Songs That Are Considered Lost: Who Made Them?
Lost songs are rare phenomenons that happen when a piece of music is known to exist, however, it is missing the song title, artist, or the full song. Of course, you are most likely used to putting your favorite song into Google, and having dozens of different ways to listen to them. That does not go for most of these songs though, some of which have been missing for a very long time. Still, dedicated groups of people hunt in hopes of one day finding the missing information.
The Nudes – Mystery
This is my personal favorite on this entire list of lost songs because I am the person who kick-started the hunt for this song. One night when I was listening to random YouTube music trying to find The Most Mysterious Song, I came across a very low-quality video, which was titled “Mystery by The Nudes”. After a little searching, I found that the song was used in an old skate video named “The Bones Brigade Video Show” in a short skate session video in Santa Monica. The 64-second clip from the video was the only known cut of the song that has ever made its way on the internet. A cleaned-up version was made for all to enjoy, however it is disappointing to know such a chill vibe song has been lost to time. Even the creator of the skate video, Stacy Peralta, was contacted but did not know either, so I would not get your hopes up.
Gorillaz – A Rappy Song Remix
A Gorillaz remix is not something you would expect to be on a list of lost songs, but a verse on a remix of “A Rappy Song” has never been traced to an actual rapper. Many users of Limewire found this mp3 file titled “Green World (Drinking All the Sunshine)”. Many people say that the rapper is Bootie Brown, a known collaborator of Gorillaz, but I am here to say that they are wrong. Some of you may be too young to remember the good old Limewire days. Limewire was a computer application that let you download free user-uploaded files. However, the way Limewire worked meant that anybody could upload any file and call it anything they wanted. My guess is that some kid in his bedroom made this crappy remix, added his own rap verse, and uploaded it under it as a legit Gorillaz remix. I mean, listen to the Cee Lo Green verse and tell me this isn’t some bedroom mixtape gone viral.
Sketchpad – It’s Coming Alive
This is the only song on this list that has actually been found. In 2003, The British record label the Independent released the Free and Single Volume One compilation, which was a soft rock album featuring various artists such as Iggy Pop, Boy George, and Morrissey. At the end of the album, there are about 10 minutes of silence, followed by a bonus compilation of unnamed, hidden music. The best of which was the finale track, the uncredited song here which is reminiscent of an old Halloween song, such as Monster Mash. After only a few months of searching, someone located this song from the album Daily Star’s 70’s Glitz & Glam compilation. The song was supposedly made by a band named “Sketchpad” however as of right now, this is their only known song.
Cover Drive – One Love
In 2013, a youtube channel posted this video titled “One Love” by Cover Drive. The song sounds exactly like Cover Drive to anyone who is familiar with the band. However, the band posted on their Twitter page that this song was not made by them, leaving this song with no artist or official title ever since. I personally contacted the Facebook profile in the description and the person who posted it was also under the impression that this was a Cover Drive song. It makes you wonder who the woman is singing and almost makes listening to her voice kinda spooky, at least to me.
Filthy Frank’s Kenya Song
You may know the musician Joji for his soul and R&B vibes, but what some may not know was how he got his start online. Before Joji, we had Filthy Frank, a character who was supposed to be the embodiment of everything that a person should not be. In the early days of the character, Frank uploaded “How To Pick Up Girls In 30 Different Cultures!”, which may be a little too edgy for some of you. During the segment for Kenya, a four-second clip plays with a lost song that has never been named. “The Kenya Song” has been sought after by Filthy Frank fans for literal years, as the video was a 2013 upload. Joji has never answered directly about the song, leaving so many of his poor fans endlessly searching the infinite internet to try to find this wonderful Kenyan song. (it might not even be a Kenyan song, it wouldn’t shock me)
The Most Mysterious Song Of All Time
Of all the lost songs, this song deserves a story of its own, you have no idea. “The Most Mysterious Song Of All Time” has been an online mystery since 2007, but was originally recorded between 1982-1984. In a very, very short summary of events, a person liked recording cassette tapes off German radio stations in 1982 through 1984 and would cut the tapes together of their favorite recorded songs. Much later, they were curious about the names of a few songs from their tapes which they could not locate, and they took it to the internet. Ever since, every other song off of the tape has been found, besides this song. Dedicated groups of people have been trying to find the origin of the song for years to no avail, but in that time have created so much exposure for a song that no one knows the creator of. I can also speak first hand to not only the dedication of some members but also how badly they want to find the artists, so they can finally have the recognition he deserves all these years later.
Lost songs are interesting when you think about the impact some of this music has had on people, including myself, and that there is someone out there who made it and has no idea so many people want to find them. Did I forget any good, lost songs? If I did, let me know in the comments down below!
