CIA
ⓘ This lostwave is classified as unsolved.
CIA/Russian Winter/Are You Comin' Home To Stay is an unknown Post-Punk, New Wave song uploaded to YouTube in 2020 by DJFormaldehyde.
Origins and Search
CIA was uploaded to YouTube on the 20th of July 2020 by DJ Formaldehyde (u/richfromhell on reddit). The song was found on a tape created by a friend of DJ Formaldehyde full of songs recorded from CFNY FM Spirit of Radio, a Canadian Radio Station known at the time for playing Alt-Rock, Post-Punk and Indie tracks as well as promoting local bands. This tape was produced no earlier than July 1984, due to the fact the song "You Think You're A Man" by Divine which was released in July 1984 was the newest song on the tape.
The search for CIA gained traction in 2021, with the song making its way to the Lostwave subreddit and being reuploded multiple times that year. This was also the year that Alan Cross, who was a radio broadcaster at CFNY from 1986 onwards, uploaded the song to his website, broadening the search.
Debunked Leads
4th Floor - "Coming Home"
An early lead suggested the song was by Alternative Rock band 4th Floor, as they had a song on Discogs titled "Coming Home" which was released in 1984 and matched a key lyric in the unknow song. At the time the album was not uploaded, however when the cassette was finally converted and uploaded, this lead was debunked.
Zebra - "CIA"
This was a song uploaded to YouTube in 2010 that shares a name with the placeholder name of the unknown song, however it is a disco track and has been ruled out.
The Reform - "CIA"
In early 2024, speculation began around the song "CIA" by The Reform, a Rock/Power Pop song released in 1984 by a US band. This was furthered by the fact that the track length matched the commonly uploaded length for the lost song CIA. Once the vinyl was digitized and the song was uploaded, this lead was debunked.
Current Leads and Search
The current search for CIA involves searching through copyright registries for songs with similar titles to the lyrics in the song. Two possible tracks called "CIA Blues", copyrighted in 1985, and "CIA" , copyrighted in 1984, are under investigation. No analysis of the instruments in the track has yet been made to possibly date the song to a timeframe further. There is speculation about the provenance of CIA as a Canadian song, with the possibility of the track as the work a UK, Australian or even German band being raised, however this does not rule out the possibility that CIA was created by a Canadian artist as CFNY used to promote local Canadian bands on air as part of the "Streets of Ontario" programme.
Lyrics
Are you coming home from vacation
Can you leave your work behind
Will someone man your battle stations
Will you give them all your time
We all feel the same frustration
And hope to God you're on our side
Are you comin' home to stay
Or will you spend this winter drivin' me insane
Are you comin' home to stay
Or will you spend the season at the CIA
Last year you studied Russian wheatfields
Searched for silos you'd never find
And when they found out, you struck a deal
To bring back Levis on company time
But you jumped ship once in Israel,
And slipped away at the Arab line
Are you comin' home to stay
Or will you spend the season drivin' me insane
Are you comin' home to stay
Or will you spend the season at the CIA
Can you paint a still life of your location
Will the children wear a smile
Do you believe that's liberation
Or is it trimming for your file
If someone deserves a commendation
Let's present it at his final mile
Are you comin' home to stay
Or will you spend this winter drivin' me insane
Are you comin' home to stay
Or will you spend the season at the CIA
Are you comin' home
Are you comin' home
Links
The Original Upload of the Song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q46N3IYg0Y&pp=ygUORGpmb3JtYWxkZWh5ZGU%3D
Most Recent Remastered Version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF6oWjRbWNY
U/richfromhell discussing the date the most recent song on the tape CIA was found on:https://www.reddit.com/r/Lostwave/comments/189yuf7/comment/kdc3fa1/
Alan Cross' post about CIA: