Lots of people, myself included, have said this. I think that tends to surface when you contrast it with 2000s and even some '90s music, especially the stronger presence of hip hop. But I've wondered exactly why, and I have three reasons I can think of.

1. There tended to be alot more "clean" and poppy songs back then that became popular, so it sounds cute and fluffy in comparison.

2. Simplicity of the lyrics, since so many songs were about love, girl/boyfriends, general relationships or just simple daily stuff. That song from Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a good example, "Somebody's Baby" by Jackson Browne. Just an easygoing song about wanting to ask some girl out. Even the party rock tended to be about having a good time, despite how silly and corny alot of it was.

3. This kinda ties in with the previous one - a general lack of controversy. It actually got more press time then (i.e. Tipper Gore and the senators' wives) because the '80s were controversial by exception, now music is controversial by rule, so it doesn't stand out nearly as much!

I'd say up to 1985 the mainstream culture was very suburban and entirely pre-hip hop. Even in 1986-'89, the influence was minimal, and unless you were listening to inner city, underground stuff...any commercial rap was either lighthearted and poppy (i.e. Will Smith) or jokey party material (i.e. Beastie Boys).

I think there was a lot of turbulence in the 60s and 70s (Vietnam war etc), and by the 80s there was a more upbeat happy vibe going on in the mainstream. That's a theory I heard anyway. Plus the yuppie culture took off in the 80s.

I actually meant compared to today, but that's true too. It was generally less political (outside a few exceptions, although it started getting more socially conscious songs in the mid-late '80s) and more of a fun, party time.

Lots of people, myself included, have said this. I think that tends to surface when you contrast it with 2000s and even some '90s music, especially the stronger presence of hip hop. But I've wondered exactly why, and I have three reasons I can think of.

1. There tended to be alot more "clean" and poppy songs back then that became popular, so it sounds cute and fluffy in comparison.

2. Simplicity of the lyrics, since so many songs were about love, girl/boyfriends, general relationships or just simple daily stuff. That song from Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a good example, "Somebody's Baby" by Jackson Browne. Just an easygoing song about wanting to ask some girl out. Even the party rock tended to be about having a good time, despite how silly and corny alot of it was.

3. This kinda ties in with the previous one - a general lack of controversy. It actually got more press time then (i.e. Tipper Gore and the senators' wives) because the '80s were controversial by exception, now music is controversial by rule, so it doesn't stand out nearly as much!

I'd say up to 1985 the mainstream culture was very suburban and entirely pre-hip hop. Even in 1986-'89, the influence was minimal, and unless you were listening to inner city, underground stuff...any commercial rap was either lighthearted and poppy (i.e. Will Smith) or jokey party material (i.e. Beastie Boys).


HUh ??? Are you talking about the same decade I lived in, the 80's, innocent?

I guess you can see it however you want or remember, but really, innocent? Hardly.

Lets review just some of the hits of the 80’s:

Papa Don’t Preach, Like a Virgin, Like a Prayer (hell any Madonna song)
Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
Darling Nikki - Prince (heck Prince even had a song called “Controversy” ferchissakes)
White Lines - Grand Master Flash (lots of songs about cocaine and its influence i.e. "Smugglers Blues - Glenn Fry")
Mm Bop - Cyndi Lauper
Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen
F*** Da Police - NWA
Suffer The Children/Panic - The Smiths
Killing an Arab - The Cure
I Want your Sex - George Michael
My Sugar Walls - Sheena Easton
Dear God - XTC

And this is just off the top of my head, (I know there are more that I'm missing) all of these had generated some serious controversy surrounding them at the time of their release. A lot were pulled from the air on radio stations around the country and the world. NWA received threats from the FBI, for a song no less, for exercising their 1st amendment rights. Pretty controversial if you ask me.

The PRMC came to be just because of these songs.

So I can hardly agree with you in the general view that 80’s songs were innocent and not controversial, not at all.

Even the song you use as an example "Somebody’s Baby", at least in the context of how it used in the move is not innocent at all. In the movie the song is playing as the main character is about to/losing her virginity, hardly a innocent frame of mind for the use of “she’s gonna be somebody’s baby tonight” sure doesn’t’ sound innocent to me.

I can understand if you want to romanticize that part of your life, growing up during that time. But remember when looking back with "nostalgic eyes" its easy to overlook the bad or less then pleasant things in the past.

^ agree

A bit ironic that the Twisted Sister DVDs are edited for content and Dee Synder was one of the entertainers that tesified against the PMRC

HUh ??? Are you talking about the same decade I lived in, the 80's, innocent?

I guess you can see it however you want or remember, but really, innocent? Hardly.

Lets review just some of the hits of the 80’s:

Papa Don’t Preach, Like a Virgin, Like a Prayer (hell any Madonna song)
Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
Darling Nikki - Prince (heck Prince even had a song called “Controversy” ferchissakes)
White Lines - Grand Master Flash (lots of songs about cocaine and its influence i.e. "Smugglers Blues - Glenn Fry")
Mm Bop - Cyndi Lauper
Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen
F*** Da Police - NWA
Suffer The Children/Panic - The Smiths
Killing an Arab - The Cure
I Want your Sex - George Michael
My Sugar Walls - Sheena Easton
Dear God - XTC

And this is just off the top of my head, (I know there are more that I'm missing) all of these had generated some serious controversy surrounding them at the time of their release. A lot were pulled from the air on radio stations around the country and the world. NWA received threats from the FBI, for a song no less, for exercising their 1st amendment rights. Pretty controversial if you ask me.

The PRMC came to be just because of these songs.

So I can hardly agree with you in the general view that 80’s songs were innocent and not controversial, not at all.

Even the song you use as an example "Somebody’s Baby", at least in the context of how it used in the move is not innocent at all. In the movie the song is playing as the main character is about to/losing her virginity, hardly a innocent frame of mind for the use of “she’s gonna be somebody’s baby tonight” sure doesn’t’ sound innocent to me.

I can understand if you want to romanticize that part of your life, growing up during that time. But remember when looking back with "nostalgic eyes" its easy to overlook the bad or less then pleasant things in the past.



Even though I don't entirely agree (although I do understand what you're saying), I love debates like this, because it kinda gives everyone a new point of view. :)

That's true, there were alot of individual songs that got controversy, especially if it was about sex, drugs, or to a lesser extent, violence. Prince and most heavy metal are good examples. I do think what made them stand out, was that most songs weren't that way. So the, say 10% that were made bigger headlines. News in general is like that, they report on negatives, because that's what draws attention. I think the general SOUND of the songs from a late '90s or 2000s perspective is innocent (and at the actual time it was going on, it was simply "pop music"), but I agree most of those got the press they did because of the lyrics.

As far as "Somebody's Baby", I heard the song long before I saw (or even knew about) Fast Times. Did Browne write it specifically for the movie, or was it just put in? I'll admit the song seems ALOT more innocent than the movie! Even for today's standards it's STILL pretty risque and cutting edge in alot of places.

I think harder rappers like Public Enemy were so on the edge, because it was the mainstream's first exposure to true rap. Although I've never really been a hip hop fan, so I can't comment in detail as much.

Even though I don't entirely agree (although I do understand what you're saying), I love debates like this, because it kinda gives everyone a new point of view. :)

That's true, there were alot of individual songs that got controversy, especially if it was about sex, drugs, or to a lesser extent, violence. Prince and most heavy metal are good examples. I do think what made them stand out, was that most songs weren't that way. So the, say 10% that were made bigger headlines. News in general is like that, they report on negatives, because that's what draws attention. I think the general SOUND of the songs from a late '90s or 2000s perspective is innocent (and at the actual time it was going on, it was simply "pop music"), but I agree most of those got the press they did because of the lyrics.

As far as "Somebody's Baby", I heard the song long before I saw (or even knew about) Fast Times. Did Browne write it specifically for the movie, or was it just put in? I'll admit the song seems ALOT more innocent than the movie! Even for today's standards it's STILL pretty risque and cutting edge in alot of places.

I think harder rappers like Public Enemy were so on the edge, because it was the mainstream's first exposure to true rap. Although I've never really been a hip hop fan, so I can't comment in detail as much.



I agree with that. I think that songs almost have to be controversial these days to even sell, or at least it seems that way. I would say that overall controversial songs were more the exception and not the rule at that time. Today, pretty much every hip-hop artist comes out with lyrics along the lines of the early gangsta rap songs from the '80s, but don't really get any attention since its pretty much the 'norm' these days.

As far as "Somebody's Baby", I heard the song long before I saw (or even knew about) Fast Times. Did Browne write it specifically for the movie, or was it just put in? I'll admit the song seems ALOT more innocent than the movie! Even for today's standards it's STILL pretty risque and cutting edge in alot of places.

No I don't think Jackson Browne wrote the song for the movie, but the way it was used in the movie, well it has such a different context than the lyrics themselves suggest.

That's true, there were alot of individual songs that got controversy, especially if it was about sex, drugs, or to a lesser extent, violence. Prince and most heavy metal are good examples. I do think what made them stand out, was that most songs weren't that way. So the, say 10% that were made bigger headlines. News in general is like that, they report on negatives, because that's what draws attention. I think the general SOUND of the songs from a late '90s or 2000s perspective is innocent (and at the actual time it was going on, it was simply "pop music"), but I agree most of those got the press they did because of the lyrics.

