The viral search for a mysterious '80s song may finally be over

After nearly two decades of searching, and five years as a viral internet phenomenon, the search for “The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet” it may finally be over.

For years now, music fans have been trying to trace the authorship of a forgotten new wave song recorded on German radio in the mid-1980s. first it started in 2007, when a netizen named Lydia took to online forums to try to identify the song, which had been recorded on tape by her brother Darius decades earlier.

After some moderate attention, only in 2019 the search began frankly, with users on social media and sites like YouTube focusing their efforts on identifying the track, which had been named “Like the Wind” after what appeared to be its opening verse.

Over the past five years, a number of impressive discoveries have been made, including researchers determining the likely recording date of the song due to the release of other songs on the tape and the presence of a Yamaha DX7 synthesizer (which was released in 1983). and confirming the veracity of the recording by identifying a frequency that was present in German broadcasts of the time.

However, on Monday (November 4), Marijn1412, a user of the Reddit community devoted to the search claimed that the the song had been spotted as “Subways Of Your Mind” by the German band FEX.

According to the user, the song was discovered while researching the contemporary German music event Hörfest, which FEX participated in. After contacting a member of the group, it was confirmed that the song belonged to FEX, with the band member claiming again – the release was in the works.

Michael Hädrich, the keyboardist, guitarist and singer of FEX, spoke to the German publication Jclaiming that the band knew nothing about the viral search until they contacted him.

“We hadn't noticed this whole internet phenomenon at all, mainly of course because the title of the song wasn't known on the internet and therefore had nothing to do with it,” explained Hädrich. He went on to note that it wasn't until the Reddit user asked for copies of his old material that the song was rediscovered.

“Only then did he tell me if I didn't realize that the song 'Subways of your Mind' is the 'Most Mysterious Song on the Internet.'

The song is currently in the process of being verified, with Hädrich claiming that he and the band have a lot of material that can prove the song is theirs, including the original recording, statements, live recordings and witnesses who were present for the initial session.

If proven true, the discovery marks another breakthrough in the field of what has been called “lostwave,” or music whose origins are unknown.

In April, another quest for lostwave was completed, with the song titled “Everybody Knows That” which is identified as “Ulterior Motives” by Christopher and Phillip Booth, which was originally written for a pornographic film in the 1980s.