Secret Discovery is a dark rock act from the heart of Germany's Ruhr area, … Read Full Bio ↴Secret Discovery is a dark rock act from the heart of Germany's Ruhr area, chose that end for themselves towards the close of the last millennium. And parted "as friends", as the saying goes.

Roughly half a decade later, in 2004, that end turned out not to be a permanent one. Secret Discovery were back, with a new prayer up their sleeves. "Pray" was the title of their … let's call it "comeback album", which went down extremely well with the public. The band presented themselves more mature in terms of their song-writing, as well as their stylistic elements, mixed by the quintet to develop their very own Secret Discovery sound.

Little wonder, you might be tempted to think, after all Secret Discovery, alongside acts such as Project Pitchfork, Deine Lakaien, Das Ich, Lacrimosa and Goethes Erben, were not only a strong motor for the renaissance of the German gothic scene in the early Nineties, but also forerunners of gothic metal made in Germany, and their 1993 offering, "Into The Void" is still considered a genre classic. The more years that passed, the more the band opened themselves to new ideas and different styles. "Question Of Time" manifested their status on the Mount Olympus of rock, metal and crossover, "Slave" being the final and definitely worthy swansong of this unique act.But why waste time on all this background information?

Secret Discovery have tasted blood again. The success of "Pray" and the thoroughly enthusiastic reactions to their hand-picked gigs motivated the band further, inspiring them to work on their latest release, "Alternate".

"Alternate" is aptly entitled, because Secret Discovery's sonic update alternates, too. Their guitars rock heavily, the keyboards caress Kai Hoffmann's constantly progressing vocals, and then there are those hook lines! Secret Discovery have come up with their very own version of contemporary pop music, and that's a real compliment.
"We're used to falling between the stools, and we don't want to be categorized in a single pigeonhole," frontman Kai Hoffmann explains, adding with a smug undertone: "We've always enjoyed helping ourselves to various genres, to be honest. We're open to different musical directions, and looking at it in a positive way, we may end up creating a new pigeonhole, just for ourselves." Right he is. In terms of their lyrics and their music, "Alternate" is Secret Discovery's coming of age. And what a coming of age!
"Our lyrics are always marked by our own personal experiences, the highs and lows in our lives. Dreams and fears, love or hate can be found in the themes of our lyrics," Kai adds, "and we always strive for a lyrical style that's not overly clear, but subtle instead. There should always be enough room for personal interpretation. Our musical influences still stem from the Eighties, the early days of new wave and gothic, particularly when it comes to our songwriting, but pop acts such as Coldplay, R.E.M. or Placebo have also left their traces." And it's still good to be back, isn't it?

"Oh yes," Kai replies, "'Pray' was important in that it helped us collect our thoughts, musically. In terms of sound, it's a fairly typical Secret Discovery recording, sounding a little like a journey in time through the tracks on our first albums, only in a modern outfit. Looking at it this way, 'Pray' was a statement first and foremost: 'We're back, we still sound like Secret Discovery – we are Secret Discovery!'"

"'Alternate' was different. This time around, it was our aim to develop the overall sound, we wanted to do something that still sounds like Secret Discovery, but is different at the same time; contemporary in true SD style on the one hand, and at the same time different enough to make it impossible to compare to its predecessors. When it came to the songwriting, we freed ourselves of all parameters, it materialized in the process which direction we were going to take. We definitely didn't want any templates to restrict our creativity in any way." Mission accomplished. "Alternate" is Secret Discovery Mark 2006.

Without limits, without pigeonholes, without parameters, more from the gut, with more authenticity and even more amazing hooklines.
Thomas Thyssen (Winter 2005)

Hello Goodbye
Secret Discovery Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

hello, hello, I´m gonna leave you I want to say goodbye to you

the day is swallowing the night, you lie by my side
the light is burning my eyes, I see black and white
all that I want ... is to be free
all you can give ... is killing me

hello, hello, I´m gonna leave you I want to say goodbye to you

I cannot tell you what I think, you won't understand
you give me everything you can, but it slips through my hands
all that I have ... your love for me all that I miss ... I will never be

I can't stand this crash no more, I cannot move I cannot laugh,
I cannot breathe, you're gonna squash me
I want to say goodbye to you

hello, hello, I´m gonna leave you I want to say goodbye to you

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to "Hello Goodbye" by Secret Discovery depict the ambivalent emotions of a person who wants to leave someone they love, but they cannot bear the pain of feeling trapped and suffocated by that same love. The singer longs for freedom, which is represented by the day swallowing the night, but they are unable to attain it while in this relationship. They are experiencing physical and emotional pain, represented by the light burning their eyes and the feeling of being crushed, unable to move or laugh. The love the other person is giving them is killing them, and they cannot explain their feelings to them. The singer is torn between the love they feel for the other person and the need to break free, to say goodbye.

In the chorus, the singer repeats the phrase "hello, hello, I'm gonna leave you, I want to say goodbye to you." This repetition emphasizes the internal struggle the singer is experiencing, trying to reconcile their desire for freedom with their love for the other person.

Overall, the song portrays a complex emotional state, where love and pain are intertwined, and the choice to leave or stay is not an easy decision.

Line by Line Meaning

hello, hello, I´m gonna leave you
I am announcing my departure from your life.

I want to say goodbye to you
My intent is to bid farewell to you.

the day is swallowing the night, you lie by my side
As morning comes and darkness fades, you remain next to me.

the light is burning my eyes, I see black and white
The brightness of the day is overwhelming, distorting my vision to only see two extremes.

all that I want ... is to be free
My greatest desire is to experience liberty from this situation.

all you can give ... is killing me
The only thing you have to offer me is causing my harm and despair.

I cannot tell you what I think, you won't understand
I am unable to express my thoughts to you as I am certain they will not be comprehended.

you give me everything you can, but it slips through my hands
You present to me all that you're capable of giving, but it evades my grasp.

all that I have ... your love for me all that I miss ... I will never be
The only thing I possess is your adoration, yet what I long for is something I will forever be deprived of.

I can't stand this crash no more, I cannot move I cannot laugh,
I cannot endure this emotional collision any longer; I am incapacitated, unable to move or find amusement.

I cannot breathe, you're gonna squash me
This situation has taking the breath out of me, it's crushing me.

hello, hello, I´m gonna leave you I want to say goodbye to you
As a final declaration of my intentions, I am saying farewell to you.

Contributed by Riley R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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