But then, isn’t that what every song is about, then and now, if its not about love, its about sex, drugs and violence? Its been that way since the 60’s and to a lesser extent back till the beginnings of rock and roll.

From my point of view the 80’s in general were in no way innocent, and I’m not just speaking of music. I’m speaking on the emergence of the conspicuous consumption. The yuppies, the cocaine. Reaganomics, trickle down economy. Flashy poppy, sleek and in your face with little substance, and I say the music (one could say the rise in electronic music, feeling somewhat colder sounding) reflected that.

The 60’s were the last innocent decade IMHO, at least some of the hippies really believed in what they were protesting for, the 70’s was like “what the hell happened”, we protested we marched and the war was still happening, our leaders were killed/assassinated, and we have Nixon too for our effort, complete disillusionment.

The 80’s was “well, we protested and look where it got us” We screwed off and disco'ed and dealt with the oil crises and the Carter Administration in the 70’s, no real forward progress.
1980 now its time to make some money and buy stuff, empty and shallowness of materials be dammed. We’re not just talking about keeping up with the Joneses, we want to buy them out, fire them and collect and profit from their loss. This was the age of S&L’s collapsing and corporate raiders. (Remember “Material Girl” That song was popular for a reason!).

So lets look at some other songs that were not controversial but sure as heck didn’t paint the 80’s as a innocent time
Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money) – Pet Shop Boys.
Material Girl – Madonna
Smugglers Blues – Glen Fry
Money For Nothing – Dire Straights
What Have You Done for Me Lately – Janet Jackson
These songs don’t show any part of being unsullied, or pure in mindset. These are people who want to get PAID. And they are not ashamed about how they go about it or who gets stepped on or used to obtain their goals.
These are songs that are from and by the atmosphere of the 80’s, the theme of GREED & MONEY is strong here as it was then.

Now if you want to look at it another way, lets look at these songs.
Jump – Van Halen
Dancing in the Dark – Bruce Springsteen
99 Luftballons – Nena
Here Comes the Rain Again – Eurythmics
Everybody Wants to Rule the World – Tears For Fears

Suicide, realization of broken dreams that might not be real, nuclear attack brought on by foolish/nervous cold war, etc, etc. These are not the songs of a simple or guiltless mind or society. Great songs mind you, but the subject matter is none too "bright".

There are plenty of other songs promoting or proclaiming the goal or attainment of the trapping of a consumption focused/over-sexualized culture too: U Got the Look (Prince), The Look (Roxette) and so on. I can pick out random songs addressing unrest and political issues ((I'm Not Gonna Play (Sun City)), and come up with ones focusing on violence and child abuse too (My Name is "Luka") from that era.

Now I’m not saying that 80’s was evil and an awful period. There were PLENTY of soft poppy love and romantic stuff too NKOTB, Debbie Gibson and so forth (and that IS by inception “innocent”). I’m trying to point out that ANY decade has its not so pretty side to it. I can go through any 10 years and pick out songs that show that current time to be rather unpleasant or showing people at ill ease with themselves and their surroundings.

The 80’s are were no different, and while I respect where your coming from, a blanket statement that the songs were more innocent is not taking into all that was going on and all the music that was around.

I think maybe it's looking back and remembering songs like "Walk Like An Egyptian", "Manic Monday", "Get On Your Feet", "Rhythm is Gonna Get You", "1,2,3" (just about any Gloria Estefan and The Miami Sound Machine song), "True Blue", "Don't Worry, Be Happy" that makes the 80's feel more innocent.  Songs like those probably wouldn't be popular today, simply due to their theme, even if you changed the music to match what's today's style.  It just seemed like there were more upbeat, cheery songs that were popular back then.  I listen to 80's music a lot and think, "This would never be popular today".  Another good example, "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton.  Or "Karma Chameleon".  How about "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"?  Maybe I'm missing the ponit entirely.  Or maybe I'm just entirely wrong.  But I think I can kinda see where you're coming from.  I don't so much think it was a more innocent time (maybe we were just more innocent, or the world seemed more innocent, because some of us were kids?), but maybe there was more of a tolerance or attraction to innocent (a.k.a. cheesey) songs back then.

