80s Pop Lyrics Were Toxic!

If you’ve ever wondered what went wrong with Generation X study the lyrics to some of the pop songs from back when our parents were still together. This music is toxic. Baby Boomers were psycho in their prime years. It may be a good thing that they got divorced and left their children alone. Take a look at some of these lyrics about love gone wrong, a lack of boundaries, infidelity, low self worth and financial abuse. (Take this is jest.)

Women put their desperation on full display in the 80s. I listened to these lyrics for the first time in the last year. I was shocked to hear this from Diana Ross of all people.

Diana Ross Upside Down

I said upside down
You’re turning me
You’re giving love instinctively
Around and round you’re turning me

Upside down
Boy, you turn me
Inside out
And round and round
Upside down
Boy, you turn me
Inside out
And round and round

Instinctively you give to me
The love that I need
I cherish the moments with you
Respectfully I say to thee
I’m aware that you’re cheating
When no one makes me feel like you do

Upside down
Boy, you turn me
Inside out
And round and round
Upside down
Boy, you turn me
Inside out
And round and round

I know you got charm and appeal
You always play the field
I’m crazy to think you are mine
As long as the sun continues to shine
There’s a place in my heart for you
That’s the bottomline

Upside down
Boy, you turn me
Inside out
And round and round
Upside down
Boy, you turn me
Inside out
And round and round

Instinctively you give to me
The love that I need
I cherish the moments with you
Respectfully I say to thee
I’m aware that you’re cheating
But no one makes me feel like you do

Upside down
Boy, you turn me
Inside out
And round and round
Upside down
Boy, you turn me
Inside out
And round and round

Upside down
Boy, you turn me
Inside out
And round and round
Upside down
Boy, you turn me
Inside out
And round and round

Upside down you’re turning me
You’re giving love instinctively
Around and round you’re turning me
I say to thee respectfully

Upside down you’re turning me
You’re giving love instinctively
Around and round you’re turning me
I say to thee respectfully

I said a upside down you’re turning me
You’re giving love instinctively
Around and round you’re turning me

I say to thee respectfully
Upside down you’re turning me
You’re giving love instinctively
Around and round you’re turning me
I say to thee respectfully

Upside down you’re turning me

The SOS Band took feminine longing, anguish and delusion to another level.

SOS Band Just be Good to Me

Friends tell me I am crazy
And I’m wasting time with you
You’ll never be mine
It’s not the way I see it
‘Cause I feel you’re already mine
Whenever you’re with me (oh, oh, oh)

People always talkin’ about
Your reputation
I don’t care about your other girls
Just be good to me (oh, oh, oh)

Friends are always tellin’ me
You’re a user
I don’t care what you do to them
Just be good to me (oh, oh, oh)

You may have many others
But I know when you’re with me
You are all mine
Friends always seem to listen
To the bad things that you do
You never do them to me (oh, oh, oh)

People always talkin’ about
Your reputation
I don’t care about your other girls
Just be good to me (Oh, oh, oh)

Friends are always tellin’ me
You’re a user
I don’t care what you do to them
Just be good to me (oh, oh, oh)

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
Just be good to me

Life is a game of chances
So I’ll take my chance with you
And you, I won’t try to change
We talk about it and I
Never had a piece of you
And to have all of nothing (oh, oh, oh)

But just be good to me
In the mornin’
Just be good to me
In the afternoon or evenin’, oh, yeah
Just be good to me (oh, oh, oh)

I’ll give you love, I will smother you
I’ll give affection, I won’t bother you
I’ll be good to you, you’ll be good to me, yeah, yeah
Just be good to me (oh, oh, oh)

I’m not the jealous type, I won’t tie you down
When you need me, I’ll be around
I’ll be good to you, you’ll be good to me
And we’ll be together, be together

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la (oh)
Just be good to me (oh, oh, oh)

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la (be nice to me, be sweet to me)
Just be good to me (oh, oh, oh)

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la (we’ll be good to each other)
(Oh, each and every day) just be good to me (oh, oh, oh)

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la (we will love each other, ooh, yes, we will)
Just be good to me (oh, oh, oh)

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
Just be good to me (oh, oh, oh)

In 1983 The Police gave us the stalkers anthem.

The Police Every Breath You Take

Every breath you take
And every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I’ll be watching you

Every single day
And every word you say
Every game you play
Every night you stay
I’ll be watching you

Oh, can’t you see
You belong to me?
How my poor heart aches
With every step you take?

Every move you make
And every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
I’ll be watching you

Since you’ve gone, I’ve been lost without a trace
I dream at night, I can only see your face
I look around, but it’s you I can’t replace
I feel so cold, and I long for your embrace
I keep crying baby, baby please

Oh, can’t you see
You belong to me?
How my poor heart aches
With every step you take?

