3 Songs From the 80s That Were Inspired by Famous Actors

Oh, to be the muse of a song from the 80s. While many songs draw inspiration from real-life situations, sometimes writers have to look towards the big screen to find the muse they’re looking for. If you’re a famous singer, you might even get to date an actor that’s worth a song or two! Here’s a few songs from the 80s that are inspired by famous actors.

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“Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes

This one feels pretty obvious, but yes, “Bette Davis Eyes” actually took inspiration from 1930s actress Bette Davis, who starred in Oscar-winning films like Dangerous and Jezebel. The song was written by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon, who were fans of the actress.

“We loved Bette Davis,” DeShannon shared in an interview. “We were always talking about what great movies and how we love her. Anyway, Donna had this idea and she brought a lot of papers over one day. She said ‘Do you think you can make anything out of this?’ So I kind of went through and looked at some lyrics and put some things together and we wrote this song.”

“In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel

Many people assume that Toto’s hit “Rosanna”, which earned them the Grammy for Record of the Year in 1983, is about actress Rosanna Arquette, who dated keyboardist Steve Porcaro for a while. However, in an interview with People, Arquette set the record straight, revealing that while “Rosanna” isn’t necessarily all about her, 1989’s “In Your Eyes” definitely is.

Arquette also dated Peter Gabriel in the late 80s and early 90s, who sings the lyrics:

“When I want to run away / I drive off in my car / But whichever way I go / I come back to the place you are.”

“True Blue” by Madonna

“True Blue”, which was also the title of Madonna’s third studio album, was written about her husband Sean Penn. Madonna and Penn started dating at the beginning of 1985. Penn was a popular actor at the time, known for roles in projects like Fast Times At Ridgemont High and Bad Boys. After dating for six months, the couple got married and then divorced in 1989.

Stephen Bray, who Madonna had actually dated previously, helped compose the track. He spoke on how in love the entertainer was at the time in an interview. “If she’s in love, she’ll write love songs,” Bray explained. “If she’s not in love, she definitely won’t be writing love songs.”

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