Twilight Zone

Golden Earring's best choon, IMO. the way they were able to pack so much drama into a song, makes me think this was part of a rock opera that never was.

i can only imagine this song is about some illegal goings-on in Turkey (hence the reference to the Moon and Star),

the narrator has just murdered somebody, and the authorities are after him (Sirens and Beacons)

the twilight zone reference leads me to believe the narrator may have been a rational man pushed to extremes in whatever it was he got nimself involved it.

he "feels like being cloned" because he cannot believe he is responsible for a dead man's body and the surrounding chaos.

according to the narrator, these changes happen immediately "when the bullet hits the bone".

I've always thought it was a secret agent kind of thing gone bad. It sounds like he was sent out on a mission in Turkey, most likely his first assination. However, after it happens, everything falls apart. Whoever sent him has left him. He can't get back through to his HQ and he can't leave. Now the police are looking for him, so obviously this was either illegal or they "forgot" to notify the local authorites.

However, the doublecross part could go the other way. Perhaps he was hired from outside as a double agent, and completed his mission, but they deemed him expendible and have no intent of pulling him out.

Either way, he's been screwed by a government, and he's toally snapped. This song is his story. "You will come to know when the bullet hits the bone" sounds like him telling you that if you were to go through it, you'd end up just like him; that only by experiencing this yourself will you ever really understand what has happened.

Well, that's my take on this great song. (Anyone think the "na na na" or whatever at the end is just a sort of "crazy man rambling" kind of thing?)

i agree w/ pretty much everything above...a man is hired to kill someone, only to be taken out himself to eliminate evidence of the crime.

what i find interesting is the structure...it's from a first person through most of the song, then all of a sudden the narrator sings "the night weighs heavy on HIS guilty mind" and it stays in third person...i've come up with two possibilities, though i'm sure there are more: 1) it switches perspective from the hitman to his "connection" who has betrayed him and observes his murder 2) the original narrator completes his mission and upon the bullet (from HIS gun) hitting the bone he becomes guilty and a dichotomy is created between the repentant soul and guilty body (being cloned)...where do you go when the bullet hits the bone? in this first instance, you go to a physical "twilight zone" brought on by anxiety and fearing the consequnces of our actions...the original narrator makes one last comment on his situation (the "fallin' down a spiral..." verse) before his soul separates himself from his body and takes over the narration: he watches his physical body die and is once again "cloned" as he earns total freedom as an entity...where do you go when the bullet hits your own bone? to a spiritual twilight zone that we will experience once we suffer the same fate as him

obviously i'm putting a lot more thought into the second interpretation. i think this is a parable of sorts: we know how it feels to do wrong and face the consequences of our actions, we can relate to the anxiety expressed in the first part of the song...what is scary is that we don't know the hour of our death and what lies beyond there is a total mystery, as well as if or not our actions during life will have any bearing on what happens to us when we die...it is clearly expressed and elaborated upon in the song how he feels when he puts the bullet to the bone of another, we can relate to that feeling. he says "we will come to know..." but we really already do, which is why it can be described to us. he doesn't describe the feeling of the bullet hitting his own bone because no mortal person can ever grasp it...you will come to know when the bullet hits the bone . . .

No doubt this song is one of GE's biggest songs. Only Radar Love gives it a run for its money. The difference, though, and what I think actually makes this one better than Radar Love is the fact that this is sort of an epic, whereas that one is just a great rocker. This song seems to be aiming at something bigger and more meaningful. And I'm not really talking about the lyrics when I say this (upon a quick glance and listen they seem to be about a hitman performing his first kill, where he enters the twilight zone, or enters insanity and leaves reality. Mental health?); the music itself builds with this atmosphere unlike no other, and I freaking love it. There are so many other things I love about the song too, like those harmonies in the pre-chorus and chorus, that repetitive guitar bit in the middle that doesn't actually feel repetitive, and the well-written guitar solo. Also, just one more thing, I've been doing some thinking, and to me, what makes this song so pleasing, besides all those other terrific things I've mentioned and haven't mentioned (I'm sure someone else can point out so many other great things I missed), is simply the chord progression they use. I'm no music major, so I can't actually tell you what the chords are, or the key the song is in, but when I can tell you is that there's something called tension and release when considering chords. There's a famous video on youtube that explains how all the most famous pop songs use the same four-chord progression, called "Axis of Awesome - 4 Four Chord Song (with song titles)," and when you watch it you'll know what I mean about tension and release. It just feels good to hear those chords played (well, one could argue our Western ears are used to it and that's why it's satisfying, which is probably part of the reason, but I think there's something naturally human as to why we like those chords over others), and I think there's something similar with the chords chosen here. I'm not really trying to compare it to that video, but I'm just saying there's something effortlessly pleasing to the progression this song uses. I think that's why I keep coming back to it. Speaking of that, I'm going to listen to it again. Peace.

Some excellant observations Roger! Golden Earring has always been an all time favorite rock band of mine. Here's their web site: Golden Earring

I've always imagined the song was about some covert spy operation gone bad. Possibly in Turkey (ie: your observation about the moon and star), and possibly due to the "double cross messenger" spoken of.

Consider the following strings:

lonely hotel room fear The Gun's still warm my connection Is tired of taking chances Cannot decode My beacon's been moved Where am I to go now that I've gone too far? Double cross messenger Can't get no connection Can't get through This far from the borderline hitman

Spies use hotel rooms, guns, codes, locator beacons, hitmen, connections, and obviously live in fear.

It'd be nice to hear what the songs true meaning really is.

Paradigm

It is for sure about spies and assassins. George claims he got the inspiration from the book the Bourne Identity, and the music video seems to reflect that. To me it sounds like the protagonist had to shoot his way out of a bad situation after being double-crossed. He's tried to call his connection and it's becoming clear help isn't coming. "The place is a madhouse, feels like being cloned" toe says he's realized he was always expendable and will be replaced by the hitman who comes for him. He realizes his handlers never had good intentions and he feels guilty for what he's done, but he knows the only way to survive is to go rogue. "Soon you will come to know when the bullet hits the bone". Is his declaration of war against the agency that screwed him.

I think it's about a hit man realizing who he answers to has abandoned him and a separate hit man is hired to take him out possibly replacing him but I suspect as an extra percautionary measure.

No html tags in comments huh? Here's the web site link: http://www.goldenearring.nl/index2.htm

Great great song, Probably my all time favorite

I always assumed it was about a hitman, though the turkey reference about moon and stars i never picked up

no one mentioned how awesome the breakdown is......so i thought i should say............

the breakdown is awesome