '''Take It In, Take It Out''', and '''The Mysterious Song''') is the name given to an unidentified song, recorded by Darius S. It was recorded sometime around 1983-1984 from the North German radio station "Norddeutscher Rundfunk," or NDR for short.
'''The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet''' (also known as "'''Like the Wind'''", "'''The Sun Will Never Shine'''", "'''Blind the Wind'''", "'''Check It In, Check It Out'''", "'''Take It In, Take It Out'''", and "'''Summer Blues''') is an unidentified song recorded by Darius S. It was recorded between 1982 and 1984 at the North German radio station "Norddeutscher Rundfunk," also known as NDR.


== Origins and Search ==
== Origins (1980s-2004) ==
Around 1982 to 1984, Darius recorded the song off radio and onto a cassette tape, leaving out DJ chatter, and thus important info, for a cleaner recording. This recording was copied onto several mixtapes, and the original source tape remains lost.   
Between 1983 and 1984, Darius S, a teenage music fan from Wilhelmshaven, Germany, taped a radio program on a BASF Chromdioxid II 90 cassette tape<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/eny5lg/year_of_basf_cassette/</ref> from the North German public radio station Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). The tape included new songs from XTC and the Cure. He believes he recorded the song in 1984 based on the release dates of other songs on the tape and the Technics tape deck he had at the time.<ref>https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/most-mysterious-song-on-the-internet-885106/</ref> The synthesizer used in the song is a Yamaha DX7, which was released in May 1983.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/j05psy/just_a_video_for_those_who_dont_think_that_the/</ref>  


On March 18, 2007, Darius' sister Lydia asked for help, posting the song on the websites best-of-80s.de and [https://spiritofradio.ca/SongComments.asp?SongID=1737 Spirit of Radio.]  
Darius' older sister, Lydia H, bought him a website domain for his birthday in 2004, which he used to raise awareness about the 25 unidentified songs in his personal collection. He then digitized his radio recordings, saving the songs as alif and m4a files, and uploaded them to his website, Unknown Pleasures, which is named after the 1979 album of the same name by English rock band Joy Division.<ref>https://www.spontis.de/musik/most-mysterious-song/</ref>  


In April 2011, redalfo uploaded the song to his YouTube channel, with title [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qus5eOALnMY “Unkonow Song - Cancion Desconocida - Track Id.”]   
== Early Search (2007-2017) ==
On March 18, 2007, Lydia requested assistance by posting the song under the pseudonym "Anton Riedel" on the websites best-of-80s.de<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20190706172927/http://www.best-of-80s.de/80er-80s-musiksuche-sound-search-27/gesucht-80er-indie-wave-song-15895/</ref> and spiritofradio.ca<ref>https://spiritofradio.ca/SongComments.asp?SongID=1737</ref>  where user Jugge suggested that it sounded like "Statues in Motion" or "Metro Decay".


In July 2017, the song was uploaded to WatZatSong by user [https://www.watzatsong.com/en/name-that-tune/511126.html azthriller.]  
The song spread around the internet, first posted to WatZatSong on December 17th, 2009 by user Konstantinos,<ref>https://www.watzatsong.com/en/name-that-tune/31435.html</ref> and on April 16th, 2011, Spanish user Redalfo first uploaded the song to YouTube.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qus5eOALnMY</ref>  


In 2019, Gabriel Pelenson started the search in earnest, posting the song to many Song Identification and investigative subreddits, including [https://reddit.com/r/helpmefind r/helpmefind], [https://reddit.com/r/rbi r/rbi], and [https://reddit.com/r/tipofmytongue r/tipofmytongue], as well as creating a new subreddit [https://reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong r/TheMysteriousSong]. Not long after, on July 12th, u/Johnnymetoo posted a complete version of the song, downloaded from one of Lydia's earlier posts before the post was removed.
The search received a surge of popularity in 2017, with it being reuploaded several times to WatZatSong that year<ref>https://www.watzatsong.com/en/name-that-tune/489269.html</ref><ref>https://www.watzatsong.com/fr/name-that-tune/530509.html</ref><ref>https://www.watzatsong.com/en/name-that-tune/511126.html</ref><ref>https://www.watzatsong.com/en/name-that-tune/520694.html</ref> and on September 17, 2017, the Spanish independent record label Dead Wax Records uploaded Anton's snippet of the song to YouTube, which would catch the attention of the person who would finally bring the search to mainstream attention.  