I think maybe it's looking back and remembering songs like "Walk Like An Egyptian", "Manic Monday", "Get On Your Feet", "Rhythm is Gonna Get You", "1,2,3" (just about any Gloria Estefan and The Miami Sound Machine song), "True Blue", "Don't Worry, Be Happy" that makes the 80's feel more innocent.  Songs like those probably wouldn't be popular today, simply due to their theme, even if you changed the music to match what's today's style.  It just seemed like there were more upbeat, cheery songs that were popular back then.  I listen to 80's music a lot and think, "This would never be popular today".  Another good example, "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton.  Or "Karma Chameleon".  How about "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"?  Maybe I'm missing the ponit entirely.  Or maybe I'm just entirely wrong.  But I think I can kinda see where you're coming from.  I don't so much think it was a more innocent time (maybe we were just more innocent, or the world seemed more innocent, because some of us were kids?), but maybe there was more of a tolerance or attraction to innocent (a.k.a. cheesey) songs back then.


that's a really good way of putting it. I mean, in reality, the times were not too much innocent, but we were children then, we looked at things through different eyes, things DID seem innocent and light-hearted back then. We didn't have worries, we didn't have cares...we had days of playing in the sun with neighborhood kids, we had ice cream trucks and community swimming pools, we had catching fireflies on a summer night, we had dancing in the water sprinkler to our favorite happy tunes. That, is the difference.

that's a really good way of putting it. I mean, in reality, the times were not too much innocent, but we were children then, we looked at things through different eyes, things DID seem innocent and light-hearted back then. We didn't have worries, we didn't have cares...we had days of playing in the sun with neighborhood kids, we had ice cream trucks and community swimming pools, we had catching fireflies on a summer night, we had dancing in the water sprinkler to our favorite happy tunes. That, is the difference.


You pretty much just summed up my childhood and everything I miss about it! :) If I could give ya another karma, I would  ;D

You pretty much just summed up my childhood and everything I miss about it! :) If I could give ya another karma, I would  ;D



aww..thanks buddy! :) Ya, that was pretty much my childhood too...and yes, I miss it terribly.

aww..thanks buddy! :) Ya, that was pretty much my childhood too...and yes, I miss it terribly.

Quirk, Bill, Marty, I hear you guys loud and clear on this. I was 5 at the start of the 80's and came out of them a very optimistic 15-year-old. We took vacations all over the East Coast anytime from April to October(weather permitting) and I have never gotten the travel bug or my passion for America(its land, its people, or its history) out of my system. I still don't want it to leave me.

The 90's were in no way innocent because it seemed every new band was either trashing the 80's(Nirvana & the grunge bands) or resorting to cheap controversy(Sinead O'Connor, Meredith Brooks) to get their worthless records sold. Most of the time those bands thought they could make themselves appear to be deep or talented by taking massive amounts of drugs or pretending to be leading some world-altering revolution. No wonder I can't think of a single grunge band that doesn't have a dead member!

But anyway, I think what made the 80's such a great time for America was the fact that we were engaged in possibly the greatest battle of good vs. evil the world had seen in centuries, and we were unquestionably the good guys! That's what brought us together, with the help of perhaps the 20th Century's most charismatic world leader convincing us to stand tall in the face of adversity. However, innocent as some 80's music may have been, there were plenty of songs to remind us just how dangerous this battle we were in was, and many of those songs still stand out as the 80's greatest, simply because they reflect the Cold War that we triumphed in:
"Russians", Sting
"Der Kommisar", After The Fire
"Burning Down The House", Talking Heads
"New Frontier", Donald Fagen
"Land Of Confusion", Genesis
"Two Tribes", Frankie Goes To Hollywood
"Red Skies", The Fixx
"New Year's Day", U2 Almost any 80's song from them shows the political world as it really was.
"It's A Mistake", Men At Work
"Silent Running", Mike & The Mechanics
"Melt With You", Modern English
"Don't Dream It's Over", Crowded House
"Red Rain", Peter Gabriel
"Leningrad", Billy Joel
And the song my heart has always considered a requiem for the 80's,
"The End Of The Innocence", Don Henley

I'll probably have more to say on this later.

Your Pal,
Doc
8)

that's a really good way of putting it. I mean, in reality, the times were not too much innocent, but we were children then, we looked at things through different eyes, things DID seem innocent and light-hearted back then. We didn't have worries, we didn't have cares...we had days of playing in the sun with neighborhood kids, we had ice cream trucks and community swimming pools, we had catching fireflies on a summer night, we had dancing in the water sprinkler to our favorite happy tunes. That, is the difference.


You perfectly described my childhood to a T......I really miss those days!  :)

I just thought of Orgasm Addict by The Buzzcocks.


There were lots of bubblegummy pop songs...but there were ranchy ones. The thing is, my parents never cared about the raunchy songs.  and they never made me into a criminal.

I actually meant compared to today, but that's true too. It was generally less political (outside a few exceptions, although it started getting more socially conscious songs in the mid-late '80s) and more of a fun, party time.

What I saw, Marty, was Ronald Reagan's Reaganomics doubling the national debt in three years while the hippies and yippies graduated from business school and "nested" in McMansions like Steve and Elyse Keaton and I watched helplessly too young to vote while those sonofabitches sold my generation down the damn river. 

