Tricks of the Light

"Tricks of the Light" is a single by musician Mike Oldfield released in 1984 and is from the Virgin Records album Discovery. Maggie Reilly and Barry Palmer perform vocals for this song.

"Tricks of the Light"
Single by Mike Oldfield
from the album Discovery
B-side	"Afghan"
Released	10 September 1984[1]
Recorded	"In the Swiss Alps at 2000 metres within sight of Lake Geneva on sunny days"[2]
Genre	Pop rock
Length	3:52
Label	Virgin
Songwriter(s)	Mike Oldfield
Producer(s)	Mike Oldfield Simon Phillips
Mike Oldfield singles chronology
"To France" (1984) "Tricks of the Light" (1984) "Etude" (1984)

The single's B-side, "Afghan" (working title "Celtic", is a non-album track, and was recorded at the same time as the Discovery album.^[3] The single also features an instrumental version of "Tricks of the Light".^[4]

Music video

The music video for "Tricks of the Light" is a mock-live performance of the song and focuses on a girl in the audience. Interspersed are non-concert scenes of the same girl with and without sunglasses. Oldfield plays a Fender Stratocaster in the video and a Fairlight CMI appears on stage. The clip is available on the Elements – The Best of Mike Oldfield video.

Track listing

1. "Tricks of the Light" – 3:52
2. "Afghan" – 2:45
3. "Tricks of the Light" (Instrumental) – 3:56

Charts

Chart (1984)	Peak position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[5]	91
West Germany (GfK)[6]	46

References

1. "Music Week" (PDF). p. 18.
2. "Mike Oldfield Discography - Discovery". Tubular.net. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
3. "Mike Oldfield FAQ - 2.16 Information on Afghan". Tubular.net. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
4. "Singles". Amadian. Retrieved 1 March 2009.
5. "Tricks of the Light". The Official Charts Company.
6. "Offiziellecharts.de – Mike Oldfield – Tricks of the Light" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 18 March 2019.