After reading most of the comments below... and having read some pretty good well thought out suggestive scenarios behind the meanings of each verse, which could most definitely be exact & correct,... I feel that the TRUE reason however, as to why many people who are still "trying to work it all out/solve the puzzle" is because they are still not completely satisfied with JUST accepting some of the more accurate meanings that a few people have suggestively broken down & pointed out to others, in the hopes to finally being that one person who can finally "crack the whole entire riddle" to put any of the still missing pieces to the whole "mystery" so that once & for all EVERY ONE of us can continue to carry on with our lives feeling completely satisfied that some one out there was knowledgeable, truthful & genius enough to step forward & explain how all the elements in the visuals from the video clip are connected/related to the TRUE correct meanings behind ALL of the words used in each line/verse from the 'non-sensical' written lyrics that were used in this song"....!!! Again, I'll point out that a few people in the comments have come up with some really great "suggestive meanings behind the lyrics in trying to help finally "solve" the entire MYSTERY surrounding the song's TRUE meanings" HOWEVER... people will still not be completely SATISFIED with your explainations in trying to finalise CRACKING this MYSTERIOUS CODE for everyone, UNLESS you can also include in your explanations HOW the elements & certain objects used throughout the music clip TIE into the meaning of the LYRICS... and so, although I feel like that the few of you who have become SO accurately CLOSE to solving the entire MYSTERY.. I think that maybe EVERYONE has been too HEAVILY focused on trying to look at it too intrinsically, (which is not a bad thing per say, as it shows that you have a very intelligent opened mind that is able to GO DEEP where needed in helping you to solve life mysteries! YES you possess a GENIUS mind, but sometimes we are unable to find a satisfied solution/answer bcoz we find ourselves still fighting with our minds over whelming responses that it sometimes gives us, when we search to find our answers with each curiousity we find ourselves regularly having to question each & every motive & possibility there is to find, which usually leads us to a stage where we have to eventually LOOK towards something else, because some times our minds continue to keep processing more & newer idea's that never end & before we know it much time, many hours can often pass us by, before we suddenly realise that our thought process has become void as it's been left to journey on a spinning spiral for far too long, so we find ourselves unable to reach any conclusive destination becoz the minds process gets stuck on an never ending loop becoz it has infinite possible directions it can journey down into! This is when we must shut the mind, take a long pause & either come back to it again at a much later date when the mind has been refreshed, or accept the fact that not all our curiosities can be answered or resolved so make the decision to walk away & focus on something else a little less tedious & manageable to work out!) Apologies, as I know I've rambled on here much more than I hoped & intended to! So I'll attempt to wrap it all up as quikly as possible. Yes, we see many hidden Masonic elements, symbols & clues within the video! YES there are a few here in the comments that have done exceptionable in breaking down each lyrics TRUE meaning! YES- We want some satisfactionable Summary given to us that explains the connections of the video's masonic symbolism to the meanings behind the words in the lyrics. YES- We have ALL spent WAY too long & hard on this topic, trying to SOLVE one of the biggest baffling mystery's still lingering around us today. I believe that the Questions we are still searching for in reference to this mysterious song & suggestive clues given via the video clip, perhaps can only be found by simplifying the depth of focus we have so far used. I also think that this is WHY people have had a hard time in feeling fulfilled or satisfied with previous explanations given to help solve the Mystery & I feel the songs Project Manager whoever's idea's went towards the Video Clip in using many Masonic Illuminati symbols & references was purposely done so, to make people think that they'll never be intelligent enough to ever SOLVE their RIDDLE, and perhaps it was all designed to be this way, simply to be used as a way to DISTRACT & waste everybody's time & effort into being able to CRACK the CODE & solve its MYSTERY. So my only conclusive thought here in my last attempt to try solving the mystery/whole meaning to this song & music clip is, in one drum roll...🥁... ( I also want to invite & ask everybody what they think about this for a satisfying answer into cracking the RIDDLE) could it just be something so plain & simple as this: "QUESTION EVERYTHING" ??? Sounds Kool right ??? (I mean, that's what we have all been doing right? In our attempts to working out all the clues, and, I do think the ? Question Mark symbol which was shown at the end of the music clip, was purposely put there as the Masonic's love putting their "secret hidden" symbols & answers right in front of us ALL the time & we know that they do this bcoz it is part of their "oaths taken" in that they must present the truth to those of us who aren't initiated into their "circle". However, they are required to present the truth to us, but never out right, it has to be given to us, in a not so obvious/too obvious fashion to cause confusion to our minds, plus they all love to mock us, in thinking that they are so much brighter than the rest of us & so, this is how they do it.. hiding things in plain sight, yet leaving you clueless & to your own defenses to work out what it is you need to be asking, to question, to look for, to search, to find, to try & resolve...!! So, that said, I'd love to hear other's thoughts/feedback regarding my conclusive thought on the over all RIDDLE MYSTERY???
@@HouseholdDog bro you haven't seen the kind of essays that pops up in music research, this is a light abstract compared to some papers I've read lmao
It could still mean something. There's such a thing as an ecstatic creative experience, where you turn off your brain and passively allow your mind to create. It could be like a song written by the guy in the back of your head that drops random ideas and songs into your consciousness, like a Freudian slip but on a larger scale.
It's odd. Parts of it sound like a real song. Like "There's a tree by a river..." or the bit about wise men, an old man whose mind is a beacon. Almost like a fary tale. Shame he couldn't try harder and come up with something better. "I am the Walrus" had dummy lyrics, yet there may be things about it subconsciosly, such as Lennon's personality fragmenting, subconscious anxieties, fear of death. The line "The joker laughs at you" is a hint that it's a joke song.
@handsomebrick, no ...it means fuck all, the person that wrote it just told you that , ...near a tree by a river there`s a hole in the ground , where an old man of arron goes around and around . in his mind he`s a beacon in the veil of the night for a strange kind of fashion theres a wrong and a right , but we`ll never never fight over you.....no if you can make any sense from that ....get help......
@@davidhaney1394 An old man spends his days thinking near a tree by a river. He previously did some wrongs for the love of his girlfriend and moved to America. Though he's had some bad times, the man became wise, symbolic of a black bird, and he's happy upon his bluebird hill (bluebirds symbolize happiness). He learnt to overcome his sinful lust, and though many a men try to fight over this girl, that man has learnt to do otherwise. Or some other BS someone else comes up with when they're drunk.
Imagine being opsessed your whole life with solving a riddle your favorite artist put in a song only for him to tell you it's all nonsense years later.
So I'm right in not focusing on the lyrics. I only recently got obsessed with this song, and what really keeps me listening to it over and over is the harmony playing between minor and major tones endlessly. There are parts in the verses where the melody goes from major to minor without really needing to, but what it ends up doing is, it makes the track get a certain sense of mystery that's definitely intentional given the song's general theme. I'm just a sucker for stuff like this, honestly.
I devoted the last 30 years of my life to solving this. NOW he's telling me it was all nonsense. Excuse me I have a lot of yarn to remove from my corkboard.
This showed a few extra scenes the video for the riddle. The egg getting cracked over the guy's head plus the bright light in the locker. the vid I saw had the guy with a mouse/rat on his head instead of the egg and the locker reaction had us looking out of the locker at Nik as he looked like he'd just opened a box of stink.
I have a slight memory of hearing the Version of Gigi d'Agostino on the radio as a child and the intro made the song sound like middle age / knight aera like to me and i also pictured the song in my mind like that. I think it was later that i heard the original version of it. It is still on of my favourites song to this day.
One of my favorite songs ever. Love all of it, the chords, the sound, the melody.. and the nonsense lyrics as well. The acoustic version is also as great as the original. If Nik (or Frank 😉) will ever decide do a re-arrangement, maybe with the amazing sound he has now, IMHO “The Riddle” would surely get huge success as the original did. Yes, Nik is a Genius. 👍🏻
You wrote a song about the dreams I had as a child about the old man , going around a hole in the ground, and the tree. He looked to be an old wise man. Maybe, just maybe, you are describing the actual riddle of life! Solve X for Y!!
Do you have ANY idea how many hours I put into delving the deeper meaning of this song??!! You're lucky you're so bloody great or I'd be annoyed. I wore out two copies of that cassette between highschool and college.
I spent YEARS visiting every library possible, asking anyone who might be able to help, teachers, etc. Thanks to the internet, I finally understand there's nothing to understand!
I've loved NK since I was a young teen, but I don't think I've ever forgiven him for the dedication on the inner sleeve thanking Marcel Duchamp for The Riddle and the decades of confusion that followed 🤣
I always considered the song to be about a dream, ive had a few myself that don't make sense. Surprised to hear Nik kershaw's explanation, he says it was randomn nonsense but was he influenced by a dream that he could not remember but was sublimnally influenced by?
This song has a meaning: its the human mind, and it's process of grouth, from childhood to old age. The little girl at the begining represents sexuality, even if you are a man, your inner mind has a feminine side; in young age she is trying to discard childhood and is looking for something, finding itself. The main character, or Nik represents the conscious mind, and wants to have contact with his inner self, in a trip of self discovery. The little girl escapes from him; she only exists in the subconscious. The old man represents the furture; the "hole in the ground" represents the Tao; or nothingness, focus of scholars from all times. Nik encounters a barrier he cannot have contact with his future self, only see him. The woman that comes from the "hole in the ground", is the truth; object of worship, and pursue of wise men. He will discover the truth. The riddler is the ruler of the subcounscious mind, careless. The other woman, dressed in black is a mature sexuality. Books burning? memories being erased by the present. The bald wise man; the super ego; lives outside the subconcious, but learns from it. HE will never fight over you, (future), but for truth.