One of my innocent Eighties theme songs
IGGY POP: REPO MAN

Repo Man Lyrics
» Iggy Pop
i was riding on a concrete slab, down a river of useless flab

it was such a beautiful day i heard a witchdoctor say,
"i'll turn you into a toadstool"

i'm looking for the joke with
a microscope

my muscle's twitching on your words if you're
on the streets you lose your nerves divinity throws you a
curve sticks you and then you go beserk

abhoring no inspiration

i'm looking for the joke with a microscope

page out of a comic
book

a chicken hanging on a hook

a river and a babbling brook

a sermon and a teenage hooker shaking my hand at your fake
face

a suicide a certain look

a microphone a blues guitar

people feeling near and far stupidity a mental scar put cruel into cruelty

as life goes by you in a blurr an alcoholic has gone far

everything just goes to far

i was p*ssing on the desert sands, when the desert
whispered to me, "damn! isn't this a shame? things will never be
the same..."

i run this gas and oasis now i'm looking for the joke
with a microscope

i was a teenage dinosaur, stoned and obsolete
i didn't get f**ked and i didn't get kissed i got so f**king p*ssed

using my head for an ashtray

now i'll tell you who i am i'm the
repo-man and i'm looking for the joke looking for the joke

i'm looking for the joke with a microscope

I don't have time atm, to get into detail on anything, but good points.

You know, I know alot of times lyrics deviate from how a song may sound. I think the one key difference between a song's appeal to a (liiteral) kid and to a teen/adult, is that the words mean more to you when you're older. When you're a kid, it's just how it sounds. That's all I cared about, even if I liked alot of different artists...it was because it was ALL catchy sounding.

I never knew what almost any of them were actually about (and I reached alot of silly conclusions back then). ;D

I may have not quite had as many friends or interactions as other kids did, but out of what I did have, it makes sense for everything about the time in which you were under 12 or maybe 14 to seem innocent to you. I guess the music is just one example of that. Especially since like we've pointed out already, there tended to be more lighthearted pop songs (even if the lyrics were not, the music was).

That's kind of like how Baby Boomers nostalgize about being '50s kids. They view that time as innocent (before stuff like Vietnam, Watergate and the gas shortage went on), because they probably weren't aware of public racism and segregation and other less pretty things which the adults were.

^ agree

A bit ironic that the Twisted Sister DVDs are edited for content and Dee Synder was one of the entertainers that tesified against the PMRC


tidbit of trivia...

Twisted Sister had a video for a song called "Be Cruel to your school" a remake or "Be cool to your school" the video had the studentswho were zombies. It was the typical Twisted Sister goofball video. This video was banned by MTV, because it was considered inappropriate. This was 2-3 years after Michael Jackson's Thriller video.

Be Cruel To Your School Video

To me the feel of the 80's decade of music was similar to that of the late 50's-early 60's (the early rock n roll years) in terms of the fact that much of the music was fun and innocent (you even had some early 60's songs that recharted in the 80's due to their appearance in films like Ben E King's "Stand by Me" and "Do you Love Me?' by the Contours from Dirty Dancing); then the early to mid 90's period with the grunge music felt like a darker version of the hippie period in the late 60's (Woodstock 1994 featured people rocking out in the mud much like they did at the original Woodstock in 1969)

^ I totally agree with those comparisons, and I've thought about that myself too.

I think the Go Gos, Hall and Oates, The Cars and the Stray Cats (among others) took alot from oldies rock and British Invasion (i.e. shorter, simple songs). There was sort of a fun, summertime feel in both times.

that's a really good way of putting it. I mean, in reality, the times were not too much innocent, but we were children then, we looked at things through different eyes, things DID seem innocent and light-hearted back then. We didn't have worries, we didn't have cares...we had days of playing in the sun with neighborhood kids, we had ice cream trucks and community swimming pools, we had catching fireflies on a summer night, we had dancing in the water sprinkler to our favorite happy tunes. That, is the difference.



I totally agree. Now, I grew up in the '90s as opposed to the '80s, but I would use a similar comparison for me. Even though the '90s aren't known for having the most innocent songs(not nearly as bad as today, but still more vulgar overall than the '80s), more often than not, the meanings of those songs are lost on you when your a kid.

Alot of times I'll be shocked when I hear a song for the first time since then that seemed innocent enough at the time, but really wasn't. But, I will always view those songs through my childhood, and associate them with the good times I had then.

^ Yeah I agree too. So many songs I've heard some years later and said "Whoa, this is much more extreme than I thought when I was six!" Like "Little Red Corvette" by Prince is actually a pretty explicit sexual song, but I think he could get away with it, because the music itself sounded very bright, poppy and innocent, even for its time. What really is a dirty song was hidden behind fun music, which is actually sort of the opposite of how alot of songs are now!

