i already thought it would never be solved, the secret about those few songs on that tape my english teacher ms jones gave to me in 1996: this weird pieces of music with strange instrumentation, (too) depressive tunes and romanticistic lyrics about the modern urban world are performed by tuxedomoon, "the most european of all american bands" of the eighties.

when the going gets tough
the tough goes shopping
to buy something
a little nothing
to fill up the hole in his heart.
– tuxedomoon, "egypt" (from "holy wars")