Little Islands (formerly known as So Totally Insane, Side By Side or Pleasure Ride) is a formerly unidentified alternative rock song by German band The Gallery, recorded in 1999.
Search History
Original Upload
The song was originally uploaded to YouTube by "mrgein" on February 27th, 2009, and also to WatZatSong on November 15th, 2008.
Prior to uploading, Tauzin posted a request to identify the song on Ultimate Metal forum but that went nowhere. He passed away in 2013 when the song was still unidentified.
Over time, the song was reuploaded to YouTube by multiple users, such as LostwaveFinder, Rain, Mysterious Voice, and multiple others, amassing over 20k views.
Former leads
On September 18th, 2020, a comment was posted to the original upload claiming that the song was "Side By Side" by a group called "Lightyear". This was dismissed as troll activity.
On October 20th, 2020, YouTube user Mewmew commented on BSP016's reupload of So Totally Insane, claiming to have heard the song between 2003 and 2005, either on the radio or on Newgrounds, and that they used to have the track on an old MP3 player. They also claimed to remember a music video that went with the song. Mewmew did not remember the artist or title.
On November 13th, 2020, YouTube user MarcK5 commented on MyLifeis4me's reupload of the song claiming to have downloaded the song from Limewire years ago, and that the file is named '04 Track04'. He provided the file which is no different from the one that mrgein originally uploaded.
On February 24th, 2021, Discord user called Weh found a file on WireShare that matched the title and length of So Totally Insane, but the file was no longer active.
Identification
On November 16th, 2018, Goldfinger08, a user of WatZatSong.com, identified the song as Little Islands by The Gallery, but his comment went unnoticed.
That was until June 3rd, 2022, when his comment was found by SktSkf and Jacob_, two Discord members, fully identifying the song.
The Gallery, who changed their band name to Stjarna, later commented on Mrgein's video of the song, stating:
"Hi guys. Thank you very much for your emails. We actually only became aware of this little phenomenon now. To finally confirm the solution to the riddle: The song is called "Little Islands" and was written and recorded in 1999. The band is called THE GALLERY (from Germany). That was the predecessor band of STJARNA. We are happy that the song brings joy to so many people and thank you very much. By the way: it is a demo recording. The song never ended up on an album. Just like the other songs that were written and recorded at the same time. If you want to hear them, let me know. That can be arranged. Regards Gunnar (founder, songwriter, lyricist, guitarist and singer of THE GALLERY and STJARNA)".
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
See what you did to me
I never felt so easy, felt so free
Too long I have been married to the grave
But didn't earn how much I gave, I gave
[Chorus]
So totally insane
Hopeless passion rules the game
Soft and tender through the night
We're diving side by side
So totally insane
You're the one to take the blame
For the sadness that I hide
Became a pleasure ride
[Verse 2]
On you my isle, I want to stay
Come rescue me from today
Your smile's the prettiest inside this town
It makes me want you, kills my frown
[Bridge]
See what you did to me
I never felt so easy, felt so free
That's why I breathe you near until I'm dead
Don't care about what your neighbors said
All night
[Chorus]
So totally insane
Hopeless passion rules the game
Soft and tender through the night
We're diving side by side
So totally insane
You're the one to take the blame
For the sadness that I hide
Became a pleasure ride
[Instrumental]
[Chorus]
So totally insane
Hopeless passion rules the game
Soft and tender through the night
We're diving side by side
So totally insane
You're the one to take the blame
For the sadness that I hide
Became a pleasure ride
The Gallery
The Gallery is an alternative rock band from Dresden, Germany. They formed in 1994.
The band had many lineup changes, some of the members include: Gunnar Mothes (guitar, vocals), Antje Mothes (vocals), Lars Eschner (keyboards, 1994-97), Heiko Steiner (bass, 1994-2002, 2012-14), Rico Hampel (drums, 1994-2002, 2012-16), Stefan Launicke (keyboards, synthesizer), Steve Mätzold (guitar, ?-present) and Uwe Pasora (bass, 2014-present)
They released their debut EP in 1996 titled: A Voyage Into Infinity. And a full album Dreamscapes in 1997.
In 1998, the band released their second album Fateful Passion.
They took a hiatus for many years, and returned in 2013 with a new EP Earthlight.
The band remains active today under a different name: Stjarna. In 2022, they released an album named Garage Millennials with songs/demos that were never officially released.
Gallery (images)