Every move you make
And every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
I’ll be watching you
Every move you make
Every step you take
I’ll be watching you

I’ll be watching you
(Every breath you take)
(Every move you make)
(Every bond you break)
(Every step you take) I’ll be watching you
(Every single day)
(Every word you say)
(Every game you play)
(Every night you stay) I’ll be watching you

I’ll be watching you
(Every single day)
(Every word you say) Whoo, hoo
(Every game you play)
(Every night you stay) I’ll be watching you

I’ll be watching you
(Every single day)
(Every word you say)
(Every game you play)
(Every night you stay) I’ll be watching you

I’ll be watching you
(Every single day)
(Every word you say)
(Every game you play)
(Every night you stay) I’ll be watching you…

The Human League wrote a song about being jealous of a woman’s coming of age and success.

The Human League Don’t You Want Me

You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar
When I met you
I picked you out, I shook you up
And turned you around
Turned you into someone new
Now five years later on you’ve got the world at your feet
Success has been so easy for you
But don’t forget it’s me who put you where you are now
And I can put you back down too.

Don’t. Don’t you want me?
You know I can’t believe it when I hear that you won’t see me
Don’t. Don’t you want me?
You know I don’t believe you when you say that you don’t need me

It’s much too late to find
When you think you’ve changed your mind
You’d better change it back or we will both be sorry

Don’t you want me, baby?
Don’t you want me? Oh!
Don’t you want me, baby?
Don’t you want me? Oh!

I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar
That much is true
But even then I knew I’d find a much better place
Either with or without you
The five years we have had have been such good at times
I still love you
But now I think it’s time I lived my life on my own
I guess it’s just what I must do

Don’t. Don’t you want me?
You know I can’t believe it when I hear that you won’t see me
Don’t. Don’t you want me?
You know I don’t believe you when you say that you don’t need me

It’s much too late find
When you think you’ve changed your mind
You’d better change it back or we will both be sorry

Don’t you want me, baby?
Don’t you want me? Oh!
Don’t you want me, baby?
Don’t you want me? Oh!

Don’t you want me, baby?
Don’t you want me? Oh!
Don’t you want me, baby?
Don’t you want me? Oh!

Don’t you want me, baby?
Don’t you want me? Oh!
Don’t you want me, baby?
Don’t you want me? Oh

Don’t you want me, baby?
Don’t you want me? Oh!
Don’t you want me, baby?
Don’t you want me? Oh!

Here’s another song about a man using money as leverage in a relationship.

Oran Juice Jones The Rain

I saw you (and him, and him) walking in the rain
You were holding hands and I’ll never be the same

Tossing and turning another sleepless night
The rain crashes against my window pane
Jumped into my car–didn’t drive too far
That moment I knew I would never be the same

Cause I saw you (and him, and him) walking in the rain
You were holding hands and I’ll never be the same

Now here you are begging to me
To give our love another try
Girl I love you and I always will
But darling right now I’ve got to say goodbye

Cause I saw you (and him, and him) walking in the rain
You were holding hands and I’ll never be the same

I saw you (and him) walking in the rain
You were holding hands and I’ll never be the same

Hey, hey, baby, how you doin’, come on in here
Got some hot chocolate on the stove waitin’ for ya
Listen, first things first, let me hang up that coat
Yeah, ‘n’ how’s your day today, did ya miss me?
Oh, you did, yeah, I missed you, too
I missed you so much I followed you today
That’s right
Now close your mouth
Cause you cold busted
That’s right, now sit down here
Sit down here
So upset with you I don’t know what to do
‘n’ my first impulse was to run up on you
And do a Rambo
Whip out the jammy and flat-blast both of you
But I ain’t wanna mess up this thirty-seve hundred dollar lynx coat
So instead, I chilled
That’s right, chilled, then I went to the bank
Took out every dime
And then I went and canceled all those credit cards
Yeah
All your charge accounts
Yeah
I stuck you up for every piece of jewelry I ever bought you
Yeah
That’s right, everything
Everything
Did fool out with me
Naw, don’t go, you ever go, don’t go looking in that closet
Cause you ain’t got nothing in there
Everything you came here with–

Is packe dup and waiting for you in the guest room
That’s right, what was you thinking about, huh?
What were you tryin’ to prove, huh?
You’s with the Juice
‘n’ I gave you silk suits, Gucci handbags, blue diamonds
I gave you things you couldn’t even pronounce
Now I can’t give you nothin’ but advice
Cause you’re still young
That’s right, you’re still young
I hope you learn a valuable lesson from all this
You know?
Gonna find someone like me one of these days
Until then, know what you gotta do?
You gotta get on outta here with that
Alley-cat-coat wearin’
Hush-puppy-shoe-wearing’
Crumb cake I saw you with
Cause you dismissed
That’s right, silly rabbit
Tricks are made for kids, don’t you know that?
You without me: like cornflake without the milk
It’s my world–you just a squirrel, tryin’ to get a nut
Now get on outta here
Ah!
Don’t touch that coat!