Then I've got some that were lost on me in different ways. Like "Lawyers in Love" by Jackson Browne is some kind of political song (it's even more an '80s time capsule now since he mentions the USSR in it, lol), but I didn't notice or care back then, just 'cause it's so catchy.

I think most deep meanings of things are lost on kids, I wonder if that's what makes it feel so innocent in the first place? Whether or not I have any specific memories tied to them or not, all these songs remind me of just being a kid, and in alot of ways, that's the biggest comfort of all.

...because the music itself sounded very bright, poppy and innocent

I think this is the main point that's coming across. Whilst the lyrics were no more innocent, the music was. Yes we were still 'dirty' in the 80s but we had a cheerful way of putting it across.  ;D

I think most deep meanings of things are lost on kids, I wonder if that's what makes it feel so innocent in the first place? Whether or not I have any specific memories tied to them or not, all these songs remind me of just being a kid, and in alot of ways, that's the biggest comfort of all.



Yeah, I think so. Some songs I liked when I was younger(especially rock songs from that era like "Iris", "Counting Blue Cars", and even "Breakfast At Tiffany's") all had meanings that were kinda above my head, but I still liked them anyway as just catchy, cool sounding songs. Even to this day I still think about them from the same context I did when I was 10.

I think this is the main point that's coming across. Whilst the lyrics were no more innocent, the music was. Yes we were still 'dirty' in the 80s but we had a cheerful way of putting it across.  ;D


;D that's funny, but true. I remember singing along to certain songs when I was younger, and then when I got older and was able to understand things better, thinking to myself, "gosh, I used to belt out this song while I was swinging on the swings at the playground!!!" :o :D BUT, at the time, I had no idea what the lyrics really meant...it was the tune that attracted me.

Speaking of innocent, I also think it's because deeper subjects (sex included) were sung about metaphorically and indirectly. This isn't quite as true now...even in the '90s it still was somewhat innocent in that way.

I must've misinterpreted tons of Hall and Oates songs - like I thought "Private Eyes" was about hide and seek, "Maneater" was literal, and that "One on One" was about video games. ;D

What I saw, Marty, was Ronald Reagan's Reaganomics doubling the national debt in three years while the hippies and yippies graduated from business school and "nested" in McMansions like Steve and Elyse Keaton and I watched helplessly too young to vote while those sonofabitches sold my generation down the damn river. 

One of my innocent Eighties theme songs
IGGY POP: REPO MAN

Repo Man Lyrics
» Iggy Pop
i was riding on a concrete slab, down a river of useless flab

it was such a beautiful day i heard a witchdoctor say,
"i'll turn you into a toadstool"

i'm looking for the joke with
a microscope

my muscle's twitching on your words if you're
on the streets you lose your nerves divinity throws you a
curve sticks you and then you go beserk

abhoring no inspiration

i'm looking for the joke with a microscope

page out of a comic
book

a chicken hanging on a hook

a river and a babbling brook

a sermon and a teenage hooker shaking my hand at your fake
face

a suicide a certain look

a microphone a blues guitar

people feeling near and far stupidity a mental scar put cruel into cruelty

as life goes by you in a blurr an alcoholic has gone far

everything just goes to far

i was p*ssing on the desert sands, when the desert
whispered to me, "damn! isn't this a shame? things will never be
the same..."

i run this gas and oasis now i'm looking for the joke
with a microscope

i was a teenage dinosaur, stoned and obsolete
i didn't get f**ked and i didn't get kissed i got so f**king p*ssed

using my head for an ashtray

now i'll tell you who i am i'm the
repo-man and i'm looking for the joke looking for the joke


i'm looking for the joke with a microscope



Max, I so identify with this its not even funny... :-\\

I guess what I'm saying to the others that feel that the 80's were their safe, golden and growing up years...I wish to take nothing away for the nostalgia of that time for you, I understand and empathize what the years of your youth meant to you (it still means a LOT to me too), just remember the '80's has lots more going on than on the surface.
For us few that were past our adolescent years in that decade, the world and the US in general had many aspects of the period happening that were not "innocent", the 80's were a time of GREAT change in stature in the US and political world view and we have to be realistic in what that impact of the 80's had on us and the world.
The music (and videos) that we watched and listened to, honestly reflected that.

Now I loved the 80's as much as you do, but I'm not going to over sentimentalize the decade and overlook the dark parts of the period just to say it was more innocent than any other, because it just not true.

One of the great signs of maturity is the recognizeation of the past as it happened and acceptance of how that effects your own personal experience. 
For that reason, to me, no one can say, just because they grew up in that one era (the 80's or any other) makes the decade more "innocent" than any other.
Not a popular statement, but I believe its really true.

I think though, that whatever era you were a child in, for the most part (unless you went through personal issues and such), it was an innocent/breezy/feel-good time. I mean, when I was 8 years old, I was not thinking about politics, or any negative aspects of society....I was thinking about playing with the neighborhood kids, watching my favorite episode of the Smurfs, seeing how far I could make it down the Slip & Slide in the summertime, blowing super huge bubbles of Hubba Bubba bubblegum, etc. I am not denying that there were more to the 80's than meets the eye, but looking back to my childhood, the above things were what I remember. I think that goes for any decade that one happened to be a child in. I mean, yes, it would be a LOT different if I would have been in my 20's or so during that time..then I would have been more aware of the things going on around me in the world. I think this is why it is so refreshing..to be able to look back on those simpler times, compared to the way things are today (with our grownup perception on the world and the way that things work). I know it's not healthy to LIVE in the past, but it doesn't hurt to take yourself back there every once in awhile, for a short visit.

;D that's funny, but true. I remember singing along to certain songs when I was younger, and then when I got older and was able to understand things better, thinking to myself, "gosh, I used to belt out this song while I was swinging on the swings at the playground!!!" :o :D BUT, at the time, I had no idea what the lyrics really meant...it was the tune that attracted me.


This is so true!! LOL I remember being about 9, I guess, singing and dancing in my living room, with my there, to a song on the radio.  The lyrics went "Boom boom boom let's go back to my room so we can do it all night and you can make me feel right".  OH MY GOD.  I am mortified and embarassed for my childhood self LOL  My mom turned it off pretty quickly.  I guess I had to have known, at that age, that it wasn't about playing hide and seek, but at the same time, I didn't know how dirty it really was.  ;D

Both aspects are true. I think the time in which we're under 12 or so always seems more innocent because we didn't know about the bad things as they were actually happening. So even if we learn the truth later, we always think back to how we felt at the time. I didn't know about the Challenger, the crack epidemic or other political or tragic events of the '80s in detail until probably the mid, even late '90s.

I mean, I remember hearing President Reagan's name and I sorta knew who he was, but it's not like Black Monday 1987 or the Iran Hostage Crisis were notable events to me. I wasn't watching coverage of the Berlin Wall coming down on Nightline or anything. I may have been more observant than some other kids, but even in those instances it was confined to things I cared about. Either family or school stuff...or on the pop cultural side, stuff like video games and music (I knew lots of songs of course).

Come to think of it, another part of real childhood innocence is that I didn't even notice or care about what was cool or new and what wasn't. I heard alot of early '80s songs around '87-89 (either from the radio or what my parents listened to) so I personally associate those with those years just as much as the brand new stuff. Even oldies was the same way, like Beatles albums. I played Pac Man and stuff at arcades during that time too, without caring that it was an almost ten year old game.

A 13 year old might care about that, but an 8 year old doesn't.

I think any type of music being innocent depends on how old you were when you listened to it. If you were a child in the 80s, chances are you were too young to get the references or even reflected your childhood innocence into the music itself.

I don't consider 80s music any more or less innocent than any other type of music from any year or decade.

I remember being embarrassed singing "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off".  :-[ ;D

This is so true!! LOL I remember being about 9, I guess, singing and dancing in my living room, with my there, to a song on the radio.  The lyrics went "Boom boom boom let's go back to my room so we can do it all night and you can make me feel right".  OH MY GOD.  I am mortified and embarassed for my childhood self LOL  My mom turned it off pretty quickly.  I guess I had to have known, at that age, that it wasn't about playing hide and seek, but at the same time, I didn't know how dirty it really was.  ;D


hhaa....I totally remember that song!! I remember singing, "Push It" and "Let's Talk About Sex" by Salt n Pepa. ahahahah. ;D :D

Both aspects are true. I think the time in which we're under 12 or so always seems more innocent because we didn't know about the bad things as they were actually happening. So even if we learn the truth later, we always think back to how we felt at the time. I didn't know about the Challenger, the crack epidemic or other political or tragic events of the '80s in detail until probably the mid, even late '90s.

I mean, I remember hearing President Reagan's name and I sorta knew who he was, but it's not like Black Monday 1987 or the Iran Hostage Crisis were notable events to me. I wasn't watching coverage of the Berlin Wall coming down on Nightline or anything. I may have been more observant than some other kids, but even in those instances it was confined to things I cared about. Either family or school stuff...or on the pop cultural side, stuff like video games and music (I knew lots of songs of course).

