Subways of Your Mind

"Subways of Your Mind"
The original demo cassette featuring "Subways of Your Mind", recorded c. 1983
Song by Fex
Recordedc. 1983
Genre
Length2:55 (radio version)
3:54 (demo found on cassette)
Songwriter(s)Ture Rückwardt

"Subways of Your Mind" is a song by German rock band Fex, recorded in 1983. In the 2000s, a recording on a cassette tape from a radio broadcast in the mid-1980s was uploaded online and garnered significant attention. The song remained unidentified, even after being uploaded to the Internet, prompting a 17-year-long search to identify the artist and song title. During this search, the song earned the nickname "The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet".[note 1]

The song was recorded from a West German Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) radio broadcast sometime during the mid-1980s, likely in or around 1984.[1] In 2019, it became the subject of a viral Internet phenomenon, with many users of sites such as Reddit and Discord collaborating to identify the song and recording artist.[1]

In November 2024, it was identified as "Subways of Your Mind" by Fex, a rock band from Kiel. Confirmation came with the release of a 1983 EP featuring a demo version of the song, as well as a recording of a 1985 live performance.[2][3][4] However, the 1/4 master tape containing the studio version of the song, which was the version broadcast on the radio, has yet to be found and may be permanently lost.[5]

Throughout the search, other unknown songs have been discovered. Users online have coined the term "lostwave" to describe songs of this nature.


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  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Brown2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Blistein, Jon (5 November 2024). "Case Closed: One of the internet's biggest musical mysteries has likely been solved". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 6 November 2024. A 'lost' New Wave track stumping listeners for over 15 years was identified as 'Subways of Your Mind' by the German band FEX
  3. ^ Davis, Wes (5 November 2024). "Reddit sleuths track down the band behind the internet's most mysterious song". The Verge. Retrieved 6 November 2024. Now we know that the song is called 'Subways Of the Mind' by a band named FEX. Here's a recording provided by Michael Hädrich, a 68-year-old former band member.
  4. ^ Böhm, Markus; Kleinz, Torsten (5 November 2024). "Netzrätsel nach Jahren gelöst: Hinter dem »geheimnisvollsten Lied des Internets« steckt eine deutsche Band" [Internet mystery solved after years: A German band was behind the 'most mysterious song on the Internet'.]. Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 6 November 2024. Es ist ein historischer Tag. Nicht etwa wegen der US-Wahl. Sondern, weil etwas anderes geschehen ist, das sich für einige Menschen offenbar ähnlich weltbewegend anfühlt: Das Geheimnis um den »most mysterious Song on the Internet«, und damit eines der bekanntesten Netzrätsel überhaupt, ist gelüftet worden. Nach 17 Jahren. [It's a historic day. Not because of the US election. But because something else happened that apparently felt equally earth-shattering to some people: The secret of the 'most mysterious song on the Internet', and thus one of the most famous online mysteries of all time, has been revealed. After 17 years.]
  5. ^ Hädrich, Michael (12 November 2024). "1. This will be sort…". r/TheMysteriousSong. Retrieved 14 November 2024.