On July 9th, 2019, [https://www.youtube.com/@JustinWhangYt Whang!] posted the first of many [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90JvgNQicp0 videos about the song] on his Tales from the Internet series.   
== Mainstream Attention and Current Search  (2019-Present) ==
From April 20th to June 29, 2019, Gabriel da Silva Vieira, a 16-year-old from São Paulo, Brazil, posted the song 44 times on various subreddits with the title "THE MOST MYSTERIOUS SONG ON THE INTERNET!".<ref>https://www.reddit.com/user/gabgaskins/submitted/</ref>, eventually forming his own subreddit for the song on June 30, 2019.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/c7l2dw/themysterioussong_has_been_created/</ref> User newacountz quickly discovered Lydia's original uploads of the song, scrolling through the post history and determining that the uploader recorded it from NDR2 radio station, most likely off the program Musik für junge Leute (Music for young People).<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/c7l8az/comment/esh7mf0/</ref> They also discovered NDR presenters Peter Urban and Paul Baskerville. Paul was focused on because he spoke English and was known for playing completely unknown independent new wave music.<ref>https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Baskerville&oldid=157447844&useskin=vector</ref><ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/c7l8az/comment/esii4e2/</ref>  


On July 21, 2019, after requests from the song's researchers, Paul Baskerville played the song on his Germand radio program "Nachtclub". This alerted Darius and Lydia to the search, with Lydia joining the subreddit and Discord.
On July 9th, 2019, popular YouTuber Justin Whang discussed the search for the song on an episode of his YouTube series called ''Tales From the Internet.''<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90JvgNQicp0</ref> The next day, after searchers posted on the r/germany subreddit, a user named johnnymetoo claimed to have downloaded the full version of the song from Lydia's UseNet post<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/comments/cbb2xv/comment/eteguvs/</ref>, uploading it to r/TheMysteriousSong two days later.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/cc8bhe/heres_the_complete_song_downloaded_it_in_2007/</ref> On July 21st, 2019, Paul Baskerville aired the song on his radio program "Nachtclub" after requests from the song's search team.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFPST7GgTgI</ref> On August 20th, 2019, Radio1 interviewed Paul Baskerville and played the song on the air,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwvnRZob3Gc</ref> which alerted Darius and Lydia to the search,<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/idayxm/anniversary/</ref> with Lydia joining the subreddit and Discord the next day.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/ct570y/comment/exkycuv/</ref>       


On September 20, 2019, digitizations of the original mixtapes, including cassette tape BASF 4|1 containing TMS, were uploaded to Youtube by [https://www.youtube.com/@plasmalabtv plasmalabtv] . On December 24th, videos of the digitization process were uploaded to [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbWtmRnppd3JDWlFqX0wwT2htaGNWSWMwOHFMQXxBQ3Jtc0tsQVVDVDFOWWFNZlYyNHIyYURWWklfZ0UxQ0ZPd003cGJLaUNyRHpER2FOc3Voa0N3XzIzR0d6eFJUS09tY2lRWUhzMENjRDJWMHRVM0hwbC1YSXFFbUFCdkxmWEJ6V3Z1ODhibG9XdnRQY2VvamlnSQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2FTheMysteriousSong%2Fcomments%2Feezppr%2Fhappy_christmas_from_lydia_and_darius%2F&v=jPKjgKHZyJ8 Reddit] by Lydia. The recording session was uploaded to [https://youtu.be/jPKjgKHZyJ8?si=J8PQKrwl8EhCZdd9 YouTube] and [https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPq5a-DS7JPukIMAdnBqhzjHdq75izJaWjhWAORsb7GChRVAhlog9zUm47EfDwqSg?pli=1&key=bVNXSnFTV2xSU1NlZTQyM2xSRHRzUDMyckZsYlB3 Google Photos].
On September 22nd, 2019, Lydia uploaded the first known tape of the song, known as BASF 4|1, to wetransfer.com.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/d7wgk4/update_6_from_lydia_full_tape_recording/</ref><ref>https://archive.org/details/basf41</ref>, containing songs from the United States,<ref>https://www.discogs.com/master/85613-Ray-Parker-Jr-Ghostbusters</ref> United Kingdom,<ref>https://www.discogs.com/master/63022-Heaven-17-Sunset-Now</ref> Scotland,<ref>https://www.discogs.com/master/58954-Simple-Minds-Up-On-The-Catwalk</ref> Canada,<ref>https://www.discogs.com/master/84580-Corey-Hart-Sunglasses-At-Night</ref> Germany<ref>https://www.discogs.com/release/971774-Willem-Wat-</ref> and the Netherlands<ref>https://www.discogs.com/master/125615-Golden-Earring-Twilight-Zone</ref> ranging from 1982 to 1984. Numerous mainstream news publications began covering the story at this time, the first being Rolling Stone on September 24th, 2019.<ref>https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/most-mysterious-song-on-the-internet-885106/</ref>     


