Lunatic Fringe Red Rider

Lunatic Fringe Album: As Far as Siam (1981)
by Red Rider

Guitarist Tom Cochrane wrote the song after becoming concerned about a resurgence of anti-Semitism in the 1970s, and was also inspired after reading a book about Raoul Wallenberg, who rescued Jews from The Holocaust during World War II. Some sources[example needed] have incorrectly cited the murder of John Lennon as the song's primary inspiration; Cochrane had already written the song before Lennon was killed, but recorded the song's first demo the evening of the murder. He has stated that his feelings about the event, and how it echoed the theme of his song, galvanized him to release the song as a single despite advice from the record label that the song was not commercial enough.

The song's widespread influence inspired Cincinnati's rock radio station WEBN to pay homage to it with the station's early slogan "WEBN, The Lunatic Fringe" introduced in 1984. Then in 1988, this slogan was updated to "The Lunatic Fringe Of American FM", which is still in use as of March 2023. The song was used in the opening scene of Miami Vice Episode 1.15, "Smuggler's Blues" which aired on February 1, 1985; the 1985 movie Vision Quest about a high school wrestler starring Matthew Modine; in the Season 3, Episode 1 closing credits for the HBO series Eastbound & Down; and in the Season 2, episode 6 closing credits for the Netflix series Mindhunter.

In 2009, the song was ranked No. 82 on VH1's 100 greatest one-hit wonders of the 1980s.

Lunatic fringe
I know you're out there
You're in hiding, and you hold your meetings
I can hear you coming
I know what you're after
We're wise to you this time (wise to you this time)
We won't let you kill the laughter

Woah-uh-huh
Woah-uh-huh
Woah-uh-huh

Lunatic fringe
In the twilight's last gleaming
This is open season
But you won't get too far
'Cause you got to blame someone
For your own confusion
We're on guard this time (on guard this time)
Against your Final Solution
Oh no

Woah-uh-huh
Woah-uh-huh
Woah-uh-huh

We can hear you coming (we can hear you coming)
No, you're not going to win this time
(You're not gonna win)

We can hear the footsteps (we can hear the footsteps)
Out along the walkway (out along the walkway)

Lunatic fringe
We all know you're out there
Can you feel the resistance?
Can you feel the thunder?
Oh no

Hey-ey-ey