He himself said that people wrote to him about answers to it and that some were actually right . So it’s definitely about something, he just won’t say!
I actually like it, as u say its a riddle, uncertain. I like to imagine it as some sort of adventure going through the uncertainty of the world but still march and keep drumming :3
Its like the reflex Duran Duranthose lyrics are all over the place and the person who wrote it and sings it really doesn't know what he wrote it about Simon but its a great song anyway, its catchy LOL
Nonsense lyrics and chord progression but absolute classic tune. Some of my favourite songs are ones that are impossible to understand but they create a kind of mood or image or take you to another place. I love Bob Dylan's music for this reason too.
The amount of inatruments and how they play together in thia rythnic enigma has always been.. well an enigma for me to learn and construct for my own projects
Funny I think that people were so "passionate" that the song meant something is nothing to do with being unsatisfied of it being solved but more to do with that they were so invested in the image in their head that over time became their truth. Knowing it means nothing means that their self proclaimed story need not be heard regardless of how detailed and well thought out. After all we do like to be heard. "What will I say if I cant talk about myself" Nik Kershaw 15 minutes
I just realized that there are variations in the clips. Indeed, there is another version used by VEVO with different images at certain moments of the song
the fun part is that the lyrics being nonsense is what always made it special to me... i was too young and too bad with english to even understand anything. My favourite song back then and still one of my favourites today, for that exact reason. The "meaning" didnt change even with my english skills increasing.
thank you nik for sharing your thoughts on your masterpiece- (can anyone tell me where "the riddle" was filmed please?- during the video I can see some semi-detached houses in the background- blink and youll miss it!)
I remember kids at school writing all the words down and trying to solve it. LOL I just thought it was a great song and didn't need solving. I still listen to Nick's music today. Great 80s memories.
Tree by the river, hole in the ground is a location Man of Aran is an old movie reference The theme of that movie is what is going around and around It's not going to fight over you. It's life itself. No need to fight. Babylon is the world, blessings of Babylon means he was born alive here, healthy. With two strong arms, as is natural. To America the brave (bravery has to do with fighting). Telling Americans they don't need to fight. If they were wise, they wouldn't.
In fact a lot of artists do right nonsense lyrics, it's not to confuse the people, it's simply to just say bollocks to the normality of lyric stories. Cheers
Not at all , nick went a narrator , but is wich for glory ....makes him ...explain for is fans (glory) why he make it ! But a narrator can not interfer with history !!!
It looks like a big dream and that's what it was back then :D The Video is very similar to dreams that I have so that must have been on purpose. When you try to understand your dreams it really is like a riddle someone else must have created, the same goes for your purpose in real life but somehow that doesn't matter to us as long as we are satisfied. You have everything bouncing around, entertaining you but in the end you work for others, who are bigger than you. The Riddler being bigger than this little world/room of that guy always looking further, which in the end forms a question mark really is genius. And now I realized it's not even his room, he somehow broke into it. If I believed in something bigger than me, that has a personal relation to me it would also more likely be a riddler than a god :D
What if the statement is not true? Couldn‘t he talk like that just to distract from the fact that there IS a solution to the riddle? In my opinion it sounds like the description of a map. And if you knew certain places and signs, you could easily decrypt the map…
Excuse me, but I reckon that Near a tree by a river There's a hole in the ground Where an old man of Aran Goes around and around And his mind is a beacon In the veil of the night For a strange kind of fashion There's a wrong and a right is far from nonsense, thank you very much. :D Did you listen to recent pop music lately?
What is strong with this music is that even with the words of nonsense the brain ended up creates auditory hallucinations, to find one. ("Near a tree by a river There's a hole in the ground") I can hear : "Never dream by ride the hall in underground" And I'm sure everyone can find a personal thing of the same style in this music. it comes down to if life does not make sense, then give in one.
For a so-called "gibberish song" that challenged a lot of Nik Kershaw fans to think that its lyrics is a rhythmically-designed song guide that means nothing, there is an internet-wide effort to promote that it has no meaning as claimed by the master musician himself. And the so-called riddle solutions are nowhere to be found. A pro boxer or martial artist doing free style shadowboxing is a sight to behold with all the discipline embedded in each move. Even a hysterical wife turn into a precise historical rapper in the heat of a trance. Therefore an educated, grammer-trained, historically-aware, socially active man, writing a lyrics in an era with politically/religious/socially-conscious people, would not snatch rhymes and context from nothing. And the well-selected proper nouns sync with world issues at that time and encapsulated it in a song. The multiple layers of meaning is well-embedded with generic words. Why would the song start with Babylon in the fertile crescent that brought forth a civilization that gives the current legal system and the biblical center of language. Why would America the brave be so wise, a so-called savior (Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, anyone?)? Count thy sins, and "false alarms" that destroyed lands and people? Are there no weapon of mass destruction found? Oh sorry, now you're all free men. Why and how come a strangely-dressed man (Ireland, Iran, Iraq, Israel? Seed of Abraham, a native of... Where again?) Qualify as a moral leader leader (wrong and right) and yet becomes a central figure (beacon of light) that goes round and round? (Preaching, rallying, exploring?) And there's some other wise men fighting over who? Are they crafting/cooking dirty plans in the scullery something that is anything but light/good in the middle of the night?Otherwise they would be in the living room during siesta. Scary schemers? Now who rules the world with gold and petrocurrency? What kind of wise men fold when it comes to money? (Philosophers ? politicians? Religious leaders? Scientists? Do they?) But they never ever fight over you? (Thinkers not necessarily doers? Minority? Opposition? Its just business? In the pursuit of knowledge/ happiness). And when these petro/gold powers conquered and burned the history of the conquered. What better way to preserve history but thru a good song that will forever be sung and remembered and passed on... like this song. Even the liberal and communist will remember, they never forget. Are these issues related to the current world status? Or in the 80s? I think this is too much random rambling so i'll stop for now. I guess this comment is also rubbish.