On September 24, 2019, The Rolling Stone's David Browne posts the article [https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/most-mysterious-song-on-the-internet-885106/ "The Unsolved Case of the Most Mysterious Song on the Internet."]
On June 26th, 2020, Lydia uploaded a mixtape containing the song, known as Compilation A, which had the song in lower quality than the previous tape<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/hghkee/another_mixtape_containing_tms/</ref><ref>https://mega.nz/file/fb4hGaxS#p0HATOWeaUyMSaxmW-Xxaq4taiZvVU9Z97_nG_BRz-0</ref>       


Searchers eventually got hold of full playlists for multiple NDR broadcasts in 1983-1984; however after combing through these playlists the song couldn't be found.
On July 9th, 2020, reddit user u/FlexxonMobil received a list of every song Paul Baskerville played on Musik für Junge Leute from 1982 to 1984<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/hofedh/world_exclusive_i_have_obtained_the_1984_song/</ref>, but after searching through the available playlists<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/hp0iam/breaking_paul_baskerville_likely_did_not_play_the/</ref>, the song could not be found, even after receiving the 1984 playlists from other shows including Der Club and Nachtclub.<ref>https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SGKnBTvV7aBSM5Gi0BwUydxXkNooK6ZIVDfYvKUGJ68/edit?gid=274459647#gid=274459647</ref> Through this, searchers were able to estimate that the song aired in September or November 1984 based on several discovered playlists containing songs Darius had to have recorded during that time period, although several playlists from this period are missing.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/1bhdizt/tmms_likely_played_on_sept_28_1984_or_november_28/</ref> There are still several missing Nachtclub and Der Club playlists that could contain the song, spanning August to October 1984.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/1d9cmz8/a_few_crucial_playlists_missing_tms_could_be_on/</ref>     


In late 2020, one of the researchers discovered that the recording had a 10 kHz line, present on most NDR broadcasts of the time, with the exception of Hilversum's broadcasts.
On December 22, 2020, user fliere discovered a 10 kHz line in the song via spectrogram analysis, which was present on NDR broadcasts at the time. It is also confirmed that the 10 kHz modulation scheme was only used by NDR, because Darius recorded from other stations, like Hilversum, which did not have the 10 KHz line, effectively ruling out the possibility of the song being aired on any station other than NDR.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/kidd3m/update/</ref><ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/l80581/the_10khz_line/</ref>     


On November 2, 2021, [https://new.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/qkwo2x/higher_quality_version_of_the_song_thanks_to/ Lydia posted a higher quality copy of the song] found on a separate cassette known as "[https://mega.nz/file/mGpUTCZa#UczM2QtoS8k5UUH5PEcosQ7Obu52WZ0kMRePWHLj2J4 N01]".  It was in a box of tapes found while she and her son were renovating her apartment.  
On November 7th, 2021, Lydia posted the final mixtape known as N01, which contains the highest quality version of the song, after discovering it in a box of tapes while renovating her apartment with her son.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/qkwo2x/higher_quality_version_of_the_song_thanks_to/</ref><ref>https://mega.nz/file/mGpUTCZa#UczM2QtoS8k5UUH5PEcosQ7Obu52WZ0kMRePWHLj2J4</ref>      
 
== Darius & Lydia's Mixtapes ==
We currently know of 3 mixtape cassettes created by Darius and Lydia, containing the song:
 
* Cassette "[https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/d7wgk4/update_6_from_lydia_full_tape_recording/ BASF 4|1]", the first recording widely available on the Internet ([https://archive.org/details/basf41 audio])
* Cassette "[https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/hghkee/another_mixtape_containing_tms/ Compilation A"], a lower-quality found by Lydia in June, 2020 ([https://mega.nz/file/fb4hGaxS#p0HATOWeaUyMSaxmW-Xxaq4taiZvVU9Z97_nG_BRz-0 audio])
* Cassette "[https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/qkwo2x/higher_quality_version_of_the_song_thanks_to/ N01]", a higher-quality recording found by Lydia on November 1, 2021 ([https://mega.nz/file/mGpUTCZa#UczM2QtoS8k5UUH5PEcosQ7Obu52WZ0kMRePWHLj2J4 audio])
 
