There are very few mysteries that have lasted decades when it comes to our favorite shows, seen directors and actors alike are usually pressured for answers by frantic fans.
But this one has had everyone stumped since the 90s.
It’s no surprise that the hit sci-fi series The X-Files is still gripping new watchers even today as its seamless integration with crime, thriller and the supernatural has been unable to be recreated since the show’s end.
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However, there has always been a lingering gripe regarding the show, and it’s nothing to do with the plot or cast.
In fact, it’s an obscure song played in the background of one episode.
Fans have been attempting to track it down for years, and finally the mystery has been solved.
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With sleuthing skills so good even Scully would be impressed, a Philly woman was able to crack the case in record speed after hearing the tune during a rerun of the show.
Lauren Ancona was sitting on her parents’ couch on her phone when the 1998 episode from season 6 ('Dreamland II') was playing.
It was then that the episode - which focuses on special agent Fox Mulder swapping bodies with an Area 51 employee - played the infamous Nevada bar scene, including the elusive country-western jingle.
Check it out:
Telling NPR how she figured out the song’s origins, Ancona said: "It was too good to be background, and I pause it and, like, rewind it and was like, 'Oh, what is that?'"
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It was all thanks to the lyrics that the mystery was able to be solved.
She said: "The lyrics were so specific that, you know, they could obviously be interpreted as if they were singing to or about an alien or some extraterrestrial life or something that isn't human.”
But even popular apps couldn’t help her in her venture, and when she looked up the lyrics, she stumbled upon other fans trying to figure out what song it was.
Now, over two decades later, it’s finally happened.
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Posting to X (formerly Twitter), she asked for some help:
“Just had the weirdest experience was watching an X-files episode & there’s this country song playing in the background of the bar they’re in & it’s so good it jars me out of my idle multitasking to Shazam it”.
That was when composer Rob Cairns came across the post and asked his friend, Dan Marfisi, who co-wrote the song in question.
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Marfisi told NPR: "He said, 'You might want to check out this Twitter thread, and if you jump in, you will be a hero.’
"So, I went and got my cape, and I logged on, and it was a party."
Apparently, the song was written with Glenn Jordan with the intention of it being a background tune, rather than a released single, titled ‘Staring at the Stars.’
Marfisi explained: "We had a directive to write something that would fit both an alien and a human being.
"And we kind of looked up in the sky and said, what's up there besides aliens? And we found stars ... that was our brainstorming session."
Four hours later, Jordan and Marfisi wrote and produced the song, leading to an unexpected hunt from fans all over the world decades later.
Jordan said: "It was just a 'Wow.'
"What made it even a little spookier is I teach composition and I have a student in Spain and he [had just] gotten the entire X Files [series]. And I just said to him, 'Well, you know, I've got a song and this particular one you should check out.' And I was talking about 'Staring at the Stars' a day before Dan called me and said, 'Hey, guess what?'"
Marfisi chimed in: "You always want to feel feedback from who you're making music for.
"And we watched it unfold on the interwebs and it was unique ... it's a joy."
The hunt for the song also led the pair to reuniting after five years apart, and the song being prepared to be released on streaming services.
Topics: Film and TV, Twitter, Social Media, Music
Britt Jones