By the way way the lyrics is poetically done much earlier than the video. Enlightened me about the different kind of self-proclaimed WISE MEN in this world and their agenda. But who will really never ever fight for you in the end. But the beautifully done video is just a marketing tool that has nothing to do with he creative process of the lyrics.
I saw someone do a breakdown of the song referring to some parts as satisfying and a masterpiece because they couldn't figure out why it was written the way it was.. Turns out it was all nonsense lol
After reading most of the comments below... and having read some pretty good well thought out suggestive scenarios behind the meanings of each verse, which could most definitely be exact & correct,... I feel that the TRUE reason however, as to why many people who are still "trying to work it all out/solve the puzzle" is because they are still not completely satisfied with JUST accepting some of the more accurate meanings that a few people have suggestively broken down & pointed out to others, in the hopes to finally being that one person who can finally "crack the whole entire riddle" to put any of the still missing pieces to the whole "mystery" so that once & for all EVERY ONE of us can continue to carry on with our lives feeling completely satisfied that some one out there was knowledgeable, truthful & genius enough to step forward & explain how all the elements in the visuals from the video clip are connected/related to the TRUE correct meanings behind ALL of the words used in each line/verse from the 'non-sensical' written lyrics that were used in this song"....!!!
Again, I'll point out that a few people in the comments have come up with some really great "suggestive meanings behind the lyrics in trying to help finally "solve" the entire MYSTERY surrounding the song's TRUE meanings" HOWEVER... people will still not be completely SATISFIED with your explainations in trying to finalise CRACKING this MYSTERIOUS CODE for everyone, UNLESS you can also include in your explanations HOW the elements & certain objects used throughout the music clip TIE into the meaning of the LYRICS... and so, although I feel like that the few of you who have become SO accurately CLOSE to solving the entire MYSTERY.. I think that maybe EVERYONE has been too HEAVILY focused on trying to look at it too intrinsically, (which is not a bad thing per say, as it shows that you have a very intelligent opened mind that is able to GO DEEP where needed in helping you to solve life mysteries! YES you possess a GENIUS mind, but sometimes we are unable to find a satisfied solution/answer bcoz we find ourselves still fighting with our minds over whelming responses that it sometimes gives us, when we search to find our answers with each curiousity we find ourselves regularly having to question each & every motive & possibility there is to find, which usually leads us to a stage where we have to eventually LOOK towards something else, because some times our minds continue to keep processing more & newer idea's that never end & before we know it much time, many hours can often pass us by, before we suddenly realise that our thought process has become void as it's been left to journey on a spinning spiral for far too long, so we find ourselves unable to reach any conclusive destination becoz the minds process gets stuck on an never ending loop becoz it has infinite possible directions it can journey down into! This is when we must shut the mind, take a long pause & either come back to it again at a much later date when the mind has been refreshed, or accept the fact that not all our curiosities can be answered or resolved so make the decision to walk away & focus on something else a little less tedious & manageable to work out!) Apologies, as I know I've rambled on here much more than I hoped & intended to! So I'll attempt to wrap it all up as quikly as possible. Yes, we see many hidden Masonic elements, symbols & clues within the video! YES there are a few here in the comments that have done exceptionable in breaking down each lyrics TRUE meaning! YES- We want some satisfactionable Summary given to us that explains the connections of the video's masonic symbolism to the meanings behind the words in the lyrics. YES- We have ALL spent WAY too long & hard on this topic, trying to SOLVE one of the biggest baffling mystery's still lingering around us today. I believe that the Questions we are still searching for in reference to this mysterious song & suggestive clues given via the video clip, perhaps can only be found by simplifying the depth of focus we have so far used. I also think that this is WHY people have had a hard time in feeling fulfilled or satisfied with previous explanations given to help solve the Mystery & I feel the songs Project Manager whoever's idea's went towards the Video Clip in using many Masonic Illuminati symbols & references was purposely done so, to make people think that they'll never be intelligent enough to ever SOLVE their RIDDLE, and perhaps it was all designed to be this way, simply to be used as a way to DISTRACT & waste everybody's time & effort into being able to CRACK the CODE & solve its MYSTERY. So my only conclusive thought here in my last attempt to try solving the mystery/whole meaning to this song & music clip is, in one drum roll...🥁... ( I also want to invite & ask everybody what they think about this for a satisfying answer into cracking the RIDDLE) could it just be something so plain & simple as this: "QUESTION EVERYTHING" ???
