Teacher: The test isn’t hard The first question in the test:

I think this song represents the moment of confusion before sleep, when you think about random words and images

It's incredible how the 80's has produced the best songs ever. It still amazes me.

I am now 15, but have been listening to this song for 40 years now...

"For a strange kind of fashion, there's a wrong and a right." Coming from the guy with the best mullet of the 80's, I have to believe that.

The chord sequence is insane. Random key changes where they technically shouldn't be. Genius.

It's 2024 is anyone still listening to this? 🤔

From 1984 totp to 2024 still incredible. Truly wish they still made music like this. The 80's were and always will be the best in my heart for music. Thanks Nik. ❤️ 🙏

i want to give this song to my literature teacher, she told us every song has a meaning

Nik Kershaw: the first person in escape room ever XD

I am a music teacher and these chord changes are brilliant , from a F minor to a A major is really unique !

One of the best songs ever.

I haven't heard this song in ages and didn't know its name. Now I feel like a part of my childhood has been retrieved

As a 17 year old portuguese boy back in 1984 who didn't really know the lyrics I used to sing some made up stuff. It took me 35 years to realize that what I sang back then made as much sense as this song's real lyrics. :)

Так как я из России, мне никто не ответит и лайк не поставит, но, наконец то я нашёл прекрасное видео на одну из моих любимых композиций 80-х годов, которую я услышал на одной из болгарских контрафактных пластинок. Спасибо, НИК!!!!

ずっと探していた曲です。中学生の時、ラジオから良く 流れていた。懐かしい。名曲です。

The owners of that house are going to come back and say oh the riddler security system we set up worked really well.

This song still has more meaning than most modern pop songs...

2024---60yrs old and still loving it

I was 9 years old. After 40 years I still love this song. Now as then.

This song doesn't make any sense. It's wonderful!

Nik Kershaw himself has said in interviews that the lyrics aren't meant to make any sense. It's lyrical nonsense, but enjoyable nonsense

NIK KERSHAW,TRUE LEGEND.I LOVE 80-S.

Can still remember how I loved this as a kid growing up and wondering now how such a young guy as Nik was then could come up with such sophisticated stuff. The lyrics meant nothing as an 8 year old but I have a good musical ear and the melody captivated me I recall. I still love this today.

One minute of silence for the ones who didn‘t find this song.

I was a happier person before I saw the wall with lips.

I can’t believe I am crying so happy watching 80s videos. My youth ❤❤❤❤❤

ive literally searched for this song for 2 years now and finally found it. I couldnt remember the lyrics just the tune, and anyone who i asked told me that the tune is familiar but they have no clue. FINALLY!!!!

2:39 nostalgia hits me hard, what a legend tune

I think Nik Kershaw is vastly under rated. His songs are all excellent and the musicians he used were very good as well.

I play this song on a public piano in train stations sometimes. Only people in their 40s and up look at me and smile.

One of the songs that defined my youth. Nik was the first gig I was allowed to go to with a friend by ourselves, we were 13 and I still remember it. The 80's was just a great time to be alive.

One of coolest hairstyles of the 80s

This melody is so beauty and strange at the same time

The riddle is why is he so underrated? He is a very talented musician and songwriter, and really handsome

J ai vécu les années 80❤ pure beauté. Wish I coud go back in time to the 80's and leave this empty sinister 2000..2010..2023..etc yrs.

This is a very complex song. Those chord changes are profound for an 80s hit song, and the lyrics, while nonsensical, are fun to sing and have a great flow, they work really well with the rhythm. If you're a musician, try make a cover of this song just to appreciate how intricate it is.

Excellent song by Nik Kershaw, very underrated singer...

One of the very best songs of 80’

I got two strong arms Blessings of Babylon Time to carry on and try For sins and false alarms So to America the brave Wise men save 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 But he'll never, never fight over you I got plans for us Nights in the scullery And days instead of me I only know what to discuss Oh, for anything but light Wise men fighting over you It's not me you see Pieces of valentine And just a song of mine To keep from burning history Seasons of gasoline and gold Wise men fold 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 But he'll never, never fight over you I got time to kill Sly looks in corridors Without a plan of yours A blackbird sings on bluebird hill Thanks to the calling of the wild Wise men's child 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 But he'll never, never fight 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 But he'll never, never fight over you No he'll never, never fight over you

The 80's is strong with this one

"The Riddle," Nik Kershaw. Released 19 November 1984. It will be 32 years old this month! Today is 06 Nov. 2016. Time flies!

