Twilight Zone

Album: Extensions (1979)
Charted: 25 30
Play Video
  • When I hear this melody
    This strange illusion takes over me
    Through a tunnel of the mind
    Perhaps a present or future time oh, oh
    Out of nowhere comes this sound
    This melody that keeps spinning 'round & 'round
    Pyramidal locomotion
    From a mystic unknown zone

    Hearin' the twilight
    Hearin' the twilight tone

    Unpretentious girl from Memphis
    Saw the future through her third eye
    People came with skepticism
    Picking, testing her precision, no, wo, oh, oh
    Suddenly they heard this sound
    This melody that keeps spinning 'round & 'round
    A signpost up ahead is calling
    Through the mystic unknown zone

    Hearin' the twilight
    Twilight swept away, feelin' the rhythm
    Hearin' the twilight
    Twilight swept away, ba da, loo da, ba da loo da
    Hearin' the twilight
    Twilight tone

    Submitted for your approval. One Mr. Miller, who's about
    To take a trip into oddness and obsolescene, through a
    Zone whose boundaries are that of imagination.
    Accompanying him on this journey is the mesmerizing
    Sound of the Twilight Tone.

    On a cold & rainy night
    One Mister Miller had a rare flight
    Glen was up there boppin' a rhythm
    Then the engine stopped to listen with him
    Play that beat, oh, oh
    Suddenly he heard this sound
    This melody that keeps spinning 'round & 'round
    Now he resides and plays trombone
    In the mystic unknown zone

    Hearin' the twilight
    (Ooooooh, twilight)
    Hearin' the twilight
    (Hearin' the twilight)

    Writer/s: Alan Paul, Jay Graydon
    Publisher: GARDEN RAKE MUSIC, Peermusic Publishing
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 5

  • Anonymous@Patrick from Portland, Or The latter, "Hearin' the Twilight....Twilight Tone"
  • Mark Wilson from Eldersburg, MdWho is the “unpretentious girl from Memphis” who saw the future through her “third eye” supposed to be?
    I’m guessing it’s either a jazz singer (like Glenn Miller, mentioned later, was a musician), or a famous psychic.
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn March 1st 1980, the Manhattan Transfer performed "Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone" on the ABC-TV program 'American Bandstand'...
    One month later on April 13th it entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #84; and on June 8th it peaked at #30 (for 2 weeks) and spent 12 weeks on the Top 100...
    It reached #25 on the United Kingdom's Singles chart...
    Between 1975 and 1984 the quartet had seven records make the Top 100; with a covered version of the Ad Libs' #8 hit from 1965, "The Boy from New York City", being their biggest hit, it peaked at #7 (for 3 weeks) on August 1st, 1981.
  • Patrick from Portland, OrIs the lyric "Here in the Twilight" or "Hearin' the Twilight"?
  • John from Dublin, IrelandThe indelible guitar lick - "De-de-de-de / de-de-de-de" - that opened the popular Rod Serling TV series, was played by jazz guitar virtuoso Howard Roberts. This very same melody introduces The Manhattan Transfer vocal rendition.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Timothy B. Schmit

Timothy B. SchmitSongwriter Interviews

The longtime Eagle talks about soaring back to his solo career, and what he learned about songwriting in the group.

80s Video Director Jay Dubin

80s Video Director Jay DubinSong Writing

Billy Joel and Hall & Oates hated making videos, so they chose a director with similar contempt for the medium. That was Jay Dubin, and he has a lot to say on the subject.

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear: Teddy Bears and Teddy Boys in Songs

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear: Teddy Bears and Teddy Boys in SongsSong Writing

Elvis, Little Richard and Cheryl Cole have all sung about Teddy Bears, but there is also a terrifying Teddy song from 1932 and a touching trucker Teddy tune from 1976.

The Truth Is Out There: A History of Alien Songs

The Truth Is Out There: A History of Alien SongsSong Writing

The trail runs from flying saucer songs in the '50s, through Bowie, blink-182 and Katy Perry.

Church Lyrics

Church LyricsMusic Quiz

Here is the church, here is the steeple - see if you can identify these lyrics that reference church.

Don Dokken

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.