Sounds Kool right ??? (I mean, that's what we have all been doing right? In our attempts to working out all the clues, and, I do think the ? Question Mark symbol which was shown at the end of the music clip, was purposely put there as the Masonic's love putting their "secret hidden" symbols & answers right in front of us ALL the time & we know that they do this bcoz it is part of their "oaths taken" in that they must present the truth to those of us who aren't initiated into their "circle". However, they are required to present the truth to us, but never out right, it has to be given to us, in a not so obvious/too obvious fashion to cause confusion to our minds, plus they all love to mock us, in thinking that they are so much brighter than the rest of us & so, this is how they do it.. hiding things in plain sight, yet leaving you clueless & to your own defenses to work out what it is you need to be asking, to question, to look for, to search, to find, to try & resolve...!! So, that said, I'd love to hear other's thoughts/feedback regarding my conclusive thought on the over all RIDDLE MYSTERY???
So the answer to this riddle is "to question everything". Alright
@@Kami.xvx. yep
Hayley. Love. You really got to find another hobby.
TLDR
@@HouseholdDog bro you haven't seen the kind of essays that pops up in music research, this is a light abstract compared to some papers I've read lmao
the riddle's real meaning is that nik is a genius.....
Exactly!! An enigma.
totally agree
If you look at the chord complexity in the riddle, its obvious he’s a genius
My Life was a Riddle before I listened this song often and now I would say it's about myself
True that!
The riddle is one of the more unique songs from the 80s. Its a true classic, that creates a slightly mysterious feeling in the listener
justmadeit2 - It does, but that's just a coincidence, as per what Nick Kershaw said.
"It doesn't mean shit, it's just gibberish we wrote while we was drunk."
Well then, riddle solved I guess.
Crab Crayon
Ha ha!
:DDDDDDDDDD
Still better lyrics than most modern music.
All* 😅
What a lovely guy
ARIEL LUX
Still really hot, too.
2degucitas wish guys looked like that now days, i love his outfit in the riddle, so fucking attractive 😂
He sounds so cute and charming...i love his laugh
As a kid I didn't care what the lyrics meant, I just knew it was good and made me feel happy.
Genius, music will never be the same again. Nik, "they don't make them like that anymore". Me, you are bloody right
I agree! Music back then was so different and unique. Todays music sounds the same (well, most do, in my opinion).
I could just listen and look at him all day,
Nik's reaction to the egg on the guy's head is priceless 😂
It could still mean something. There's such a thing as an ecstatic creative experience, where you turn off your brain and passively allow your mind to create. It could be like a song written by the guy in the back of your head that drops random ideas and songs into your consciousness, like a Freudian slip but on a larger scale.
It's odd. Parts of it sound like a real song. Like "There's a tree by a river..." or the bit about wise men, an old man whose mind is a beacon.
Almost like a fary tale. Shame he couldn't try harder and come up with something better.
"I am the Walrus" had dummy lyrics, yet there may be things about it subconsciosly, such as Lennon's personality fragmenting, subconscious anxieties, fear of death. The line "The joker laughs at you" is a hint that it's a joke song.
I agree but lets keep Freud out of it, that's the opposite force..
@handsomebrick, no ...it means fuck all, the person that wrote it just told you that , ...near a tree by a river there`s a hole in the ground , where an old man of arron goes around and around . in his mind he`s a beacon in the veil of the night for a strange kind of fashion theres a wrong and a right , but we`ll never never fight over you.....no if you can make any sense from that ....get help......
Is that also where my weird ass dreams come from?
@@davidhaney1394 An old man spends his days thinking near a tree by a river. He previously did some wrongs for the love of his girlfriend and moved to America. Though he's had some bad times, the man became wise, symbolic of a black bird, and he's happy upon his bluebird hill (bluebirds symbolize happiness). He learnt to overcome his sinful lust, and though many a men try to fight over this girl, that man has learnt to do otherwise.
Or some other BS someone else comes up with when they're drunk.
Imagine being opsessed your whole life with solving a riddle your favorite artist put in a song only for him to tell you it's all nonsense years later.
Also is it only me ?? But his voice almost same and you soo handsomeee 😂😂♥️
So I'm right in not focusing on the lyrics. I only recently got obsessed with this song, and what really keeps me listening to it over and over is the harmony playing between minor and major tones endlessly. There are parts in the verses where the melody goes from major to minor without really needing to, but what it ends up doing is, it makes the track get a certain sense of mystery that's definitely intentional given the song's general theme.