== Key Milestones ==
<div style="display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap;">
  <div style="flex: 1 1 100%; max-width: 600px; margin-right: 10px;">
* '''Recorded on German Radio''': Most likely on [[NDR Radio]] in late 1984.
* '''Initial Search''': First queries about the song are posted to Usenet in 2007.
* '''Full recording''': July 12, 2019 - the full song was [https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/cc8bhe/heres_the_complete_song_downloaded_it_in_2007/ rediscovered and uploaded].
* '''Original Poster Located''': 2019 - the original seekers, Lydia and her brother Darius, are located.
* '''Technical Analysis''': [[10khz line|A distinct 10 kHz line]] was found in the song's spectrum, typical for 1980s FM broadcasts from NDR Radio, supporting its origin from that radio station. The line was very recently found to be broadcast at exactly 10khz and differences on the frequency found on the tapes are [https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/1bqlr47/10khz_was_always_exactly_10khz_tms_as_broadcast/ mostly due to tape copying and wear]-- this has been helpful in identifying airdates.
* '''Radio Playlists''': [[NDR Playlists|Obtaining playlists from NDR radio]] gave hundreds of pages of bands, and narrowed down potential air dates, but failed to locate the song.
* '''November 1, 2021:'''  A new tape, with a higher quality version of the song was found by Lydia, and is [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQk1IH9Trsg now on YouTube].
* '''Possible Air Dates''': As of 2024, research points to the likely airdates of [https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/1bhdizt/tmms_likely_played_on_sept_28_1984_or_november_28/ September 28, November 28], December 2, or [https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/1980yqv/is_the_recording_date_of_tms_possibly_17091984/ September 17], 1984.
* '''Current Research''': A search is currently underway through the [https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/1bv2d70/stasi_archives_have_ndr_radio_recordings/ Stasi Archives] for any recordings from surveillance data.  It's suspected East Germany might have recorded or transcribed the broadcast of the song, given their extensive media monitoring during the Cold War era.
</div>
<div style="flex: 1 1 100%; max-width: 370px;">
{{#tag:timeline|ImageSize = width:370 height:600
PlotArea = left:50 right:0 bottom:50 top:10
DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:1980 till:{{CURRENTYEAR}}
TimeAxis = orientation:vertical order:reverse format:yyyy
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:1980
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:2 start:1980
 
Colors =
  id:gray value:gray(0.8)
  id:blue value:blue
  id:green value:green
  id:orange value:orange
  id:red value:red
 
Define $now = {{CURRENTYEAR}}
 
PlotData=
  bar:Events color:gray width:45 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:L
 
  from:1982 till:1984 text:"Radio recording (1982-1984)" color:red shift:(45,0)
  from:1984 till:2007 text:"No significant events" color:gray shift:(45,0)
  from:2007 till:2007 text:"Online post by bluuue (2007)" shift:(45,0)
  from:2011 till:2011 text:"YouTube upload by redalfo (2011)" shift:(45,0)
  from:2017 till:2017 text:"Upload to WatZatSong (2017)" shift:(45,0)
  from:2019 till:$now text:"Subreddit search begins (2019)" color:blue shift:(45,23)
  from:2020 till:2020 text:"10 kHz line discovery (2020)" shift:(45,-10)
  from:2021 till:2021 text:"New tape (N01) found (2021)" shift:(45,-10)
  from:$now till:$now text:"Today" shift:(45,0)
}}
</div>
</div>


== Lyrics ==
== Lyrics ==
Line 98: Line 46:
| <strong>Presumed Lyrics</strong>
| <strong>Presumed Lyrics</strong>
|-
|-
| Like<ref>originally presumed "Blind" by Darius</ref> the wind,
| Like the wind (originally presumed as "Blind" by Darius)


You came here running'
You came here running'
Line 108: Line 56:
There's no tomorrow,
There's no tomorrow,