Saw Nik Kershaw last night live with Go West in Brisbane Australia. Great night and Talent

Means a lot to me this song. It was the song I was forced to dance to at a scout meeting. Weird thing is, i just owned that dance and ever since I felt like a winner in life. I might have been scared once but never again

This has to be the catchiest song of all time, it's impossible to listen to this only once

I was and still am completely obsessed with this song

I am not a music teacher and these chord changes are brilliant , from a F minor to a A major is really unique !

I love how absolutely random and weird music videos were in the 80s.

This song is kinda like my dreams, they never make sense but I like them

I've heard this song on the radio or in passing throughout my entire life and never picked up the title or who did it. I called it "That pirate song" because of the whistling melody. In recent years I'd try remember the lyrics so I could Google search them when I got home. Always forgotten. Now finally, FINALLY I have found it!

I just realized that these lyrics are DEEP!!!...Being grown-up with that music and now 35 it's a good result...

This is one of the best 80s songs I have ever heard!

Still a classic. My sister was buying Nik Kershaw records and I was buying Kim Wilde records in the 80's. It's been great to see them on stage together since then.

When you take shrooms before breaking into someone's house.

I read somewhere that the music that's really hardwired into you is the stuff you listen to from between 10 and 15 years of age. So happy for 1982-1987 . :)

i was only a kid in the 80’s and had this tune on the tip of my tongue for weeks but just couldn’t figure out what i was trying to remember, randomly started whistling it the other day then whistled it into google song search and here i am 🙌🏻 what an absolute banger this is and brings back a shit ton of memories. i’m gonna use this melody in a bounce track now i’ve tracked it down 😀

Fan: What does this lyric mean? Nik: Nothing. It just rhymed.

The dislikes are old men of Aran going around the hole near a tree by the river

Nik Kershaw is such an underrated songwriter.

It's a happy and optimistic sweet song like a modern day fairy tale from an era we loved and still do🙏💙

This song was stuck on my head an entire week, i hated it x'D Now it's gone... Now I miss it ;-;

This song contains one of the most ear catching melodies ever written & once you have heard this song once & up to a thousand times the melody just sticks in your head like glue & you whistle & hum it until everybody around you just gets cheesed off! I am sure a symphony can be written based on this melody. Love the hair style by the way, real 1980's!

This song is a masterpiece!!! Thank you Nik Kershaw

I aspire to be a music teacher and these chord changes are brilliant , from a F minor to a A major is really unique !

Nik Kershaw lived next door to my uncle with his parents when he hit it big, my cousin had the biggest crush on him & kept inviting her mates round to prove he was next door lol he was bloody short though

Dude invented escape rooms lol.

This song is absolutelly well made! I love how everything fits in such an abstract way, but yet very tonal with such a great chorus!

When you ask a local for directions in Cornwall. 'Near a tree by a river'.....

This song proves that not every good song needs a meaning behind it.

Love this song. Takes me back in time,when life was simple.

The Green Riddler represents Kershaws personal journey to find the meaning /truth about life the universe and everything and that he personally found it in the ancient persian teachings of Zoroaster of Aran .

The melody is stucking in my head and I can't lose it! No, I am not complaining ;)

Not gonna lie but his Outifit is absolutelly SICK 👌

The superb sound of the 1980’s with Nick Kershaw and his “The Riddle” which was a mish mash of lyrics that meant absolutely nothing at all but nevertheless a fantastic tune from a superb decade for popular music.

80's MUSIC NEVER DIES !

The 80's music was the best ever made!

was 11 years old german blond boy...a destroyed kid w. bad family. now im a strong tall man with big heart who fights for his friends. think. back hard times when i hear this song. really strong experience

I love video clips from 1980's there were so much creativity in it.

