Grab your Walkman and some hairspray! Here are some songs you definitely would have listened to in the 80s as a teenager in love. They’re still great to listen to now, even if you just want to emulate that feeling.
“Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper
A track from her debut studio album, She’s So Unusual, “Time After Time” has become one of Lauper’s most memorable songs as the years go on. The song sings of a love that remains consistent “time after time,” even amidst struggles and life’s natural changes.
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If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall, I will catch you, I’ll be waiting
Time after time.
If you were in love in the 80s, this is definitely one you’d have on repeat.
“Just The Two Of Us” by Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers
“Just The Two Of Us” is an undeniably sweet love song, definitely the type you would play in the beginning stages of a relationship or crush.
Ironically, Withers actually revealed to SongFacts that he wasn’t the biggest fan of all the song’s lyrics at first. His goal was to make the lyrics in “Just The Two Of Us” as memorable as possible.
“So to me, the biggest challenge in the world is to take anything that’s complicated and make it simple so it can be understood by the masses,” Withers shared. “When I say I’m a snob lyrically, I mean I’m a snob in the sense that I’m a stickler for saying something the simplest possible way with some elements of poetry. Because simple is memorable. If something’s too complicated, you’re not going to walk around humming it to yourself because it’s too hard to remember.”
I’d say he accomplished that feat. We’re still singing along to the lyrics decades later!
“What A Feeling” by Irene Cara
After appearing on the soundtrack for the 1983 film Flashdance, “What A Feeling” became a global sensation. The song went to No. 1 and even won Cara a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Even the young singer-songwriter was surprised at the song’s initial success.
“You never know how things are going to turn out.” She shared in a 1984 interview, “You know, you think well, it’s a nice song, it’ll do okay. You never know how big something’s gonna be, you know.”
Whether you’re deeply in love, crushing hard, or just looking for something to shout at the top of your lungs, “What A Feeling” checks all the boxes with ease.
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