The Wheel of Fortune

Spin Round and Round as You Trust Your Luck to Fortune

“The Wheel of Fortune” is Hidden Passion’s most hypnotic dive into cosmic uncertainty. Driven by a 15/4 groove reminiscent of Tubular Bells, the track turns repetition into propulsion: iterative electric pianos shimmer like turning gears, while the art-pop arrangement wraps the listener in a rotating, weightless current. Toby Berka transforms the randomness of fate into something mystical, inviting us not to resist the spin—but to surrender to it.

Lyrics

Fortune I trust
Once again
And readjust
Unsure when
Taken by lust
You’ll consent
Dazed night and day
I believe
You’ll come my way
To relieve
Luck is at play
We’ll receive
Our time is near
When we’ve won
We’ll persevere
And be one

Fortune spins
Us round and round
Gifting wings
When wind abounds
Gently sings
In ways profound
Touching us
In novel ways
Winding as
A hazy maze
Her I trust
With all her plays
Fortune’s wheel
Spins evermore
Yet it’s real
Like never before

Softly I yield
As she spins
All is concealed
By her limbs
My fate is sealed
By her whims
Trust in my heart
Keeps me safe
Keen to depart
From this place
Ready to start
And embrace
All that she’s spun
We’ll have won
Becoming one
and undone

A Hypnotic Dance with Destiny—Mesmeric, Spiraling, and Electrically Alive

“The Wheel of Fortune” stands as one of Hidden Passion’s most distinctive artistic statements—a track built not on linear movement, but on rotation, return, and the mysterious pull of fate. Drawing clear inspiration from the cyclical structures of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells, Berka adapts that minimalist momentum into a modern synth-pop context. The result is a song that feels both steady and unpredictable, like stepping onto a turning wheel that keeps revealing new angles with every revolution.

From the opening line—“Fortune I trust / Once again”—Berka establishes a relationship not with a person, but with an impersonal cosmic force. The lyrics lean into ambiguity. Is “Fortune” a metaphor for life’s randomness? A personified muse? A lover whose whims determine the narrator’s fate? The text remains intentionally open-ended, echoing the uncertainty the song seeks to explore.

Structurally, Berka mirrors the turning of a wheel through short, incantatory phrases:
“Unsure when
Taken by lust
You’ll consent”

The lines feel like beats in a ritual, each one a step further into surrender. The repetition of monosyllables and tight meter creates a pulsing, mantra-like quality that pairs beautifully with a 15/4 time signature—a rhythm that loops without ever quite resolving in the expected place.

The chorus widens the emotional lens:
“Fortune spins
Us round and round
Gifting wings
When wind abounds”

Here, the imagery becomes fluid and airy. Fate is not merely arbitrary—it becomes uplifting, almost benevolent. The lines “Touching us / In novel ways” and “Winding as / A hazy maze” evoke a sense of being guided through something bewildering yet strangely comforting. Fate isn’t cruel; it’s inscrutable.

The second verse intensifies the theme of surrender. The imagery turns more intimate, even sensual:
“Softly I yield
As she spins
All is concealed
By her limbs”

The way Fortune is personified—tactile, enveloping, mysterious—gives the track a mythic dimension. Fate becomes a dance partner, a force that both reveals and obscures. The paradox at the heart of the song emerges here: the wheel is at once grounding and disorienting, comforting and overwhelming.

Musically, this track thrives on patterned motion: layered electric pianos repeating evolving motifs, subtle modulation to suggest rotation, soft percussive elements marking the unconventional meter without overwhelming it. A wistful synth lead could trace the arc of the wheel, while the bass anchors the circular progression. Berka’s vocals float with measured calm, reinforcing the sense of being carried along rather than pushing forward.

As part of Hidden Passion, “The Wheel of Fortune” deepens the album’s thematic exploration of emotion, risk, and transformation. Whereas other songs deal with agency—dancing, choosing, confronting, remembering—this track deals with surrender: the acceptance that not everything can be controlled, and that sometimes the only path is to yield to the spin and trust you will land where you’re meant to.

It’s a mesmerizing piece—cerebral yet heartfelt, mathematical yet sensual. With its unusual meter, cyclical structure, and luminous arrangement, “The Wheel of Fortune” becomes a meditation on the strange comfort of letting go, and the beauty found in the unknowable patterns guiding us forward.