Expand Your Palette With These 3 Legendary Synth Pop Songs

If you want to get back to synth pop‘s roots, revisit these three legendary songs. These hits set the stage for this subgenre, paving the way for later generations to put their own spin on what electronic music has to offer.

[RELATED: 23 Years Later, Madonna Reminds Everyone Why She’s the Queen of Pop With a History-Making VMAs Performance]

“Cars” — Gary Numan

Gary Numan’s “Cars” pioneered synth pop. This late-1970s hit was a wake-up call for the industry. After the song’s release, pop artists found a new kind of vitality, exciting listeners with electronic tones that felt novel at the time.

“Here in my car / I feel safest of all / I can lock all my doors/It’s the only way to live / In cars
Here in my car / I can only receive / I can listen to you / It keeps me stable for days,” the lyrics read. Numan was inspired by an altercation he avoided while in his car. But this hit is less about the subject matter and more about the off-kilter synth pop tones that swept the world when people first heard it.

“West End Girls” — Pet Shop Boys

“Sometimes you’re better off dead / There’s a gun in your hand it’s pointing at your head / You think you’re mad, too unstable / Kicking in chairs and knocking down tables,” the lyrics to the Pet Shop Boys’ “West End Girls” read. This song about class division has endured as one of the premier synth pop songs, inspiring countless other artists to follow suit.

This song arrived at the right time, blending new musical fashions with tensions mounting in London. It spoke to listeners’ hearts and appealed to their senses. This was both a thought-provoking hit and a floor filler.

“Tainted Love” — Soft Cell

Last but not least, we have Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love”. This iconic song is one of the first we think of when discussing early synth pop. At the crest of new wave, this song helped open a new horizon in pop music. Today, we can trace this song’s lineage to artists across a wide range of genres.

“Sometimes I feel I’ve got to. / Run away I’ve got to / Get away / From the pain you drive into the heart of me / The love we share / Seems to go nowhere,” they sing over a driving synth beat. Listeners went wild for this song in its day and still reach for it today.  

(Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns)