“Everybody Wants To Rule The World” (1985) by Tears For Fears is the most 80s song of all the 80s songs

Also, they’re better song out of their two #1 hits. “Shout” is good but this is better.

It was my best friend in 1985's theme song. He really did think he should rule the world.

I distinctly remember when it came out in 1985. It was a moment.

Man. This song really does take you back to a simpler time. I’m not joking, the minute the song started I felt like almost crying. The nostalgia hit. And then when it got to the chorus I really felt something. When I hear this song I think of high school in the 80s and shopping malls. Not joking. It feels like high school and shopping malls to me. I guess that’s what my brain associates this song with because it was a huge hit at the time and always playing

I could (and have) listened to this song on repeat FOREVER. I don't know why, but it speaks to me and affirms that others "out there" actually understand me and are like me. Whatever.

And this beauty.

It comes close but I actually think the Ghostbusters song is or Billie Jean.

Take On Me is the most 80’s song.

R6, that is my favorite Tears for Fears song. I repeated it over and over.

What does 80 possess?

Well I won’t say Billie Jean because it’s an MJ song. MJ, Prince, Madonna, George Michael etc. are all synonymous as a whole with the 80s for many people.

This song makes me well up and choke a bit. The nostalgia and melancholy it brings to me. I want so bad to go back, I’m not ready to be old, and I’m not easy for a worsening world.

R12 get a grip. Not everything needs to be so dramatic.

This song is used a lot for 80s throwback videos on TikTok.

Like this. Most videos that are for 80s throwback use this song now.

Correction OP

The most 80s song of the 80s is Blue Monday

This is non debatable

The second most 80s song is I Ran

The third is Take on Me

Or this

R16 pretty sure the average person in 2023 doesn’t even know Blue Monday exists.

I feel that way about this song, R12. I don't exactly know why.

Or this one.

LOL that you think what the “average person” thinks is important

The “average person” thinks this is the most 80s song ever

[quote] It’s a song that truly transports you back to a simpler time mentally.

I associate it with the horridness of Reaganism and Thatcherism. Isn’t that what it’s about?

R21 it’s a beloved song but I don’t think anyone would say it’s the most 80s song ever. It doesn’t sound like an 80s song. It just came out in the 80s.

And yes, for a song to be one of THE SONGS of the 80s in 2023 it needs to be known. A song that is always used for videos about the 80s is a song that most people clearly think of when they think of the 80s.

This guy says what is said at OP. So funny. Lol. I think this song has that same effect on everyone who was alive during the 80s.

I’m having so much fun finding these videos. Ugh. Love it. A teen walking around a video store in 1988

For me, One Sweet Day is the kind of little, forgotten song that encaptures the eighties in a way that will instantly transport even a stranger to the days of Wacky Wall Walkers and rat tail hairdos.

Another one.

Blue Monday is definitely a very 80s song that sounds like the 80s but not one that would be considered a “face” of the 80s type song in 2023 because it’s mostly forgotten by many.

But it’s a good song and very 80s.

Another that most associate with the 80s even though it came out in like 1990

R16 like Blue Monday, this is another song that feels mostly forgotten that is super 80s and transports me back

MTV ruled the '80s, so this is the most '80s song.

Livin on a Prayer is top 5 most 80s sounding song. Along with Material Girl.

[quote]But it’s the most 80s song in all the best ways possible. It’s almost like the definitive song. When you hear it you FEEL the 80s. Not just hear it. It’s like you can feel it and see it and are there all over again. It’s a song that truly transports you back to a simpler time mentally. It’s a song that can make someone born after the 80s feel nostalgic for an era they never knew.

OP, I just want to hug you for writing this. So beautifully stated and so completely true.

By the way, Tears for Fears was such a great fucking band with so many wonderful albums over the years. I don't think they ever truly got the praise that they deserved.

Another song that totally brings back the '80s for me:

And another one:

And this one:

R12 need to dry up and blow away.

[quote] For me, One Sweet Day is the kind of little, forgotten song that encaptures the eighties in a way that will instantly transport even a stranger to the days of Wacky Wall Walkers and rat tail hairdos.

Link please. I've never heard of it.

Another one. I used to think this was an MJ song when I was a kid.

Don’t forget this smash hit

For me, this song is song is just perfect for my college years in the 80’s. The video kinda sucks, though.

R43 weird. I was about to post that.

Ugh, this song is just perfect . . .wish we could edit. . .

The Cars:

Eric Carmen:

Mr. Mister:

The entire Dirty Dancing soundtrack is synonymous with 80s.

There’s a line in the song that always sticks out to me now that I’m older.

“So glad we've almost made it

So sad they had to fade it”

Idk what it is about those two little lines in the song but they stick out to me like a sore thumb and make me feel SAD. The first line “So glad we’ve almost made it” makes me think of senior year in HS and all my peers etc. I can’t help but wonder “did we make it?” What if exactly is making it? Doing out best? I can’t help but wonder if they all “made it” and are doing alright.

The second line “So sad they had to fade it” is true. It feels like everything from that period has faded. And that just comes naturally with time but I don’t think you realize how sad it all is until you’re older. It’s ALL faded. It’s in the past. Gone. You can’t ever get it back. Its a blessing to grow older but also sad your youth, it’s all gone.

R50 here. I was using voice to text. Didn’t catch the typos and errors.

Always reminds me of the scene at the end of “Real Genius.”

I'm from the 80s, but not of the 80s if you can understand. Anyway I heard this one on an episode of "The Americans" and liked it. That show obviously had a lot of great 80s music.

Another favorite of mine

“Everybody Wants To Rule The World” is a great song but hardly the most 80s song of all the 80s songs.

Interestingly, Blue Monday is the highest selling 12" single of all time and still holds the record all these years later.

This list has a few good ones including “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” at number 27. (At least it's not a Rolling Stone list).

Excellent song R53. Vince (music) and Alison (voice) got on so badly they barely spoke to each other (their second album was recorded separately so they were never together and then they split) so Yazoo was doomed before they even had time to crack the US market.

R42 MJ sings the signature line of the hook.

The '80s were both more fun and more painful. I wouldn't want to relive that time. Too many things happened.

Be careful about romanticizing the past. Think about what it was really like.

Head Over Heels is my favorite Tears for Fears song.

Billie Jean definitely conjures up the '80s.

HELLO?!?! How are we 50+ songs into this thread without this being mentioned?

Ya'll need to turn in your '80s cards.

"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" (Culture Club) is very '80s.

Good one, R60!! Or this:

I'm proud to say that I first heard the song on a Sounds of the 80s commercial as a kid and was immediately hooked. I used to love when that commercial came on. Now, that song takes me back to my childhood in the 90s. So, it apparently owns nostalgia for two decades. It's that good.

And this one:

[quote] For me, this song is song is just perfect for my college years in the 80’s. The video kinda sucks, though.

I hate to be that guy but Friday I’m In Love didn’t come out until 1992. I only bring it up because I just discovered this recently and was shocked it wasn’t from the 80s

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I prefer this Tears for Fears song.

Just gonna point-out that that thread has 65 replies as of 7:45am EST Tuesday. 20 of those replies are by the scolding R13 who warns us to "get a grip" on our nostalgia.

R67 you need a job. Oh wait…

I heard this song on the 80’s Sirius channel yesterday. I had forgotten how much I loved it back then.

"Nothing ever lasts forever" was the great line that helped me over teen hurdles. They have so many great songs, my big one is "The Working Hour".

"We are paid by those who learn by our mistakes..."

And "Break it down again" the song that tells you sometimes you do need to let shit go and start over. "No more building up, it is time to dissolve".

It’s a wonderful song to drive to, especially on a long scenic highway.

This one has always sounded the most "80s" to me.

R50, IIRC the song is an ironic reference to the possibility of nuclear war. "We almost made it" and "they had to fade it" supposes a scene just before the bombs land.

"Take on Me" is my most 80s song because of its ethereal quality and the 50s/80s look of the band, but Bowie's "Blue Jean" and Lauper's song for the Goonies are up there (the latter because of my nostalgia for the film, which is still the most realistic depiction of American kids ever put on screen.

R73 Take On Me is your opinion. Not mine. It’s not a fact because you feel that way.

Love Tears for Fears and all these songs. To me, the most 80s song is Self Control by Laura Branigan.

Self Control sounds like a song that could be released today.

R74, that's why I referred to it as "my most 80s song".

Nothing like the opening guitar riff, collapsing into that beat... It's still a great song.

Simpler time, OP?

Everything is relative, but that is a stupid statement, as anyone living in 1985 would remember.

Lack of social media and massively intrusive tech did not make for a "simpler" time.

It was simpler.

The good old days

[quote]the average person in 2023 doesn’t even know Blue Monday exists.

I just tried to listen to it. IT'S AWFUL. HORRIBLE. DREADFUL. POS.

So many of these songs immediately transport me to being a little kid at the pizza parlor in my small home town - the plastic orange trays, the fake wood walls, Ms Pac Man over in the corner, and these songs playing from a fuzzy radio behind the counter

R83 the good days. Shit sucks now

A lot of these I've heard so much, so recently, that they've ceased their nostalgia magic. So I offer

And this one too

I remember a while ago someone found on Youtube a home video had been uploaded of teens having a party at their house while their parents were out of town. The parents arrive home unexpectedly and, well, it's hilarious to watch. Snyway, this song was playing in the background. I loved this song and like many already mentioned in this thread, it is quintessential 80s music to me.

It does take you back. But it has a more melancholy sound than a typical '80s hit. I would argue that melancholy feeling of a time past that will never come back it what gives older listeners the "feels" these days.

I also love Head Over Heels.

[quote] I would argue that melancholy feeling of a time past that will never come back it what gives older listeners the "feels"

Right. I watched this video and while I love the song my first thought was 'holy fuck they look so young' and then realizing they're boomers like I am. That's what makes me wistful. It's not the 80s, it's my glorious, misspent youth.

I feel naked, as it seems the contents of my iPod has been hacked and posted for all of DL to see....

Tears for Fears was my very first concert. I was in seventh grade. Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan. My dad was trying to explain the funny cigarette smoke coming from the teenagers in front of us. Such a great time and a great band. They really made some fantastic music over the years. They've also aged better than a lot of those ageing bands.

Remembering hearing the lyric "Welcome to your life..." at age 15 in 1985, and hearing it now is almost painful. In, I guess, a good way. Reminds me of Don Draper's supposed translation of nostalgia; the pain from an old wound.

But yes OP. Relatively recently it struck me how evocative this song is of a time long, long gone.

Here's another one that get's me every time but from the 90's. Breakfast at Tiffany's. This NYC doesn't exist anymore but it did for me. Always chokes me up.

Good choice, OP. It was a huge hit, the songwriting and production were superb, and the vibe is an ambiguous mix of hopeful/upbeat and moody/pessimistic.

There are so many signature 80s songs. Few artists on the ‘81 charts were relevant in ‘89, and vice versa. I can appreciate all the British new wave artists mentioned here, but American sounds like Janet’s “When I Think Of You” and Madonna’s “Open Your Heart” also define the decade.

[bold] SONGS FROM THE [italic] BIG CHAIR [/italic] [/bold]