"The Riddle" is a song by English singer-songwriter

Nik Kershaw Nicholas David Kershaw (born 1 March 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Kershaw came to prominence in 1984 as a solo artist. He released eight singles that entered the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart during the ...

, released in 1984 as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from his second studio album of the same name. Kershaw described the lyrical content as being nondescript to fill as a "guide vocal" for the production. It reached number three on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and peaked within the top 10 in countries like Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand. An accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was made for the song and features references to

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

's book ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a ...

'' (1865). The song was covered by many artists, including

Gigi D'Agostino Luigino Celestino di Agostino (; born 17 December 1967), known professionally as Gigi D'Agostino (), is an Italian DJ, remixer, singer and record producer. In 1986, he started his career as a DJ spinning Italo disco. His biggest chart successes ...

(1999) and

Jack Holiday Christian Korcan, better known by his stage name Jack Holiday, is a Swiss DJ, record producer and songwriter, and considered a renowned figure in Swiss house music, well known for his collaborations with Swiss DJs Mike Candys and Christopher S. T ...

and

Mike Candys Michael David Kull (; born 20 August 1981), better known as Mike Candys (), is a Swiss record producer and DJ. He is managed by Mevlan D. Musical career In 2008, Candys became widely known in Switzerland with the song "La Serenissima". In 2009 h ...

(2012).

Lyrics

The "riddling" lyrics caused speculation among listeners as to their meaning; Kershaw states that there is in fact no intended meaning at all, the words simply being a "guide vocal" thrown together to fit the music. Kershaw has stated: "In short, 'The Riddle' is nonsense, rubbish, bollocks, the confused ramblings of an 80s popstar."

Music video

The music video to "The Riddle" depicts Kershaw walking through a house shaped like a question mark, making his way through certain obstacles and looking through drawers while singing. The video depicts many references to

's book ''

'' (1865) with an appearance of a young girl exiting the room through a small door, two portly gentlemen who resemble

Tweedledum and Tweedledee Tweedledum and Tweedledee are characters in an English nursery rhyme and in Lewis Carroll's 1871 book ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There''. Their names may have originally come from an epigram written by poet John Byrom. The ...

and an observation made by Kershaw to ''

Through the Looking-Glass ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (also known as ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' or simply ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the ...

'' (1871). At the beginning of the music video, Kershaw is seen trying to get through a door with a screwdriver. The video ends with the camera moving up away from Kershaw to reveal that the question mark is lying in an alleyway, at which point, a man in a green costume seen earlier in the video comes and picks it up. The green man is the

Riddler The Riddler (Edward Nigma, later Edward Nygma or Edward Nashton) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bill Finger and Dick Sprang, and debuted in ''Detective Comics'' #140 in Oc ...

, a villain from the

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

comics. Two versions of the video exist, with minor differences.

Track listing

7" Single (WEA NIK 6)
A "The Riddle" - 3:52
B "Progress" (Live) - 3:02 12" Single (WEA NIKT 6)
A "The Riddle" (Extended Riddle) - 5:08
B "Progress" (Live) - 3:02 Cassette Single (WEA NIKC 6)
A1 "The Riddle" - 3:52
A2 "Interview"
A3 "Progress" (Live) - 3:02
B1 "

I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" is a song by English singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw from his debut studio album, ''Human Racing'' (1984). It was his first single, released on 9 September 1983 to limited success. When re-released on 4 June 19 ...

" (Extended Mix)
B2 "

Wouldn't It Be Good "Wouldn't It Be Good" is a song by English singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw, released on 20 January 1984 as the second single from his debut studio album, ''Human Racing'' (1984). The release was Kershaw's second single, and features the non-album t ...

" (Extended Mix)

Credits

"The Riddle"
Produced by Peter Collins "Progress"
Recorded Live at

Hammersmith Odeon The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ha ...

.
Mixed by

Simon Boswell Simon Boswell (born 15 October 1956) is a BAFTA-nominated British film score composer, conductor, producer and musician, with more than 100 credits to his name. He is known for combining mainly electronic elements with orchestral. Biography A ...

"The Riddle (Extended Riddle)"
Produced by Peter Collins
The extended mix is named "Special Extended Mix" on the cover and "Extended Riddle" on the label.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Gigi D'Agostino version

"The Riddle" was covered as a

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

song by Italian DJ

, featuring uncredited vocals by British singer Adam Austin. This version was released on D'Agostino's second studio album, ''

L'Amour Toujours "L'amour toujours" (also named "I'll Fly with You") is a song co-written and recorded by the Italian DJ Gigi D'Agostino. The song was released to American clubs and dance radio in July 2000. In Europe, the song was released in October 2000. The ...

'' (1999). The same lyrics are used as in Kershaw's song, but the order is changed and the tempo is faster.

Music video

The music video, which was made by

Andreas Hykade Andreas Hykade (born 1968 in Altötting, Bavaria) is a German animator, cartoonist, and voice actor. Before studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart from 1988 to 1990, he attended König-Karlmann-Gymnasium Altötting. He worked as an ani ...

, features '' La Linea''-styled animation like the " Bla Bla Bla" music video (both of which feature the same humanoid character), taking place entirely with white lines on a light green background and features the aforementioned character fighting a dragon on a mountainous terrain.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Jack Holiday and Mike Candys version

"The Riddle" was covered as a

song by Swiss DJs

and

. It was retitled "The Riddle Anthem" and released in November 2012.

Charts

Other cover versions

In 1999, Lightforce released an instrumental dance cover of the song titled "Take Your Time (The-Riddle '99)". In 2009, the Italian group

Prezioso & Marvin Prezioso & Marvin is an Italo dance dance trio group founded in 1999 and made up of brothers Andrea and Giorgio Prezioso (known as Prezioso) in addition to Alessandro Moschini, known as Marvin. Prior to 1999, and starting from 1993, the brothers An ...

(actually the brothers DJ Giorgio Prezioso and Andrea Prezioso, and vocalist Alessandro Moschini known as Marvin) released it as a single from a similarly titled ''The Riddle EP''. The single on Bang Record also featured vocals by Marvin (real name Alessandro Moschini) and was credited as Prezioso & Marvin. An official music video was also released.YouTube: Prezioso & Marvin - The Riddle (THE Official Video)
/ref> In 2013, the French harpist

Cécile Corbel Cécile Corbel (born 28 March 1980, in Pont-Croix, Finistère, France) is a French and Breton singer, harpist, and composer. She has released five albums of original music and worked for Studio Ghibli as a composer for its 2010 film, ''The Borro ...

included the song on her fourth studio album, ''SongBook vol.4 – Roses'' and gave the melody a Celtic coloration.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Riddle, The 1984 singles 1984 songs 1999 singles 2012 singles Gigi D'Agostino songs MCA Records singles Nik Kershaw songs Song recordings produced by Peter Collins (record producer) Songs written by Nik Kershaw ZYX Music singles