I'm just a sucker for stuff like this, honestly.
The last chorus is a half step up from the first one. Always a "wait what?"
I devoted the last 30 years of my life to solving this.
NOW he's telling me it was all nonsense.
Excuse me I have a lot of yarn to remove from my corkboard.
Nik was incredibly beautiful back in the day.
Am I the only one that finds his voice real soothing from 1:40 onwards? Would be nice to listen to an audiobook read by Nik
Wouldn't it be good.
@@the_katman2181 😅😅
Nik Kershaw ....you rock!! Absolutely gorgeous song. Mythical, legendary, cultural, tribal, ancient, mysterious, crazy carnival, abstract, artistic and rhythmical....totally 'the riddle'....love it
This showed a few extra scenes the video for the riddle. The egg getting cracked over the guy's head plus the bright light in the locker. the vid I saw had the guy with a mouse/rat on his head instead of the egg and the locker reaction had us looking out of the locker at Nik as he looked like he'd just opened a box of stink.
I have a slight memory of hearing the Version of Gigi d'Agostino on the radio as a child and the intro made the song sound like middle age / knight aera like to me and i also pictured the song in my mind like that. I think it was later that i heard the original version of it. It is still on of my favourites song to this day.
One of my favorite songs ever. Love all of it, the chords, the sound, the melody.. and the nonsense lyrics as well. The acoustic version is also as great as the original.
If Nik (or Frank 😉) will ever decide do a re-arrangement, maybe with the amazing sound he has now, IMHO “The Riddle” would surely get huge success as the original did.
Yes, Nik is a Genius. 👍🏻
Wow....Nick is still hot at that age. Another version of Sean Connnery.
For years I thought he was saying "no you'll never never fight a whale!"
twitchygiraffe
And...that's why the giraffe is so twitchy.
❤ Nik the riddle has kept me going since 84 never think it was silly it's one of the best songs ever OK 🎉😊
ahhh we love it all Nik. Nobody does it like you, and that's the best song ever. Thanks Nik.
You wrote a song about the dreams I had as a child about the old man , going around a hole in the ground, and the tree. He looked to be an old wise man. Maybe, just maybe, you are describing the actual riddle of life! Solve X for Y!!
They don't make them like that anymore. Sad but true
Yes now they have 20 people writing on a song that nobody will remember in 10 years, 30 years later we still listen to Nick`s songs
That's so true
There are good songs and talents out there, we just don't get to know them through the mainstream pop business anymore.
Lovely stuff. Thanks for sharing
Do you have ANY idea how many hours I put into delving the deeper meaning of this song??!! You're lucky you're so bloody great or I'd be annoyed. I wore out two copies of that cassette between highschool and college.
I spent YEARS visiting every library possible, asking anyone who might be able to help, teachers, etc. Thanks to the internet, I finally understand there's nothing to understand!
One of the best songs ever. 80's seems to be good times.
Thank you for creating and sharing the video. I had to admit that he got nice hair in the 80s and surrealism theme was a norm in the music videos
I've loved NK since I was a young teen, but I don't think I've ever forgiven him for the dedication on the inner sleeve thanking Marcel Duchamp for The Riddle and the decades of confusion that followed 🤣
Remember to turn down your volume before the next video
I always considered the song to be about a dream, ive had a few myself that don't make sense. Surprised to hear Nik kershaw's explanation, he says it was randomn nonsense but was he influenced by a dream that he could not remember but was sublimnally influenced by?
Now I look at it with this new information... It really is gibberish.
He can pump out some pretty cool phrases off the top of his head though.
This song has a meaning: its the human mind, and it's process of grouth, from childhood to old age. The little girl at the begining represents sexuality, even if you are a man, your inner mind has a feminine side; in young age she is trying to discard childhood and is looking for something, finding itself. The main character, or Nik represents the conscious mind, and wants to have contact with his inner self, in a trip of self discovery. The little girl escapes from him; she only exists in the subconscious. The old man represents the furture; the "hole in the ground" represents the Tao; or nothingness, focus of scholars from all times. Nik encounters a barrier he cannot have contact with his future self, only see him. The woman that comes from the "hole in the ground", is the truth; object of worship, and pursue of wise men. He will discover the truth. The riddler is the ruler of the subcounscious mind, careless. The other woman, dressed in black is a mature sexuality. Books burning? memories being erased by the present. The bald wise man; the super ego; lives outside the subconcious, but learns from it. HE will never fight over you, (future), but for truth.
Woooow, you're on the best way to solve the riddle! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, now I see this song differently.
@@itsmelissa5788 Glad i helped.
He himself said that people wrote to him about answers to it and that some were actually right . So it’s definitely about something, he just won’t say!
Amazing music, chord progression, beautiful singing!👏👏🍺😎👍
yOU COULD HAVE LIED TO US, NIK!