There's no sense communication<ref>or, "sense for 'munication", "sense communicating", "sense for new dictation", etc.  This is one of the most debated lines, with multiple interpretations.</ref>
There's no sense communication (or, "sense for 'munication", "sense communicating", "sense for new dictation".  This is one of the most debated lines, with multiple interpretations)


Check it in, check it out, for the sun won't ever shine,
Check it in, check it out, for the sun won't ever shine,
Line 114: Line 62:
Paranoid anyway, in the subways of your mind,
Paranoid anyway, in the subways of your mind,


Like the wind, you're gone in summer<ref>or, "gonna suffer", going somewhere</ref>, let a smile be your companion
Like the wind, you're gone in summer (gonna suffer, going somewhere), let a smile be your companion


There's no place, and there's no sorrow, hear the young and restless dreamin'<ref>or, "dreamer"</ref>
There's no place, and there's no sorrow, hear the young and restless dreamer (dreaming)


Check it in, check it out, but the sun won't ever shine,
Check it in, check it out, but the sun won't ever shine,
Line 126: Line 74:
Paranoid anyway, in the subways of your mind,
Paranoid anyway, in the subways of your mind,


Check it in, check it out, it's the summer blues<ref>or, "song of youth", or "psalm of youth"</ref>
Check it in, check it out, it's the summer blues (song of youth, psalm of youth)


Check it in, check it out, it's the real excuse<ref>or, "the real in you"</ref>
Check it in, check it out, it's the real excuse (it's the real in you)


Check it in, check it out, it's the summer blues
Check it in, check it out, it's the summer blues


Tear it in, tear it out, it's the real excuse
Tear it in, tear it out, it's the real excuse
|-
|<references />
|}
|}


== TMS Leads ==
== Leads ==


A constantly changing list of categorized leads can be viewed [[TMS Leads|here]].
A constantly changing list of categorized leads can be viewed [[TMS Leads|here]].
Line 150: Line 96:
* [[Statues in Motion]]
* [[Statues in Motion]]
* [[Wild Angels]]
* [[Wild Angels]]
== Notes ==
The synth in the song is a Yamaha DX7, [https://new.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/j05psy/just_a_video_for_those_who_dont_think_that_the/ using several presets, like Syn Lead 5.]  This means the song couldn't have been released any earlier than 1983.


Brandi and Urini have both tried to claim the song, but an associate of theirs says it sounds nothing like them.
== Key Milestones ==
{{#tag:timeline|ImageSize = width:370 height:600
PlotArea = left:50 right:0 bottom:50 top:10
DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:1980 till:{{CURRENTYEAR}}
TimeAxis = orientation:vertical order:reverse format:yyyy
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:1980
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:2 start:1980
 
Colors =
  id:gray value:gray(0.8)
  id:blue value:blue
  id:green value:green
  id:orange value:orange
  id:red value:red
 
Define $now = {{CURRENTYEAR}}
 
PlotData=
  bar:Events color:gray width:45 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:L


Paul Baskerville thinks it could have been a demo that aired on NDR, but was thrown away afterwards.
  from:1982 till:1984 text:"Radio recording (1982-1984)" color:red shift:(45,0)
  from:1984 till:2007 text:"No significant events" color:gray shift:(45,0)
  from:2007 till:2007 text:"Online post by bluuue (2007)" shift:(45,0)
  from:2011 till:2011 text:"YouTube upload by redalfo (2011)" shift:(45,0)
  from:2017 till:2017 text:"Upload to WatZatSong (2017)" shift:(45,0)
  from:2019 till:$now text:"Subreddit search begins (2019)" color:blue shift:(45,23)
  from:2020 till:2020 text:"10 kHz line discovery (2020)" shift:(45,-10)
  from:2021 till:2021 text:"New tape (N01) found (2021)" shift:(45,-10)
  from:$now till:$now text:"Today" shift:(45,0)
}}


== References ==
*[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WDtZaXuQ-XadFgS2ah0mC0lzB_xcCC6-uolcHECxi0k/edit?gid=0#gid=0 Lead Document]
*[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SGKnBTvV7aBSM5Gi0BwUydxXkNooK6ZIVDfYvKUGJ68/edit?gid=1759222071#gid=1759222071 Playlist Analysis]<references responsive="0" />
[[Category:Unidentified]]
[[Category:Unidentified]]
[[Category:The Most Mysterious Song On The Internet]]
[[Category:The Most Mysterious Song On The Internet]]
[[Category:New wave]]
[[Category:New wave]]

Revision as of 20:32, 24 June 2024

ⓘ This lostwave is classified as unsolved.

