80's pop songs - Lounge - Forums : Best Ever Albums

badfaith

Gender: Male
Age: 48
Location: Kent

Listened to Aha's- I've been losing You the other day, for the first time in years, and only just realised it's about a guy who kills his wife through desperation... then I remembered Nik Kershaw's- I Won''t Let the sun go down on me, a very well written protest song about the cold war and particularly nuclear catastrophe... and Grace Jones'- Slave to the rhythm... about black slavery.
This got me wondering, do 80's pop songs not get the credit they desrve, for actually being very well written, and covering a broader range of topics than is commonly supposed? It seems that because they were wrapped up in catchy pop tunes people often didn't pay attention to what the songs were about.

Are there any others anyone can think of that sureptitiously slipped an alternative agenda or message through a good pop song that went right over people's heads.?

Doesn't have to be from the 80s.

telefunker

Gender: Male
Age: 39

toto are my favourite 80s pop group

"africa", "rosanna", "hold the line" etc are great tunes.. and they also wrote "human nature" for michael jackson

and toto iv is as good as any pop album of the last 25 years.. it should make an appearance in my chart having thought about it..
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ffudnebbuh
level 8

Gender: Male
Location: Boston

"They don't know' Tracy Ullman (with Paul McCartney on bells)
"Real Love', Lakeside

Norman Bates

Gender: Male
Age: 51
Location: Paris, France

I think Pet Shop Boys enter precisely your category, Being Boring or Rent for example. Catchy synth-disco tunes, nice lyrics, melancholy undertones.

RFNAPLES
Level 8

Gender: Male
Age: 75
Location: Durham, NC, USA

Guns N' Roses-Sweet Child O' Mine-1987
Joy Division-Love Will Tear Us Apart-1980
Michael Jackson-Billie Jean-1982
New Order-Blue Monday-1983
Prince and The Revolution-Little Red Corvette-1982
Prince and The Revolution-When Doves Cry-1984
Public Enemy-Fight the Power-1989
Run-D.M.C.-Walk This Way-1986
The Police-Every Breath You Take-1983
The Smiths-This Charming Man-1983
The Specials-Ghost Town-1981
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maxperenchio

Location: Chicago

It wasn't until recently that I noticed Toni Basil's 1982 hit "Mickey (You're So Fine)" to be a keen, subversive piece of postmodern-pop. Even if she plays coy lyrically, the paranoid atmosphere provides a decadent backdrop to a kaleidoscopic meditation on the Cold War.

1234567890

Location: Hollow tree.

maxperenchio wrote:

It wasn't until recently that I noticed Toni Basil's 1982 hit "Mickey (You're So Fine)"

No words can describe how much i hate that song. did you see the video? like a train wreck.

Charicature

Age: 49
Location: Vermont

The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades (1986) - Timbuk3 - Not a positive song, imagining a world after a nuclear holocaust.

Forever Young (1984) - Alphaville
lyrics of the first several verses:
Let's dance in style, lets dance for a while
Heaven can wait we're only watching the skies
Hoping for the best but expecting the worst
Are you going to drop the bomb or not?
Let us die young or let us live forever
We don't have the power but we never say never
Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip
The music's for the sad men
Can you imagine when this race is won
Turn our golden faces into the sun
Praising our leaders we're getting in tune
The music's played by the madman

Think of Laura - Christopher Cross (1983)
Melancholy, and you might think it's just a wistful remembrance of a past girlfriend - but in fact it's the sad memory of a young girl that died, and the impact she had on the lives of those who knew her. According to the Wikipedia article, the song was about a college student Cross knew who was killed by a stray bullet from an act of violence between four men over a block away. She was in the back seat of her father's car - her parents were visiting her during parents' weekend at the college.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_of_Laura

It's a Mistake (1983) - Men At Work

Quote:

The song's lyrics deal with the mindset of military men across the world in the 1980's, wondering if and when the democratic countries of NATO and the Warsaw Pact communist states will end the Cold War standoff with conventional battle or a nuclear exchange. Hay sings in the persona of a mid-level officer wishing to learn from his superiors if his men are going to war or not.

Russians (1985) - Sting

Quote:

Sting cautions about the repercussions of the Cold War, singing how he hopes that the "Russians love their children too", since he sees this as the only thing that protects the world from a nuclear holocaust.

Depeche Mode songs "Everything Counts" (1983) and "People Are People" (1984) are definitely worth a listen, and "Blasphemous Rumours" (1984) is a masterpiece of electronic music coupled with a deeply philosophical portrait of two tragic stories (which supposedly involve the same girl and are based on a real person), and the irony between them. The chorus states "I don't want to start any blasphemous rumours, but I think that God's got a sick sense of humor and when I die I expect to find him laughing."

Other than that, the 80s are not a decade to be overlooked by anyone serious about music. For all its bad reputation and - frankly - a lot of bad, throw away music, it also was VERY rich musically. There were a lot of great bands, a lot of variety in styles, and a lot more depth to the lyrics than people initially gave the decade credit for.
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Elston

"Can you imagine when this race is won
Turn our golden faces into the sun "

That's a good line.

These musicians should do some research or somethin before writing songs like these. You don't see anyone singing about the Middle East and how that is the most dangerous place for a nuclear war to break out. There might not be as many nukes there, but the countries are much more apt to use them. Stupid musicians and their feelings.

badfaith

Gender: Male
Age: 48
Location: Kent

Elston wrote:

"Can you imagine when this race is won
Turn our golden faces into the sun "

That's a good line.

These musicians should do some research or somethin before writing songs like these. You don't see anyone singing about the Middle East and how that is the most dangerous place for a nuclear war to break out. There might not be as many nukes there, but the countries are much more apt to use them. Stupid musicians and their feelings.

I'd rather hear the most naive of songwriters saying SOMETHING at least, than a million Kanye's Jay zeds telling me about the increased burdens of responsibility associated with "mo money", "Hos" etc!

Let's hear it for those stupid musicians and their stupid feelings!!!!!!!!

LONG MAY THEY CONTINUE.