"Twilight Zone" is a song by Dutch band

Golden Earring Golden Earring were a Dutch rock music, rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as The Tornados. They achieved worldwide fame with their international hit songs "Radar Love" in 1973, which went to number one on the Dutch chart, reached the top ...

from their 16th studio album, ''

Cut Cut or CUT may refer to: Common uses * The act of cutting, the separation of an object into two through acutely directed force ** A type of wound ** Cut (archaeology), a hole dug in the past ** Cut (clothing), the style or shape of a garment ** ...

''. It was written by the band's guitarist,

George Kooymans George Jan Kooymans (born 11 March 1948) is a Dutch retired guitarist and vocalist. He is best known for his work with the Dutch group Golden Earring. Kooymans wrote " Twilight Zone", the group's only top 10 entry on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 10 ...

, who drew inspiration from the spy thriller book '' The Bourne Identity'' rather than the 1960s mystery television series ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

''. It was the group's sole top-10 hit on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Rock Top Tracks chart. Lead vocals are divided between Kooymans and

Barry Hay Barry Andrew Hay (born 16 August 1948) is an Indian-born Dutch musician; he was the lead vocalist and frontman of Dutch rock band Golden Earring from 1967 until their disbandment in 2021. He has also released three solo albums. Early life and ...

. Each sings lead for one half of the first verse (first Kooymans, then Hay), and Hay sings lead for the second verse with backing by Kooymans and provides the spoken lines in the introduction and first verse. Kooymans sings lead on the choruses, backed by Hay. In the 1990s, the song was included on a volume of

Rhino Records A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

' ''New Wave Hits of the '80s'' series. The music video was featured on Volume One of the VHS companion compilation.

Composition

Nic Renshaw, who writes a blog for KSM Guitars, describes the

guitar riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based on ...

at the beginning as an "

eighth-note 180px, Figure 1. An eighth note with stem extending up, an eighth note with stem extending down, and an eighth rest. 180px, Figure 2. Four eighth notes beamed together. An eighth note ( American) or a quaver (British) is a musical note play ...

pulse In medicine, the pulse refers to the rhythmic pulsations (expansion and contraction) of an artery in response to the cardiac cycle (heartbeat). The pulse may be felt ( palpated) in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surfac ...

" of B D E D B followed by a

sixteenth note Figure 1. A 16th note with stem facing up, a 16th note with stem facing down, and a 16th rest. Figure 2. Four 16th notes beamed together. In music, a 1/16, sixteenth note ( American) or semiquaver (British) is a note played for half the d ...

and dotted eighth-note, D and E, and another D which is an eighth note. Renshaw considers the "disruption" more interesting than an ordinary pattern, and it acts as a "set-up ... lining up a shot" so that at 3:10, "bassist Rinus Gerritsen knocks that shot out of the park."

Music video

The

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

, directed by

Dick Maas Dirk Herman Willem Maas (Dick) (born 15 April 1951) is a Dutch film director, screenwriter, film producer and film composer. Career Maas achieved fame after the success of his music videos for the Dutch band Golden Earring, including "Twilight Z ...

, features a storyline with lead singer Barry Hay as an

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

agent who is apprehended by three henchmen (played by the other members of the band). The music video was one of the first to feature a cinematic storyline and dance choreography and was a hit on the fledgling

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

network (in somewhat edited form, as the original European cut was notable for a sequence featuring a topless woman), helping the song to become the second international hit for the band. Golden Earring followed the success with an extensive tour of the United States, Canada and Europe. MTV commissioned the band to shoot a movie of the final "homecoming" concert of the tour in the Netherlands. The concert film, also directed by Dick Maas, included a brief introductory segment which was an extension of the ''Twilight Zone'' video; one writer described it as a "sharp looking video skit about spies or something", but criticized the actually 16mm concert footage as "grainy" and "washy yellow." The concert was released in 1984 as ''Live from The Twilight Zone'' along with an album of the concert titled ''Something Heavy Going Down: Live From The Twilight Zone'', it aired on MTV and was published as video on VHS, Beta and Laserdisc. The ''Cut'' album cover's image of the

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diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of electricity, and insol ...

playing card A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a f ...

being shredded by a bullet is recreated repeatedly in the video, representing the life of the rogue agent.

Track listing

;7" single ;12" single

Personnel

- co-lead vocals,

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

- co-lead vocals,

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

spoken words Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing. Human language is ch ...

(intro), backing vocals *

Rinus Gerritsen Marinus Gerritsen (born 9 August 1946) is a Dutch bassist. Best known for being founding member of Dutch group Golden Earring, he is also a producer of artists like Herman Brood. Career In 1961, Gerritsen and his neighbour George Kooymans ...

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

, keyboards *

Cesar Zuiderwijk Cornelis Johannes "Cesar" Zuiderwijk, (born 18 July 1948) is a Dutch drummer. He is best known as the drummer of the Dutch rock music, rock band Golden Earring from 1970 until their retirement in 2021. Career He was asked to replace Golden Earr ...

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Additional personnel

Robert Jan Stips Robert Jan Stips (4th February, 1950) is a Dutch musician born in The Hague. He initially found fame as a keyboard player, arranger, and producer with the group Supersister. This led to an invitation to join Golden Earring, one of the most su ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

Street choirs on hit tracks "Twilight Zone" & "The Devil Made Me Do It" (album Cut) by: * Steve Clisby (American Gypsy) - backup vocals * Omar Dupree (American Gypsy) - backup vocals * Evert Nieuwstede (Urban Heroes) - backup vocals Golden Earring thanking American Gypsy & Evert Nieuwstede on album Cut (inner sleeve-LP & booklet-CD)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover versions

Music for ''

'' pinball machine (1992) featured core elements from the song in many of its tracks.

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...

covered the song on his 2011 album, '' Seeking Major Tom''. Scoti*Slate included a cover on their album ''Good Fight'' in 2013.

In popular culture

The song has been featured in several films and series including '' End of Watch'' (2012), ''

The Americans ''The Americans'' is an American historical drama, period spy fiction, spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg for FX (TV channel), FX. It aired for six seasons from 2013 to 2018. Weisberg and Joel Fields also served as showrunners ...

'' (2013), ''

Ozark The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cov ...

'' (2022), and '' Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire'' (2024).

References

External links

Song review A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usually ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

* {{Authority control 1982 singles 1982 songs Dutch new wave songs Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Golden Earring songs PolyGram singles Songs written by George Kooymans The Twilight Zone