The Most Mysterious Song On The Internet

Track list for the song.
Alternative name(s) Blind The Wind, Like The Wind, "Check It In, Check It Out", "Take It In, Take It Out", The Mysterious Song, TMMSOTI, TMMS, TMS, LTW, BTW
Year c. 1984
Status Unsolved; Almost full version available
Original poster Darius S
Search started 2004
Search community various (mostly r/TheMysteriousSong)
File:TMS-new 32-bit PCM.wav

The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet (also known as "Like the Wind", "The Sun Will Never Shine", "Blind the Wind", "Check It In, Check It Out", "Take It In, Take It Out", and "Summer Blues) is an unidentified song recorded by Darius S. It was recorded between 1982 and 1984 at the North German radio station "Norddeutscher Rundfunk," also known as NDR.

Origins (1980s-2004)

Between 1983 and 1984, Darius S, a teenage music fan from Wilhelmshaven, Germany, taped a radio program on a BASF Chromdioxid II 90 cassette tape[1] from the North German public radio station Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). The tape included new songs from XTC and the Cure. He believes he recorded the song in 1984 based on the release dates of other songs on the tape and the Technics tape deck he had at the time.[2] The synthesizer used in the song is a Yamaha DX7, which was released in May 1983.[3]

Darius' older sister, Lydia H, bought him a website domain for his birthday in 2004, which he used to raise awareness about the 25 unidentified songs in his personal collection. He then digitized his radio recordings, saving the songs as alif and m4a files, and uploaded them to his website, Unknown Pleasures, which is named after the 1979 album of the same name by English rock band Joy Division.[4]

Early Search (2007-2017)

On March 18, 2007, Lydia requested assistance by posting the song under the pseudonym "Anton Riedel" on the websites best-of-80s.de[5] and spiritofradio.ca[6] where user Jugge suggested that it sounded like "Statues in Motion" or "Metro Decay".

The song spread around the internet, first posted to WatZatSong on December 17th, 2009 by user Konstantinos,[7] and on April 16th, 2011, Spanish user Redalfo first uploaded the song to YouTube.[8]

The search received a surge of popularity in 2017, with it being reuploaded several times to WatZatSong that year[9][10][11][12] and on September 17, 2017, the Spanish independent record label Dead Wax Records uploaded Anton's snippet of the song to YouTube, which would catch the attention of the person who would finally bring the search to mainstream attention.

Mainstream Attention and Current Search (2019-Present)

From April 20th to June 29, 2019, Gabriel da Silva Vieira, a 16-year-old from São Paulo, Brazil, posted the song 44 times on various subreddits with the title "THE MOST MYSTERIOUS SONG ON THE INTERNET!".[13], eventually forming his own subreddit for the song on June 30, 2019.[14] User newacountz quickly discovered Lydia's original uploads of the song, scrolling through the post history and determining that the uploader recorded it from NDR2 radio station, most likely off the program Musik für junge Leute (Music for young People).[15] They also discovered NDR presenters Peter Urban and Paul Baskerville. Paul was focused on because he spoke English and was known for playing completely unknown independent new wave music.[16][17]

On July 9th, 2019, popular YouTuber Justin Whang discussed the search for the song on an episode of his YouTube series called Tales From the Internet.[18] The next day, after searchers posted on the r/germany subreddit, a user named johnnymetoo claimed to have downloaded the full version of the song from Lydia's UseNet post[19], uploading it to r/TheMysteriousSong two days later.[20] On July 21st, 2019, Paul Baskerville aired the song on his radio program "Nachtclub" after requests from the song's search team.[21] On August 20th, 2019, Radio1 interviewed Paul Baskerville and played the song on the air,[22] which alerted Darius and Lydia to the search,[23] with Lydia joining the subreddit and Discord the next day.[24]

On September 22nd, 2019, Lydia uploaded the first known tape of the song, known as BASF 4|1, to wetransfer.com.[25][26], containing songs from the United States,[27] United Kingdom,[28] Scotland,[29] Canada,[30] Germany[31] and the Netherlands[32] ranging from 1982 to 1984. Numerous mainstream news publications began covering the story at this time, the first being Rolling Stone on September 24th, 2019.[33]

On June 26th, 2020, Lydia uploaded a mixtape containing the song, known as Compilation A, which had the song in lower quality than the previous tape[34][35]