A score that's an absolute rollercoaster ride and lyrics that make absolutely no sense. One of the best pieces of music there is :D

"The Riddle" I got two strong arms Blessings of Babylon Time to carry on and try For sins and false alarms So to America the brave Wise men save 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 But he'll never, never fight over you I got plans for us Nights in the scullery And days instead of me I only know what to discuss Oh, for anything but light Wise men fighting over you It's not me you see Pieces of valentine And just a song of mine To keep from burning history Seasons of gasoline and gold Wise men fold 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 But he'll never, never fight over you I got time to kill Sly looks in corridors Without a plan of yours A blackbird sings on bluebird hill Thanks to the calling of the wild Wise men's child 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 But he'll never, never fight 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 But he'll never, never fight over you No he'll never, never fight over you

This is the most 80s music there is. And I love it.

I have 29 years old but i love listen old music is the best they are master pieces of art

Dear Nik Kershaw: Where have you been all my life?!!! 😂 This work has all the ingredients I look for when I feel like listening to good music👏👏

Ed Nigma trying to confuse an '80s singer for zero reason, I guess Batman was having the day off or something :S

The best part of this song is that you can actually try to figure out what is this song all about to just find out that the lyrics are completely random at the end

The riddle. Still love this as much to this day. Its a gorgeous melody of written nonsense but it works. It's beautiful.

Singing fantastic words along with a mysterious melody. This is one of the best Nick Kershaw songs.

Love this song 'cause it's more on prog-art rock territory than it's on the pop-music territory. Those "insane" chord sequences and key changes - even instruments arrangement - brilliant!

He was really cute ❤️

Amazing this is what you call music 🤘♥️👍

A song that lives forever

2017 and this is still much better than anything you listen to nowadays.

The 1980s were the best decade for music

Best songs, best movies, best fashion, best cars. All in one single decade.

Génial la coupe 👍 il ressemble a Stephen de vampires diaries😅 c'est l'une des plus belles chansons que j'ai entendu de ma vie ❤️

so handsome and so beautiful eyes nik 😍

I've analysed this song in my philosophy class. Although the singer claimed that the lyrics are all nonesense and so it seems on first glance, but no piece of art is made entirely out of nonesense, even surrealism or dadaism have deeper psychological meanings. I don't want to go on full detail here, but maybe you're interested. The music video is heavily inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice , surrealism paintings and even pop culture (Riddler in Batman). The lyrics itself are quite religious if you think about it: We have Babylon, an old man of Aran-which also sounds like Aaron,(there are actually some islands) shows similarities of a false prophet, and light vs darkness references, beacon-night etc. The whole thing is more a nightmare than a happy dream. There are 3 main characters : Nik- the singer, who just tries to figure out what's going on and find a way out. The Riddler: can travel anywhere and is making fun of us ( shows evil characteristics ) The old man : a searcher , seeks an answer , and only person outside the box. These 3 are somehow linked to each other. How? -Well that's your part to figure out now. Take care and stay healthy. *Edit:* I'm glad to have given you something to think about and I'm open for arguments and suggestions in the comments - as philosophy is shaped not only in one's mind but also in dialogue with others (see Sokrates). This song has a lot to do with uncertainty and fears in life, especially getting old, the desire to be young, having control over every situation, solving every problem (riddle). But reality is that we are not always in control , can't escape reality or getting old- vanitas symbols in the video. Basically this song is a metaphor for life. As for the 3 main characters: Aristotle divided soul into three parts (see nikomachean ethics) - however you can also bring a more psychological approach to it (Freud's It - Ego - Superego). Well maybe all is wrong and nothing makes sense, but you see it's just human to look for an answer, sense, for logic and order in this chaotic universe in which we find ourselves sometimes lost like the singer here and not everything makes always sense. Even if you could understand everything which is impossibible, it wouldn't change reality or the course of time or make you even happier - (see Plato's cave). The universe continues whether you understand it or not. As for what the singer has said that's all nonsense: Yes maybe, but sometimes artists create something in their creative process without even realizing how much their subconscious and their world view and life experience plays an important role during that process. In the end, it doesn't really matter if it makes sense or not. The meaning of this is like the meaning of life- *you* give it a meaning for yourself. Take care.

What an incredibly rich song this is.

Still one of my favourite songs from my childhood. I turn 21 this year and i thank my parents for making me grow up with this song

I remember listening to this as a 6 year old feeling how it felt so meaningful. Like it was the song of my whole life.