Great guy, super song. Just bought it on iTunes (greatest hits version sounds clearer).
Most art is nonsense, the fun is what you make out of it. 👍🏻
I actually like it, as u say its a riddle, uncertain. I like to imagine it as some sort of adventure going through the uncertainty of the world but still march and keep drumming :3
Its like the reflex Duran Duranthose lyrics are all over the place and the person who wrote it and sings it really doesn't know what he wrote it about Simon but its a great song anyway, its catchy LOL
Nonsense lyrics and chord progression but absolute classic tune. Some of my favourite songs are ones that are impossible to understand but they create a kind of mood or image or take you to another place. I love Bob Dylan's music for this reason too.
OMG!!! He's still HOT!!!!
Also, because of him....I did my hair like this in the 80's!
Stacey P me tooooooo
S P
I'm female and even I did my hair like this sometimes. For clubbing. My kids snort laugh at the pics.
He’s even hotter!
He seems really cool
Could still be hidden meanings though
who cares about the lyrics those chord switches are amazing for the bazaar melody. Great Music.
even if the lyrics are nonsense.....it's my fav song of all time
Nik Kershaw has aged well. Very underrated artist, at his best was on par with sting in terms of talent
My love i love You My Nik kershaw
The amount of inatruments and how they play together in thia rythnic enigma has always been.. well an enigma for me to learn and construct for my own projects
You are a legend 😊 Thank you for the music. You're a big influence on my musicality. What is the setup in Nik's studio? I'd love to know..
so basically... you heard voices and wrote down stuff they told you to without you understanding it. i'll go with that. yes.
- sobs in the corner -
😂😂😂😢
Funny I think that people were so "passionate" that the song meant something is nothing to do with being unsatisfied of it being solved but more to do with that they were so invested in the image in their head that over time became their truth. Knowing it means nothing means that their self proclaimed story need not be heard regardless of how detailed and well thought out. After all we do like to be heard. "What will I say if I cant talk about myself" Nik Kershaw 15 minutes
Im like the only one my age who listen to this kinda music ( im 13 lol )
No. There's millions of kids your age, younger and older
Barrel 999 yea but most kids my age doesn’t listen to nik,
@@AN-jf6fp I'm sure there is
Barrel 999 i’m sure of it too i’m just saying *most* of the kids my age doesn’t listen to nik
@@AN-jf6fp yeah
I just realized that there are variations in the clips. Indeed, there is another version used by VEVO with different images at certain moments of the song
What a great and honest story !
Has anyone asked an AI to decipher the riddle? Maybe when we have AGI, the riddle will be solved.
I was so confused by this song as a kid. I listened many times trying to understand it, what is he saying?!
I knew that mullet wasn’t physically possible to achieve without constant maintenance.
the fun part is that the lyrics being nonsense is what always made it special to me... i was too young and too bad with english to even understand anything. My favourite song back then and still one of my favourites today, for that exact reason. The "meaning" didnt change even with my english skills increasing.
thank you nik for sharing your thoughts on your masterpiece- (can anyone tell me where "the riddle" was filmed please?- during the video I can see some semi-detached houses in the background- blink and youll miss it!)
I love to meet him bet he a nice man
Love it!
I remember kids at school writing all the words down and trying to solve it. LOL I just thought it was a great song and didn't need solving. I still listen to Nick's music today. Great 80s memories.
Tree by the river, hole in the ground is a location
Man of Aran is an old movie reference
The theme of that movie is what is going around and around
It's not going to fight over you. It's life itself. No need to fight.
Babylon is the world, blessings of Babylon means he was born alive here, healthy. With two strong arms, as is natural.
To America the brave (bravery has to do with fighting). Telling Americans they don't need to fight. If they were wise, they wouldn't.
Aran, is Azerbaijan, or Ireland? It's all ambiguous.
@@liam3284 could be Iran too
This is about honesty and a cute creative curly mind !
great ever and ever
Musical and lyrical genius.
In fact a lot of artists do right nonsense lyrics, it's not to confuse the people, it's simply to just say bollocks to the normality of lyric stories. Cheers
He's a great hit maker
Not at all , nick went a narrator , but is wich for glory ....makes him ...explain for is fans (glory) why he make it ! But a narrator can not interfer with history !!!
Love Nik 💕
Shoot, I'm told I speak nonsense a lot! No wonder this made sense! Lololol.
And I was so besotted with him....love his everything.
Wouldn’t It Be Good if we knew the meaning of The Riddle?
It’s so Celtic and lots of other things
The song of a troubadour
It looks like a big dream and that's what it was back then :D The Video is very similar to dreams that I have so that must have been on purpose.
When you try to understand your dreams it really is like a riddle someone else must have created, the same goes for your purpose in real life but somehow that doesn't matter to us as long as we are satisfied. You have everything bouncing around, entertaining you but in the end you work for others, who are bigger than you.
The Riddler being bigger than this little world/room of that guy always looking further, which in the end forms a question mark really is genius.