Adultery carrols.

Atlantic Starr Secret Lovers

Here we are the two of us together
Taking this crazy chance to be all alone
We both know that we should not be together
‘Cause if they found out
It could mess up, both our happy homes

I hate to think about us all meeting up together
As soon as I looked at you it would show on my face
Then they’ll know that we’ve been loving each other
They can never no, oh no, we can’t leave a trace

Secret Lovers that’s what we are, we shouldn’t be together
But we can’t let it go, oh no, cause we love each other so

Sittin at home I do nothing all day
But think about you and hope that your ok
Hoping you’ll call before anyone gets home
I’ll wait anxiously, alone by the phone

How could something so wrong be so right
I wish we didn’t have to keep our love out of sight
Living two lives just ain’t easy at all
But we gotta hang on and after fall

Secret lovers that’s what we are
Trying so hard to hide the way we feel
Cause we both belong to someone else
But we can’t let it go, cause what we feel is oh so real
So real

You and me, are we fair
Is this cruel, or do we care
Can they tell what’s in our minds
Maybe they’ve had secret love all of the time

In the middle of makin love we notice the time
We both get nervous cause it’s way after nine
Even though we hate it, we know it’s time that we go
We gotta be careful, so that no one will know

Secret lovers, that’s what we are
Trying so hard to hide the way we feel
‘Cause we both belong to someone else
But we can’t let it go
‘Cause what we feel is oh so real
So real

You can tell a lot about a culture from it’s art. This is art from the 80s and it says a lot about relationships between men and women just as pop music tells us a lot about relationships now. I’m kidding around in this post. I’m not trying to be super sensitive, politically correct or cancel anyone (not that I could). These are historical observations that I find interesting and kind of humorous. I love the 80s!

BONUS TRACKS

Only in the 80s could a song about child abuse become a pop hit. What were we thinking? Suzanne Vega dropped this gem in 1987. It’s about a boy getting his ass beat and the neighbors heard it through the walls. This seems to have been a regular occurrence yet no one saw fit to call the cops. Oh well, it was catchy. The 80s were madness I tell ya!

Suzanne Vega Luka

My name is Luka
I live on the second floor
I live upstairs from you
Yes I think you’ve seen me before

If you hear something late at night
Some kind of trouble, some kind of fight
Just don’t ask me what it was
Just don’t ask me what it was
Just don’t ask me what it was

I think it’s because I’m clumsy
I try not to talk too loud
Maybe it’s because I’m crazy
I try not to act too proud

They only hit until you cry
And after that you don’t ask why
You just don’t argue anymore
You just don’t argue anymore
You just don’t argue anymore

Yes I think I’m okay
I walked into the door again
If you ask that’s what I’ll say
And it’s not your business anyway

I guess I’d like to be alone
With nothing broken, nothing thrown
Just don’t ask me how I am
Just don’t ask me how I am
Just don’t ask me how I am

My name is Luka
I live on the second floor
I live upstairs from you
Yes I think you’ve seen me before

If you hear something late at night
Some kind of trouble, some kind of fight
Just don’t ask me what it was
Just don’t ask me what it was
Just don’t ask me what it was

They only hit until you cry
And after that you don’t ask why
You just don’t argue anymore
You just don’t argue anymore
You just don’t argue anymore

This song actually made it to number eight in 1991 on the Billboard 100 chart. It was the early 90s so I’ll throw it in. Crystal Waters made a song about homelessness into a dance hit. That’s right, a song about homelessness and probably mental illness sent party goers to the dance floor during this era. It’s kind of morbid when you think about it.

The winds are blowing every morning
Just to do her hair now
Because she cares you all

Her day oh wouldn’t be right
Without her make up
She’s never had a make up

La da dee la dee da
La da dee la dee da
La da dee la dee da
La da dee la dee da
La da dee la dee da
La da dee la dee da

She’s just like you and me
But she’s homeless, she’s homeless
As she stands there singing for money

La da dee la dee da
La da dee la dee da
La da dee la dee da
La da dee la dee da
La da dee la dee da
La da dee la dee da

In my sleep I see her begging
Reaching police
Although her body’s not mine
I ask now I do, now I do

She’s just like you and me
But she’s homeless, she’s homeless
As she stands there singing for money

La da dee la dee da
La da dee la dee da
La da dee la dee da
La da dee la dee da
La da dee la dee da
La da dee la dee da

She’s just like you and me
As she stands there singing for money

La da dee la dee da
La da dee la dee da
La da dee la dee da
La da dee la dee da
La da dee la dee da
La da dee la dee da

Know me
Did you know, did you know
Did you know