Howard Jones - Hide & Seek

“Hide and Seek” is a song by English musician Howard Jones, released in February 1984 as the third single from his debut studio album, Human’s Lib. It reached number 12 on the UK Singles Chart. Musically, the song is darker than other songs by Jones, featuring an eerie gothic-tinged sound that is comparable to dark ambient1. The B-sides, “Tao Te Ching” and “China Dance,” are both instrumentals. Jones performed a solo acoustic version of the song at the 1985 Live Aid benefit concert. The track reached the top 5 in many countries, including Ireland, and has been covered by various artists. The theme of the song revolves around the origin of the universe according to Buddhist, Advaita Vedanta (Hinduism), and other Eastern ontological philosophies. It explores the idea that the original being manifests the universe and then ‘loses’ itself in the creation, playing a cosmic game of hide and seek, with the ultimate goal of realizing that one is nothing other than the original primordial being.