The ‘most mysterious song on the internet’ has FINALLY been identified – and it’s an 80s rock hit

One of the internet’s most baffling puzzles has finally been solved as the identity of ‘the most mysterious song on the internet’ is uncovered.

Since it first appeared online in 2007, this obscure song has confounded an obsessive community of online sleuths.

But almost 20 years later, the mysterious tune has now been identified as a lost German rock hit from the 1980s.

The track is called ‘Subways Of the Mind’, first recorded in 1983 by the band FEX.

Below, you can listen to a full version of the song provided by 68-year-old former FEX band member Michael Hädrich.

Members of the Reddit community r/ThatMysteriousSong managed to track down Mr Hädrich via a local talent contest they had appeared in during the 80s.

Speaking to Munich news outlet TZ, Mr Hädrich said he had no idea that the song he and his friends recorded more than 40 years ago had such a devoted following.

And, in good news for new fans, the band now plans to get back together to record a new version of the internet’s most mysterious song.

Reddit users managed to identify the lost song as ‘Subways of Your Mind’ by the band FEX which was first recorded in 1983. By tracking down the original band members, the investigators even managed to find the original demo cassette of the song (pictured)

The song ‘Subways of Your Mind’ was first recorded onto a cassette by a teenager in 1984.

It isn’t confirmed, but the most likely case is that the song was playing on German radio station NDR1 during a programme called Musik Für Junge Leute or ‘Music for Young People’.

Over 20 years later, in 2007, their sister uploaded the strange track to several music forums, asking if anyone knew the song name or artist.

In 2019, a curious Reddit user rediscovered the song and posted it in 44 music subreddits, leading to the creation of the song-hunting community r/TheMysteriousSong.

The song remained just another internet mystery until later that year when YouTuber Justin Whang uploaded a video titled ‘The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet – Tales From the Internet’.

The resulting attention turned the search for the song into an international sensation which even led to the radio station ‘Radio Eins’ playing the track on air.

However, after years of false leads, hoaxes, and dead ends it was only this week that the identity of the song has been revealed.

The investigators had narrowed down their search to bands which performed in Hörfest, an annual showcase of local bands sponsored by the Hamburg public broadcaster, during the early 1980s. 

The song was recorded by a teenager who heard it playing on the radio in 1984. In 2007, his sister posted the song online (pictured) and began asking whether anyone could identify the lost song. The first known rip of those original posts was uploaded to YouTube in 2011 under the title ‘Like The Wind’ by ‘Statues in Motion’

A Reddit user named marijn1412 spotted a reference to a band named FEX in a German newspaper clipping (pictured) which described them as ‘Rock with Wave and Pop influences’. Intrigued marijn1412 contacted one of the band members who shared the original demo recording. 

That still left a list of hundreds of band names, many of which had left little to no trace online.

The breakthrough came when a Reddit user named marijn1412 posted that they had come across an article in the regional newspaper Nordwest Zeitung.

Marijn1412 wrote: ‘The article was about a band called FEX from Kiel, who won a talent contest in Bremen in [September] 1984 and their music was described as Rock with Wave and Pop influences.’

The investigator recognised one of the band members, Michael Hädrich, as a member of a band called Phret which had played at Hörfest in 1983.

Tracking down Mr Hädrich, marijn1412 explained the search for the mysterious song and asked if they had any of their old recordings from their time with FEX.

And, in the collection of tracks which Mr Hädrich shared was one almost exactly matching the most mysterious song on the internet.

Although it was a slightly different recording, the mysterious track was undeniable ‘Subways of Your Mind’.

After realising what they had found marijn1412 agreed to wait for Mr Hädrich to contact the other members of the band and register the song with the GEMA, a German organization for musicians, before going public.

The original demo recordings (pictured) were provided by band member Michael Hädrich who says the band are now preparing for a reunion to re-record the lost track 

In their post, marijn1412 wrote: ‘I’m sure there will be a lot of questions and I hope the band can answer these themselves in the future. I’m just glad and relieved the search is over.’

In the days since the discovery, the members of the band have been swept up in a wave of publicity.

Mr Hädrich’s daughter wrote on the subreddit that her father was booked out for weeks with interviews, media appearances, and other plans.

The community have also been assessing additional evidence submitted by the members of FEX including original studio recordings, live performances of the songs, and witnesses from the studio sessions.

Speaking to local media, Mr Hädrich says: ‘None of us had heard of this internet phenomenon, mainly because the title of the song was not known on the internet and therefore there was no connection.

‘We were all completely surprised and overwhelmed by the really nice comments and contributions.’

The members of FEX are now planning a reunion to re-record a version of ‘Subways of Your Mind’ and to shoot a music video for the song.

Meanwhile, members of r/ThatMysteriousSong are already looking for the next lost track to rediscover.