There is nothing to make you feel old and clueless like two teenage children in the backseat critiquing (and editorializing on) ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING that shaped your life and that you once held dear. 🙄 I once threatened to put one of them out on the side of the road when he went after "Hungry Like the Wolf." We don't listen to the 80s station in the car anymore.
A few months ago I had an 80 YouTube channel on at my desk. Songs I hadn’t heard since I was a kid. After a few all I could think was, “who lets a kid listen to this?!” Raised ourselves indeed
Literally every time I put on that 80s "classic" station (yes we are classic now) with my kids in the car I end up shutting it off in minutes because every song that isn't one of these creepy stalker songs is still blatantly promoting sex and drugs.
And then the 90s came along and opted out of the subtle hints business and made it clear AF how dark their lyrics were. And we loved every second of it! 😝
My daughter (who is obsessed with the 80s) wrote a paper for college English class on all the anti-nuclear war songs from the 80s. There were SO MANY and I had no idea!
I didn’t include it only because it’s a myth that the song is about when he watched someone drown. He wrote it after divorcing his wife, so he was expressing his rage and devastation at how she handled their break up.
Darker still: look up “Dreaming While You Sleep” by Genesis (the We Can’t Dance album). Synopsis: singer is driving, does a hit and run on a pedestrian, and is still haunted by the incident.
Yes, that song is full of lusty lyrics that went over my head when I was a kid, but especially problematic is the line about having a taste “for the younger kind” 🤨
So many 80s songs are chock full of dark themes, sex, and/or occultism. See "Total Eclipse of the Heart," "The Rose," and "Kissed by a Rose" ( k, the Seal song may be early 90s).
Wonderful article! I've had that experience too with many songs
A big one for me is "Found Out About You" by Gin Blossoms
It's such a catchy, jangly song, but it reeks of slut-shaming, stalking, and mysogyny!
"Months roll past the love that you struck dead
Did you love me only in my head?
The things you said and did to me
They seem to come so easily
The love I thought I'd won
You give for free
Street lights blink on through the car window
I get the time too often on AM Radio
Well you know it's all I think about
I write your name, drive past your house
Your boyfriend's over, I watch your lights go out"
Teenaged me playing songs like this over and over, hearing but not listening
But looking back as an adult, it's not even subtext, it's text. And I'm guessing Doug Hopkins and co just didn't really think about it much either. Our culture largely normalized this crap! 😬 (and still does, to a slightly lesser extent) 😬😬
I mean, it's not a secret that "Mama" by Genesis is a menacing song. But I was a Phil Collins / Genesis NUT back in my youth and still crank their music today. "Mama" is the signature song from their hit self-titled 80s album that pretty much epitomized the era. It was even featured on an episode of Magnum P.I. The subject is really dark: a man obsessively yearning for a prostitute with the very obvious subtext that he kills her by the end. In fact, that's pretty much the plot of the Magnum episode. The song is just this relentless build-up of beats and synths with Collins' providing sinister laughter and growls throughout. I love this song even more than "In The Air Tonight" but, yeah, no illusions on the bleakness of the topic.
I always loved singling along to the hook and the harmonies in "Excitable Boy" by Warren Zevon as a kid. Later, when I actually paid attention to the lyrics... 👀 😬
It's been in my digital music collection for a long time. There's an informative Wikipedia about the song and its origins, etc. One of the things I've noticed -- and maybe I'm just dense that it took so long for me to see beyond the lyrics -- are a couple of double entendres.
"You give me something I can hold on to" is probably not just a pleasant thought or Jenny's number on a slip of paper.
"I tried my imagination, but I was disturbed" suggests that the writer was interrupted while acting on his thoughts.
A song for kids? Not so much.
Another, the Tubes' "She's A Beauty" sounds like somebody trying to hustle people into a strip club.
Yes, true! And thanks for reminding me of the title of that second song— it’s been stuck in my husband’s head and we couldn’t remember the name of it 😆 “She’s one in a million girls”
There is nothing to make you feel old and clueless like two teenage children in the backseat critiquing (and editorializing on) ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING that shaped your life and that you once held dear. 🙄 I once threatened to put one of them out on the side of the road when he went after "Hungry Like the Wolf." We don't listen to the 80s station in the car anymore.
I'm thankful I'm childless because I have no idea what I would do if I had a kid who dissed Duran Duran. What a conundrum!
My 17 year old loves the 80’s music - and some 70’s and 60’s. Not a fan of the drivel being put out by today’s artists.
A few months ago I had an 80 YouTube channel on at my desk. Songs I hadn’t heard since I was a kid. After a few all I could think was, “who lets a kid listen to this?!” Raised ourselves indeed
Right? 😆
Literally every time I put on that 80s "classic" station (yes we are classic now) with my kids in the car I end up shutting it off in minutes because every song that isn't one of these creepy stalker songs is still blatantly promoting sex and drugs.
Frankie Say Relax. I can't un-understand the lyrics now, but as a kid in the 80s I had no clue at all!
And then the 90s came along and opted out of the subtle hints business and made it clear AF how dark their lyrics were. And we loved every second of it! 😝
YES! 🔥
I have never liked Sting or The Police and now I feel VINDICATED!
Good ones Liz! Anyone mention “The Future’s So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades” yet?
Don’t know the story behind that one! My husband says he thought it was about the apocalypse? WOW
Yeah, essentially. Nuclear war being why the sky was so bright.
Oh of course! HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS
My daughter (who is obsessed with the 80s) wrote a paper for college English class on all the anti-nuclear war songs from the 80s. There were SO MANY and I had no idea!
What about...
Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkADj0TPrJA
I can feel it coming in the air tonight
Oh, Lord
And I've been waiting for this moment, for all my life
Oh, Lord
Can you feel it coming in the air tonight?
Oh, Lord
Oh, Lord
Well, if you told me you were drowning
I would not lend a hand
I've seen your face before my friend
But I don't know if you know who I am
Well, I was there and I saw what you did
I saw it with my own two eyes
So you can wipe off that grin
I know where you've been
It's all been a pack of lies
And I can feel it coming in the air tonight
Oh, Lord
Well, I've been waiting for this moment for all my life
Oh, Lord
I can feel it coming in the air tonight
Oh, Lord
And I've been waiting for this moment all my life
Oh, Lord
Oh, Lord
Well, I remember
I remember don't worry
How could I ever forget? It's the first time
The last time we ever met
But I know the reason why you keep your silence up
No, you don't fool me
Well, the hurt doesn't show
But the pain still grows
It's no stranger to you or me
And I can feel it coming in the air tonight
Oh, Lord
Well, I've been waiting for this moment for all my life
Oh, Lord
I can feel it in the air tonight
Oh, Lord
Oh, Lord
Well, I've been waiting for this moment for all my life
Oh, Lord
I can feel coming in the air tonight
Oh, Lord
Well, I've been waiting for this moment for all my life
Oh, Lord
I can feel it in the air tonight
Oh, Lord
Well, I've been waiting for this moment for all my life
Oh, Lord, oh, Lord
I can feel in the air tonight
Oh, Lord
Oh Lord, oh, Lord
Well, I've been waiting for this moment for all my life
Oh Lord, oh, Lord
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Phil Collins
In the Air Tonight lyrics © Phil Collins Ltd, Philip Collins Ltd
I didn’t include it only because it’s a myth that the song is about when he watched someone drown. He wrote it after divorcing his wife, so he was expressing his rage and devastation at how she handled their break up.
Still—those are some dark lyrics!
Darker still: look up “Dreaming While You Sleep” by Genesis (the We Can’t Dance album). Synopsis: singer is driving, does a hit and run on a pedestrian, and is still haunted by the incident.
Yeaaaaaa they are :)
That’s one that gave me a little scare as a wee lad.
I was in spin class the other day and they played The Knack, My Sharona. Hadn’t heard that in a while…
Yes, that song is full of lusty lyrics that went over my head when I was a kid, but especially problematic is the line about having a taste “for the younger kind” 🤨
So many 80s songs are chock full of dark themes, sex, and/or occultism. See "Total Eclipse of the Heart," "The Rose," and "Kissed by a Rose" ( k, the Seal song may be early 90s).
Wonderful article! I've had that experience too with many songs
A big one for me is "Found Out About You" by Gin Blossoms
It's such a catchy, jangly song, but it reeks of slut-shaming, stalking, and mysogyny!
"Months roll past the love that you struck dead
Did you love me only in my head?
The things you said and did to me
They seem to come so easily
The love I thought I'd won
You give for free
Street lights blink on through the car window
I get the time too often on AM Radio
Well you know it's all I think about
I write your name, drive past your house
Your boyfriend's over, I watch your lights go out"
Teenaged me playing songs like this over and over, hearing but not listening
But looking back as an adult, it's not even subtext, it's text. And I'm guessing Doug Hopkins and co just didn't really think about it much either. Our culture largely normalized this crap! 😬 (and still does, to a slightly lesser extent) 😬😬
I mean, it's not a secret that "Mama" by Genesis is a menacing song. But I was a Phil Collins / Genesis NUT back in my youth and still crank their music today. "Mama" is the signature song from their hit self-titled 80s album that pretty much epitomized the era. It was even featured on an episode of Magnum P.I. The subject is really dark: a man obsessively yearning for a prostitute with the very obvious subtext that he kills her by the end. In fact, that's pretty much the plot of the Magnum episode. The song is just this relentless build-up of beats and synths with Collins' providing sinister laughter and growls throughout. I love this song even more than "In The Air Tonight" but, yeah, no illusions on the bleakness of the topic.
I don't think I've ever heard that song! Now my interest is piqued, as disturbing as it sounds LOL
Enjoy. https://youtu.be/O0Zso2zx6Tk?si=LBiLCDo15n3v5HcO
I always loved singling along to the hook and the harmonies in "Excitable Boy" by Warren Zevon as a kid. Later, when I actually paid attention to the lyrics... 👀 😬
I looked up the lyrics and OMG 😱
I do love ABBA Does Your Mother Know. A guy being respectful and not hitting on a girl who is trying to get his sexual attention.
About 867-5309 / Jenny
It's been in my digital music collection for a long time. There's an informative Wikipedia about the song and its origins, etc. One of the things I've noticed -- and maybe I'm just dense that it took so long for me to see beyond the lyrics -- are a couple of double entendres.
"You give me something I can hold on to" is probably not just a pleasant thought or Jenny's number on a slip of paper.
"I tried my imagination, but I was disturbed" suggests that the writer was interrupted while acting on his thoughts.
A song for kids? Not so much.
Another, the Tubes' "She's A Beauty" sounds like somebody trying to hustle people into a strip club.
Yes, true! And thanks for reminding me of the title of that second song— it’s been stuck in my husband’s head and we couldn’t remember the name of it 😆 “She’s one in a million girls”
Great post, by the way.
Thanks!
I give you "Dance Hall Days" by Wang Chung (1982, 1983)
Maybe they're singing about dancing, or maybe, what the...?!
One of the weirdest music videos of the ‘80s!
Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue..." So danceable! So happy! So... um... hoo boy... so much crushing poverty, hunger, and hopelessness.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxep-9BQ6Uo