25 songs every '80s kid knows by heart (2023)

Let's be honest here: not all of themMusic80's was good. And this is coming from someone who grew up with this as the soundtrack to his life. Yes, some of them were amazing. Some of them... not so much. But as a true 80's kid I loved it all - the good, the bad and the real,Reallyugly. I lovemadonna"Like a Virgin"Cyndi Laupers"Girls just wanna have fun" or "The Safety Dance" by Men Without Dance? Absolutely not. But when I hear those familiar chords, a smile still appears on my face and I find myself singing along.My brainshouts: "No, no, no!"

It's ok if it happens to you too. If you love 80's music that the rest of the world thinks is frivolous and silly, forget it! Your happiness is more important than your approval. Here are 25 songs from the era that should make you stop what you're doing and throw out all the lyrics at the top of your lungs.

It's the song everyone slow danced to at prom in the '80s, thinking it wasthe most romantic melody ever written. It wasn't until we grew up that we really understood the lyrics and realized how scary they really are. "Every step you take, every move you make,I will watch you?” Wow!

It's a song that allows us to coexist with two people: the punk snarler who isn't afraid to stand up to authority and the insecure teenager who is genuinely indecisive about a relationship. "Should I stay or should I go?"Safe,Joe StrummerI probably haven't written about whether to keepflirtwith a girl in algebra class, but many of us did it that way.

Go to anyone who came of age in the 80's and ask them a simple question: "Who are you calling?' There's only one way they can answer. "Ghostbuster!" And then follows the rest of the song you can remember. you've never seen so muchsmilingon a person's face as if they started singing about extraterrestrial extradition in New York in the 1980s.

Lionel Richienever been more corny than with this onemet in 1984- and that's part of what makes it so fun. You have to sing with the utmost emotional seriousness, which involves clenching your fist and looking meaningfully into the middle. No one feels embarrassed or uncomfortable when caught singing this song because it isdesignedbe embarrassed and embarrassed.

It's the only song ever recorded that makes anyone who sings it instinctively act like they're wearing an oversized white suit. If letters like "the way it always was, the way it always was" doesn't make you shrug your shoulders like you're some weird skinny guy wrapped in a rag, so you didn't watch MTV as much as your peers did in the '80s.

It's the song that made every kid in America try to master the moonwalk. "Get lost"it was justOinfectious, causing even the shyest of us to jump out of our seats and sing along as if we were trying to negotiate a friendly dance competition between rival gangs.

You can argue all you want that the only reason this song holds up is thatextremely inventive videowith rotoscoping (or pencil drawing animation). But honestly, it's a lot of fun to sing and requires at least one attempt to hit that ridiculously high falsetto note at the end. Few of us make it there without our voice cracking like a mad cat, but that never stops us from trying. That high note is every '80s kid's white whale.

Abreakup songso full of melodramatic self-pity it almost feels like singing can mend a broken heart. Of course, we all figured it out at some point.really about vampires. But Dracula is the last thing on your mind when you yell, "Turn around, biiiiiiiight eyyyyyyyeeees!" We can almost feel that first teenage rejection all over again, and oh man, does it hurt so badintestine.

The quintessential catchy music from the duo responsible for some of the most inevitable catchy tunes of the '80s",kiss on my list" is one of those songs that you only have to hear a few times before it becomes a permanent part of your subconscious. Just the first few notes are enough to sing it all the way through. And then you'll wonder how you do it every time this song comes to mind. out your head, what else is on this guy's list? I mean, if a kiss is one of the "loveliest things in life", then what comes second? A pair of cozy sweatpants? A warm bagel ?How far does this list go?

Was aCrossover-Hitto the guys from Queens, New York who inspired the whole world with hip-hop. White, black, it doesn't matter - everyone knew the lyrics and wasn't afraid to rap along. Unless you took the next step and invested in necklaces and bucket hats, Walk This Way was harmless fun.

"Pour Some Sugar on Me" is itbest song about sexthat no parent or authority figure gets too mad because it sounds like a song about itBritishenjoy afternoon tea. We still don't quite understand why this should be sexy. Who gets the spilled sugar and why do they like it so much? Wait, it doesn't matter, we don't want to know.

It's just six acoustic strings and drums and the vocals are nasal at best, but there's something to it.it's evergreenThat sounds likerebeltoday as it was in the 1980s. It has a hormonal energy that makes you growl and dance and knock over furniture and make a spectacle of yourself.

Long before he had a second lifeThe Sopranosand a third ofHappiness, kids of the 80's reminded each other of "keep this rateEeling.” Part of what makes this song so fun is the clapping. Seriously, that's a big part ("Don't stop..."applaud,applaud… "to believe"). It's like suddenly you're a cheerleader when you're just a worker stuck in rush hour listening to the old-time station and singing this song that reminds you of summers of your youth full of sweet, sweet freedom.