Come to think of it, another part of real childhood innocence is that I didn't even notice or care about what was cool or new and what wasn't. I heard alot of early '80s songs around '87-89 (either from the radio or what my parents listened to) so I personally associate those with those years just as much as the brand new stuff. Even oldies was the same way, like Beatles albums. I played Pac Man and stuff at arcades during that time too, without caring that it was an almost ten year old game.

A 13 year old might care about that, but an 8 year old doesn't.



This is very true.

I didn't really care about or even notice some of the world events that happened during my early childhood years(the fall of the berlin wall/end of the cold war, the Gulf War, Oklahoma City bombing, etc.), and for most of them I was only vaguely aware of what they really meant.  The first major event that I even remotely understood the importance of and followed while it was going on were the Clinton impeachment trails in the late '90s, and I was already in middle school by then.

The '80s and '90s seem like such an innocent time to me because it was an innocent time for me. By comparison, the '00s have seemed anything but innocent to my now 'twentysomething' self, but how about to a kid born in 1998 that probably doesn't remember September 11th, and will only have a vague recollection of the Iraq War/Bush presidency? I'm sure they will have a very different opinion.

This is very true.

I didn't really care about or even notice some of the world events that happened during my early childhood years(the fall of the berlin wall/end of the cold war, the Gulf War, Oklahoma City bombing, etc.), and for most of them I was only vaguely aware of what they really meant.  The first major event that I even remotely understood the importance of and followed while it was going on were the Clinton impeachment trails in the late '90s, and I was already in middle school by then.

The '80s and '90s seem like such an innocent time to me because it was an innocent time for me. By comparison, the '00s have seemed anything but innocent to my now 'twentysomething' self, but how about to a kid born in 1998 that probably doesn't remember September 11th, and will only have a vague recollection of the Iraq War/Bush presidency? I'm sure they will have a very different opinion.


Oddly in some ways the late '90s really was a worry-free time, comparitively speaking. The country was prosperous, we were in the dot-com boom and the future seemed limitless. I bet that's how people felt in the JFK era too...his assassination kinda parallels September 11th in the "loss of innocence" feeling. You KNEW it was innocent when the biggest controversy was Monica Lewinsky. ;D

That sounds about right if you say the Clinton impeachment was your first political event that was super clear. The first one I was SORT OF aware of was the Gulf War in January of 1991. I only knew a few basics and just sensed that it was something bad, and it did unnerve me a bit...but not enough to where I thought the time was any less innocent. Once I realized it was halfway across the world and that we were winning, I think that eased my fears a bit!

I do think the mid '90s is when I started picking up more grasp of these things. Like the Oklahoma City bombing. I did actually watch the coverage and understood it, but even with as tragic as it was, I guess I knew it was an isolated incident, so it didn't have quite the effect on me that September 11th did.

Yeah, it's weird to think that a present day 10 year old could be calling the '00s "innocent" when he's in college or something...but a million bucks says they will. It just seems darker and scarier to us since we understand the Iraq War or we've seen the decline of good mainstream pop culture compared to the 80s and 90s.

HUh ??? Are you talking about the same decade I lived in, the 80's, innocent?

I guess you can see it however you want or remember, but really, innocent? Hardly.

Lets review just some of the hits of the 80’s:

Papa Don’t Preach, Like a Virgin, Like a Prayer (hell any Madonna song)
Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
Darling Nikki - Prince (heck Prince even had a song called “Controversy” ferchissakes)
White Lines - Grand Master Flash (lots of songs about cocaine and its influence i.e. "Smugglers Blues - Glenn Fry")
Mm Bop - Cyndi Lauper
Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen
F*** Da Police - NWA
Suffer The Children/Panic - The Smiths
Killing an Arab - The Cure
I Want your Sex - George Michael
My Sugar Walls - Sheena Easton
Dear God - XTC

And this is just off the top of my head, (I know there are more that I'm missing) all of these had generated some serious controversy surrounding them at the time of their release. A lot were pulled from the air on radio stations around the country and the world. NWA received threats from the FBI, for a song no less, for exercising their 1st amendment rights. Pretty controversial if you ask me.

The PRMC came to be just because of these songs.

So I can hardly agree with you in the general view that 80’s songs were innocent and not controversial, not at all.

Even the song you use as an example "Somebody’s Baby", at least in the context of how it used in the move is not innocent at all. In the movie the song is playing as the main character is about to/losing her virginity, hardly a innocent frame of mind for the use of “she’s gonna be somebody’s baby tonight” sure doesn’t’ sound innocent to me.

I can understand if you want to romanticize that part of your life, growing up during that time. But remember when looking back with "nostalgic eyes" its easy to overlook the bad or less then pleasant things in the past.



  Love the post, man...

  Yeah, I was going to say what seems like upbeat, happy-happy-joy tunes, many times, mask a more sinister message...