On July 9th, 2020, reddit user u/FlexxonMobil received a list of every song Paul Baskerville played on Musik für Junge Leute from 1982 to 1984[36], but after searching through the available playlists[37], the song could not be found, even after receiving the 1984 playlists from other shows including Der Club and Nachtclub.[38] Through this, searchers were able to estimate that the song aired in September or November 1984 based on several discovered playlists containing songs Darius had to have recorded during that time period, although several playlists from this period are missing.[39] There are still several missing Nachtclub and Der Club playlists that could contain the song, spanning August to October 1984.[40]

On December 22, 2020, user fliere discovered a 10 kHz line in the song via spectrogram analysis, which was present on NDR broadcasts at the time. It is also confirmed that the 10 kHz modulation scheme was only used by NDR, because Darius recorded from other stations, like Hilversum, which did not have the 10 KHz line, effectively ruling out the possibility of the song being aired on any station other than NDR.[41][42]

On November 7th, 2021, Lydia posted the final mixtape known as N01, which contains the highest quality version of the song, after discovering it in a box of tapes while renovating her apartment with her son.[43][44]

Lyrics

Leads

A constantly changing list of categorized leads can be viewed here.

Major Leads

Key Milestones

References

  • https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/eny5lg/year_of_basf_cassette/
  • https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/most-mysterious-song-on-the-internet-885106/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/j05psy/just_a_video_for_those_who_dont_think_that_the/
  • https://www.spontis.de/musik/most-mysterious-song/
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20190706172927/http://www.best-of-80s.de/80er-80s-musiksuche-sound-search-27/gesucht-80er-indie-wave-song-15895/
  • https://spiritofradio.ca/SongComments.asp?SongID=1737
  • https://www.watzatsong.com/en/name-that-tune/31435.html
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qus5eOALnMY
  • https://www.watzatsong.com/en/name-that-tune/489269.html
  • https://www.watzatsong.com/fr/name-that-tune/530509.html
  • https://www.watzatsong.com/en/name-that-tune/511126.html
  • https://www.watzatsong.com/en/name-that-tune/520694.html
  • https://www.reddit.com/user/gabgaskins/submitted/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/c7l2dw/themysterioussong_has_been_created/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/c7l8az/comment/esh7mf0/
  • https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Baskerville&oldid=157447844&useskin=vector
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/c7l8az/comment/esii4e2/
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90JvgNQicp0
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/comments/cbb2xv/comment/eteguvs/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/cc8bhe/heres_the_complete_song_downloaded_it_in_2007/
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFPST7GgTgI
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwvnRZob3Gc
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/idayxm/anniversary/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/ct570y/comment/exkycuv/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/d7wgk4/update_6_from_lydia_full_tape_recording/
  • https://archive.org/details/basf41
  • https://www.discogs.com/master/85613-Ray-Parker-Jr-Ghostbusters
  • https://www.discogs.com/master/63022-Heaven-17-Sunset-Now
  • https://www.discogs.com/master/58954-Simple-Minds-Up-On-The-Catwalk
  • https://www.discogs.com/master/84580-Corey-Hart-Sunglasses-At-Night
  • https://www.discogs.com/release/971774-Willem-Wat-
  • https://www.discogs.com/master/125615-Golden-Earring-Twilight-Zone
  • https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/most-mysterious-song-on-the-internet-885106/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/hghkee/another_mixtape_containing_tms/
  • https://mega.nz/file/fb4hGaxS#p0HATOWeaUyMSaxmW-Xxaq4taiZvVU9Z97_nG_BRz-0
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/hofedh/world_exclusive_i_have_obtained_the_1984_song/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/hp0iam/breaking_paul_baskerville_likely_did_not_play_the/
  • https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SGKnBTvV7aBSM5Gi0BwUydxXkNooK6ZIVDfYvKUGJ68/edit?gid=274459647#gid=274459647
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/1bhdizt/tmms_likely_played_on_sept_28_1984_or_november_28/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/1d9cmz8/a_few_crucial_playlists_missing_tms_could_be_on/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/kidd3m/update/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/l80581/the_10khz_line/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/comments/qkwo2x/higher_quality_version_of_the_song_thanks_to/
  • https://mega.nz/file/mGpUTCZa#UczM2QtoS8k5UUH5PEcosQ7Obu52WZ0kMRePWHLj2J4