And now I realized it's not even his room, he somehow broke into it.
If I believed in something bigger than me, that has a personal relation to me it would also more likely be a riddler than a god :D
The riddle is the meaning in itself. It's "unsolvable" as it was meant to be this way.
Bardzo przystojny facet jak był młody normalnie ciacho, ale teraz też jest bardzo przystojny 💋👌💗
It's like Waiting for Godot but in song form. The writers say it doesn't mean anything but nobody believes them.
What if the statement is not true? Couldn‘t he talk like that just to distract from the fact that there IS a solution to the riddle?
In my opinion it sounds like the description of a map. And if you knew certain places and signs, you could easily decrypt the map…
Ah Nik. I just don't want to believe it's nonsense.
I can't do it.
Excuse me, but I reckon that
Near a tree by a river
There's a hole in the ground
Where an old man of Aran
Goes around and around
And his mind is a beacon
In the veil of the night
For a strange kind of fashion
There's a wrong and a right
is far from nonsense, thank you very much. :D Did you listen to recent pop music lately?
Awww 2:25 ♡
The whole complicated arragement in 10 minutes. wow.
What is strong with this music is that even with the words of nonsense the brain ended up creates auditory hallucinations, to find one.
("Near a tree by a river
There's a hole in the ground")
I can hear :
"Never dream by ride the hall in underground"
And I'm sure everyone can find a personal thing of the same style in this music.
it comes down to if life does not make sense, then give in one.
hearing aid!!
Riddler? Batman? He looks like Micheal Keaton?! I SOLVED IT!!!
nice
I was bashing my head for years what he was talking about and hiding in this fucking confusing lyrics...until he committed it makes no sense...
Thomas Dolby brother from another mother.
Too easy an explanation. Nik is a genius. And that’s it.
Lyrics have some deeper sense but not always authour understand what he is writing about.
Lol that explains alot ,it sounds like the lyric was written by poorly trained AI
Ill say it again 😅 Its a tree, windmill, a statue and clouds in the sea. Everyone's imagination is different 😂 ❤
For a so-called "gibberish song" that challenged a lot of Nik Kershaw fans to think that its lyrics is a rhythmically-designed song guide that means nothing, there is an internet-wide effort to promote that it has no meaning as claimed by the master musician himself. And the so-called riddle solutions are nowhere to be found.
A pro boxer or martial artist doing free style shadowboxing is a sight to behold with all the discipline embedded in each move. Even a hysterical wife turn into a precise historical rapper in the heat of a trance.
Therefore an educated, grammer-trained, historically-aware, socially active man, writing a lyrics in an era with politically/religious/socially-conscious people, would not snatch rhymes and context from nothing.
And the well-selected proper nouns sync with world issues at that time and encapsulated it in a song. The multiple layers of meaning is well-embedded with generic words.
Why would the song start with Babylon in the fertile crescent that brought forth a civilization that gives the current legal system and the biblical center of language.
Why would America the brave be so wise, a so-called savior (Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, anyone?)? Count thy sins, and "false alarms" that destroyed lands and people? Are there no weapon of mass destruction found? Oh sorry, now you're all free men.
Why and how come a strangely-dressed man (Ireland, Iran, Iraq, Israel? Seed of Abraham, a native of... Where again?) Qualify as a moral leader leader (wrong and right) and yet becomes a central figure (beacon of light) that goes round and round? (Preaching, rallying, exploring?)
And there's some other wise men fighting over who?
Are they crafting/cooking dirty plans in the scullery something that is anything but light/good in the middle of the night?Otherwise they would be in the living room during siesta. Scary schemers?
Now who rules the world with gold and petrocurrency?
What kind of wise men fold when it comes to money?
(Philosophers ? politicians? Religious leaders? Scientists? Do they?)
But they never ever fight over you? (Thinkers not necessarily doers? Minority? Opposition? Its just business? In the pursuit of knowledge/ happiness).
And when these petro/gold powers conquered and burned the history of the conquered. What better way to preserve history but thru a good song that will forever be sung and remembered and passed on... like this song.
Even the liberal and communist will remember, they never forget.
Are these issues related to the current world status? Or in the 80s?
I think this is too much random rambling so i'll stop for now. I guess this comment is also rubbish.
By the way way the lyrics is poetically done much earlier than the video.
Enlightened me about the different kind of self-proclaimed WISE MEN in this world and their agenda. But who will really never ever fight for you in the end.
But the beautifully done video is just a marketing tool that has nothing to do with he creative process of the lyrics.
I think the real meaning of The Riddle is "enjoy it as it is, and stop over-analyzing everything".
I saw someone do a breakdown of the song referring to some parts as satisfying and a masterpiece because they couldn't figure out why it was written the way it was.. Turns out it was all nonsense lol
Cool😂
He's trying to deceive us from the true hidden meaning ;)
The beauty of the Riddle is that is nonsense but wonderful nonsense.