There was a time when there was nothing at al
Nothing at all, just a distant hum
There was a being and he lived on his own
He had no one to talk to, and nothing to do
He drew up the plans,
learnt to work with his hands
A million years passed by and his work was done
And his words were these...

Hope you find it in everything,
everything that you see
Hope you find it in everything,
everything that you see
Hope you find it, hope you find it
Hope you find me in you

So she had built her elaborate home
With it's ups and it's downs,
its rains and its sun
She decided that her work was done,
time to have fun
and she found a game to play

Then as part of the game
She completely forgot where she'd hidden herself
And she spent the rest of her time
Trying to find the parts

Hope you find it in everything,
everything that you see
Hope you find it in everything,
everything that you see
Hope you find it, hope you find it
Hope you find me in you

There was a time when there was nothing at all, nothing at all
Just a distant hum


Lyrics submitted by Maxxie

Hide and Seek Lyrics as written by Jamie Jones Wayne Brady

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Hide and Seek song meanings
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  • +4
    My Interpretation

    Saw Howard perform this last night and got to thinking about the lyrics. Back in the 80s, I thought the "being" in this song was some kind of God figure, with the "distant hum" being the background radiation of the Big Bang..but thanks to the Internet, I see now that Howard is a Nichiren Buddhist, so it actually might be about the Eastern cyclical nature of existence with the universe being created, destroyed and created anew. Although this may also be an early "eco" song, I think that the "game" she plays might not just be 'capitalism' but the bustle of civilization as a whole which divorces humanity from the quiet susurrus of nature and the universe.

    I think it was impressive that songs like "Hide and Seek" and others that had deeper political and societal meaning regularly became part of New Wave canon and climbed the pop charts. I'm thinking especially of anti-nuke and anti-war songs such as Nena's "99 Luftballons," The Fixx's "Red Skies at Night", Paul Hardcastle's "19", Heaven 17's "Let's All Make a Bomb," Human League's "The Lebanon," Peter Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers," Industry's "State of the Nation," Alphaville's "Forever Young", and many more of that ilk. Songs about the collapse of industry like Big Country's "Steel Town" and China Crisis' "Working With the Fire and Steel". You don't see that any more, really.

    vadimfvon August 24, 2015   Link
  • +2
    Song Meaning

    The song is about the origin of the Universe, but whereas many here have "Christianicized" it, it is actually about the origin of the Universe, from the Buddhist and Advaita Vedanta (Hinduism) perspective. The "She" is not humanity. Both the "He" and the "She" are the same original being (pure consciousness, Brahman). He uses He in the first verse and She in the second verse to defeat the duality of gender. The point of the song is that everything is Brahman; everything is the original being. If you want to put it into Christian language, "everything is God" and "God is in everything" and everything is "made of God" - there is no other substance in existance. Seperation is an illusion; the illusion of the game, or of creation. So the original being makes his/her creation and then "loses herself in it". She extends her consciousness into finite objects (all living things) that forget their true nature. The meaning of life is to remember who one is; not a seperate 'person', ego, or soul, but the one. At the time of writing, Jones was (and still is) exploring and practicing Buddhism. This story is the root of Buddhism. We are all inter-dependent and connected, because we are all "it". I recently visited a Nichiren Buddhist meeting in Durham, and Jones had been in attendance there just one week prior (he is friends with the group leader, through the SGI UK organisation). Nichiren Buddhist - like every form of Buddhism has non-duality at it's heart. Seperation is an illusion. We are all aspects or viewpoints (where the word 'ego comes from), of the original being in this song. Nichiren is just a way of practicing, that works with the law of cause and effect. Other forms of Buddhism; Zen, Theravada, Mahayana, etc, have alternative practices and emphases, but all are rooted in the non-duality that is the basis of this beautiful song.

    davidqypon September 03, 2016   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Can't believe nobody has commented on this song! As a 15 year old I wa well into this sort of stuff, still makes me smile when I hear it now. I'm guessing it's an early eco protest song. Not sure if Jones is religious, but I think it's about god creating the earth and leaving us to it for a million years - his 'hoping we find it' is meant to be love, peace and a 'heaven on earth'. Instead 'she', meaning us, built our elaborate homes (referring to the industrial revolution) and found a game to play (capitalism). As 'part of the game, she completely forgot where she hidden herself and spent the rest of the time trying to find the parts' - basically, we've f*cked the planet up to such a degree that there's no turning back now, it's too late. This in 1984 as well...scary. The final line to me is about God coming back, seeing what's happened and deciding to wipe the slate clean. I'm not religious, so I'm not preaching here, but I can certainly empathise with what Jones is saying here. Oh, and by the way, a beautiful, moving piece of music, stirs the soul and I would never, ever try to hit those high notes in company!

    Bazob1on August 03, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Question

    Replace "He" with God "She" with Mother Nature and "It" with Love

    Thank You Howard Jones

    Bluboon November 09, 2023   Link

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