Nobody really remembersnothe texts forThis classic from 1987of America's greatest rockers. Maybe you remember parts of it. ("Fear not, gentleman, renegade and stay away" and nothing until "Birthday party, cheesecake, jelly beans, boom.") And of course everyone remembers where you yelled"Leonhard Bernstein!" Forreal kids of the 80'sChallenging yourself to see how many It's the End of the World lyrics you remember is like a mental exercise for aging brains.

If you meet someone who claims to despise"To believe”, go the other way - because both arelyingfor you, or they may be fundamentally evil. even hearHeugabel, the internet's highest critique of indie music, gave theTo believeAlbumuse 8.7, a rare high score for music also loved by suburban teens. There's no shame in swaying your hips to the beatGeorge Michaelremembers that not everyone "has a body like yours".

You can be 18 or 58 and it still brings so much joy to sing all the outrageous lyricsthis late 80's masterpiece. Yes, that's right, I said "masterpiece" because it is. It's about four minutes of saying "p-push really good" over synth beats. But nothing makes a fellow dancer frown faster, and that's all it takes to prove that you've successfully rebelled against those in power, or at least every responsible adult within earshot.

This song was common ground between pop-rock lovers and metal purists. This might not seem very remarkable, but it was an incredible achievement at the time. Metal,realMetal, never came close to satisfying the people they lovedvibrant melodies. And pop audiences, well, let's just say they haven't ventured into metal territory beyond Twisted Sister. But with "My sweet child"Guns N' Roses created a world where both factions could peacefully co-exist. You could be the tough, snarky metalhead who also loved a big chorus of headbanging and punching along.

There has never been a better example of the life lesson "Not everything you love will be good" than this one.Biz Markielied"Just a friend." No, it's not a good song. Arguably, it's a horrible song. Some might even call it scary. But when played on the radio or MTV at the right moment in life, it's like a tattoo on your soul. It doesn't have aged well. You recognize its flaws, you might even be the first to laugh about it - and you still love it. Even after all these years you can still sing along to every song lyric ("Yoooou... you've got, what I need... but you say he's just a friend...")

This songit's like a chemical equation for perfect pop music. There's clapping (see: "Don't Stop Believin'" for details), repeat ("Oh Micky, you're so good, you're so good, you amaze me, hey Micky! Hey Micky!"), repeated until vomiting) and a catchy melody so simple that literally anyone could figure out the chords of a synthesized piano in just five minutes.

Has any other song ever written in human history left everyone at a wedding on their feet? The answer is no. Don't even look. Nothing else comes close"I want to dance with someone (who loves me)."

It's hard to understand, but in fact there are people who exercise regularly who tune in to "tiger trough' playing on a loop in her brain to get her through the last few sentences.You can imagine?How someonestay motivatedTrying even harder and sweating harder and snarling, their muscles aching and begging for mercy when they don't hear Survivor's lead singer yelling at them, "Meet our rival's challenge"?

Don't ask an '80s kid if he likes Weezer's cover of Africa. I'll save you the trouble - no we don't. WhyCuomos Riversunnecessary version. It would be likerebuilding stonehenge, or the Great Sphinx of Giza. If you already have one of these wonders of the world, why do you have to do it again? They will never replicate the magic, the awe-inspiring beauty, the breathtaking audacity of these marvels of human achievement. Just listen to the original"Africa”, and feel grateful for its abundance of musical riches.

You may be exhausted from a40 hours a week, barely slept and without caffeine, ready to crawl home and fall asleep, but by the time the opening chords to "Liebesnest"Clap your ears, you're on your feet singing along like a crazy dancing machine. This song has so much power. We're all just mannequins in your hands. We follow the rhythm we're given, we try to fight it, but you're just getting deceiving. If you're too tired, you can always sing alongFred Schneiderspoken part. "Hurry up and get your jukebox money!" It will still take you to the happy place.

Ohart rockender musicabout sex was so vague that you could listen to it with your grandmother and not feel uncomfortable. Of course, some lyrics pushed the boundaries of what was appropriate, like "Working double time/on the seduction line". But other than the word "seduction," nothing in it makes sense, and it's certainly not the kind of pun that would make an adult scold someone. So you sing it knowing it's all very dirty, not knowing why it's dirty, and it feels like a victory.

you didn't have to beBilly joelbe an addicted fanthis monster punchsince the twilight of the 80s. It was the kind of music you listened to on tape and then rewound it over and over again as you tried to understand each lyric. Was aHistorylesson we intended to attend just so we could read verses like "Lebanon,Charles de Gaulle, California baseball / Starkweather, murder, sons of thalidomide!" Never before has a pop song made us so savvy because we kind of remember some of the lyrics.30 Things All '80s Kids Remember.

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