The Riddle (song)
| The Riddle | |
|---|---|
| Nik Kershaw | |
| publication | November 6, 1984 |
| length | 3:54 |
| Genre (s) | Synth pop , new wave |
| Author (s) | Nik Kershaw |
| album | The Riddle |
| Cover versions | |
| 2000 | Gigi D'Agostino |
| 2012 | Jack Holiday & Mike Candys |
The Riddle ( English Das Rätsel ) is a song by British singer Nik Kershaw , which was released on November 6, 1984. It was part of the studio album of the same name , which was released in November 1984. The song reached high chart positions in many European countries, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. The song was particularly popular on the radio (number 1 on the German airplay charts). After many attempts at interpretation, Kershaw described the lyrics as "nonsense".
The most successful of the numerous cover versions were new recordings by Gigi D'Agostino (1999) and Mike Candys & Jack Holiday (2012) with great commercial success in various countries.
song lyrics
The title as well as the lyrics suggest a classic riddle, which led to an attempt to decipher the song for a deeper meaning.
Years later, Kershaw explains that it is a randomly composed text without any meaning. He wrote the song under time pressure and therefore used a nonsensical text (“jibberish lyrics”). However, these lyrics were retained and the song was named The Riddle .
“In short, The Riddle is nonsense, rubbish, bollocks, the confused ramblings of an 80's pop star. Please forgive me. I knew not what I did. ”
“In short, The Riddle is nonsense, garbage, nonsense, the confused drivel of an 80s pop star. Forgive me. I didn't know what I was doing. "
Music video
The music video begins with Nik Kershaw trying to pick a lock. However, the door opens by itself and he is pushed through from behind. After he got deeper and deeper via two stairs and a carousel slide, he breaks through a wall of paper and finds himself in a seemingly surreal corridor. There he sees human mouths coming out of holes in the wall or a hand growing out of the wall. While Kershaw explores the area, he also meets other people, such as two plump men who are reminiscent of Diedeldum and Diedeldei from Alice in Wonderland , as well as a girl who throws clothes out of a suitcase and then escapes through a low door man dressed in a green artist's suit with a question mark, reminiscent of the Riddler from the Batman comics. Sometimes Kershaw moves his lips in sync with the lyrics, while a marching band runs through the picture during an instrumental solo. The images that can be seen sometimes also refer to the text, for example when you see the line “to keep from burning history” burning books. The old man mentioned in the chorus can also be seen in fade-ins. In the end, Kershaw looks out of a window and sees the old man in front of a withered tree and a hole in the ground that is represented as a well from which a woman in a bikini appears. This is followed by a zoom out, which gives the impression that the entire corridor is the curved upper part of a question mark, the fountain around the point, both of which are now in the form of a cardboard figure on a street. The Riddler comes and first takes the top and then the point before jumping away to the rear, reducing the field of vision to a point that ultimately becomes the point of a red question mark that is displayed over the entire screen. The video was animated by Studio Filmbilder from Stuttgart .
Cover versions
- In 1999 Lightforce released the song as an instrumental piece entitled Take Your Time . They achieved a short placement in the German charts.
- In 1999, Gigi D'Agostino released an Italo-Dance version of The Riddle , making it a top 10 hit again.
- In 2007 the thrash metal band Death Angel released a metal cover.
- In 2010 Prezioso & Marvin celebrated a club hit with another Italo Dance version.
- In 2012, the Swiss dance duo Jack Holiday & Mike Candys covered the house- style title and hit the sales charts with their version.
- In 2012 the Swedish trio Jacob Karlzon 3 released a jazzy cover version.
- In 2017 another house version was released, produced by Nils van Zandt.
- In 2018, Mike Candys and Jack Holiday reissued their remake with a deep house beat and hit the Swiss single charts.
Awards for music sales
Nik Kershaw
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
 United Kingdom (BPI)
|
 silver
|
250,000 |
| All in all |
1 × silver |
250,000 |
Gigi D'Agostino
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
 Germany (BVMI)
|
 gold
|
250,000 |
 France (SNEP)
|
gold
|
250,000 |
 Austria (IFPI)
|
gold
|
25,000 |
| All in all |
3 × gold |
525,000 |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release date and charts
- ↑ a b Welcome to the Official Nik Kershaw FAQ . ( Memento from March 5, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Award in the United Kingdom
- ↑ Award in Germany
- ^ Award in France
- ↑ Award in Austria