Songs Lyrics and YT- Youtube Music Videos

Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald - On My Own

Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald - On My Own Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Winner in You
Released: 1986

On My Own Lyrics

On My Own

This was written by Carole Bayer Sager and Burt Bacharach, who were married at the time. They promised the song to Patti LaBelle, but LaBelle's producer Richard Perry was less than impressed, and agreed to let Sager and Bacharach produce it instead. They cut their own backing track, which Patti LaBelle recorded on her own (pun unintended) but it wasn't until Michael McDonald was persuaded to contribute that the song came together.

The duo recorded their parts separately. Patti LaBelle filmed the video in New York and recorded her part in Philadelphia. Michael McDonald did both in LA.

Patti LaBelle was formerly in the R&B vocal group Labelle who scored an American #1 in 1975 with "Lady Marmalade." McDonald was part of the successful '70s west coast rock group The Doobie Brothers, whose biggest hit was the #1 smash "What A Fool Believes."

Labelle told NME in 1986: "The success of 'On My Own' came as a shock. I don't record for commercial value. With 'On My Own' I went into the Studio thinking, I'm gonna record something I love. Usually if I love it, it bubbles under. And I was surprised it made a hit."

1986 was a big year for Carole Bayer Sager and Burt Bacharach. They had another #1 hit earlier in the year with "That's What Friends Are For."

El DeBarge - Who's Johnny

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El DeBarge - Who's Johnny Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: El DeBarge
Released: 1986

Who's Johnny Lyrics

Who's Johnny

This song was written by the husband-and-wife team Peter and Ina Wolf for Short Circuit, a 1986 sci-fi comedy about an experimental military robot named Number 5 who goes on the run after a lightning strike gives him the gift of human intelligence. The music video follows the robot's trial, with El DeBarge singing on the witness stand and some of the movie's cast members in attendance, including Ally Sheedy and Steve Guttenberg (well, a cardboard cutout of Guttenberg). The movie's producers loved this song so much that they wrote in a scene where Number 5 adopted the name "Johnny."

This was El DeBarge's first single after leaving his family's group, DeBarge, earlier that year. He was concerned that the song was too different from his usual work, but was encouraged to give it a shot because a film tie-in could bring positive publicity to his debut album. The song was his first and only #1 hit (on the US R&B Charts) as a solo artist.

"Weird Al" Yankovic spun this song into a Tonight Show-themed parody called "Here's Johnny," a reference to announcer Ed McMahon's famous introduction for former host Johnny Carson. It's featured on his 1986 album, Polka Party!.

Peter Wolf didn't even have to drag himself out of bed to write this song. "I wrote the song one morning, literally lying in bed. I woke up and I was toying with the idea and the whole thing was right there, chorus and all." he said in a Billboard interview. Peter also co-wrote Wang Chung's "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" and Starship's "We Built This City," among other hits. He and his then-wife Ina collaborated on Kenny Loggins' "Playing With the Boys" for the movie Top Gun.

Cast of Phantom of the Opera - The Phantom of the Opera

Cast of Phantom of the Opera - The Phantom of the Opera Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Phantom of the Opera
Released: 1986

The Phantom of the Opera Lyrics

The Phantom of the Opera

This song from Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical follows the title character's obsession with a beautiful young soprano at the Paris Opera House, where his deformity forces him to skulk in the shadows and hide behind a mask. The lyrics, written by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe, reflect how he woos her with his otherworldly voice and haunts her dreams.

Running for over 25 years, The Phantom Of The Opera is one of the most popular musical productions of all time, but its literary predecessor didn't fare as well. The story by French author Gaston Leroux was originally published as a serialization in the Le Gaulois newspaper from September 1909 to January 1910 but did not draw much attention. Its low sales even forced it out of print several times until it was adapted for film in 1925. Taglined as "The Greatest Horror Film of Modern Cinema," it starred Lon Chaney in the title role and Mary Philbin as his love, Christine.

Not long after this song was released, Webber was sued by a songwriter named John Brett, who claimed that Webber copied his 1985 composition "Farewell Song." Webber vigorously denied the accusation. He said that his song was written before Brett's, and that he even supervised a demo recording of "Phantom" sung by Mike Batt and Sarah Brightman in 1984. Brett dropped the case in 1991, at which time Webber stated: "It was monstrous that this matter was allowed to run and run for over five years. I am delighted my name has been cleared."

In 2004, Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote and produced his own version of Phantom for the big screen and picked Joel Schumacher, the brain behind the widely reviled Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, to direct. Webber said he chose Schumacher because he was impressed with his 1987 vampire flick The Lost Boys. He told Wild About Movies: "I thought it was extraordinary the way Joel used music with visuals. I thought that opening sequence, when you see the fairground, was genius."

In his three-star review, Roger Ebert was kinder to the film than he was to the Broadway smash that inspired it. He wrote: "Schumacher has bravely taken aboard this dreck and made of it a movie I am pleased to have seen." The movie starred then-unknown Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum (At the first whispers of a possible film version years before, Michael Jackson lobbied hard for the title role and visited Webber several times).

Webber remembers picking up the novel at a book fair and being intrigued by the dark romance. He tells Piers Morgan: "I just wanted to write a high romance, and I thought this is high, Gothic stuff." When he started writing the music, he envisioned the title theme as "sort of a dark rock song."

This song was originally performed onstage by Sarah Brightman (Webber's wife at the time) and Michael Crawford, the first Christine and Erik/Phantom. It appears twice in the show - in Act I between "Angel of Music" and "Music of the Night," and in Act II at the end of "Notes/Twisted Every Way."

Webber came under fire for another alleged plagiarism when Pink Floyd's bassist and co-lead vocalist Roger Waters claimed he stole the riff to the band's 1971 song "Echoes." He told Q magazine: "Yeah, the beginning of that bloody 'Phantom' song is from 'Echoes.' DAAAA-da-da-da-da-da. I couldn't believe it when I heard it. It's the same time signature - it's 12/8 - and it's the same structure and it's the same notes and it's the same everything. Bastard. It probably is actionable. It really is! But I think that life's too long to bother with suing Andrew f--king Lloyd Webber."

Waters did take a dig at Webber, though, in "It's a Miracle" from his 1992 solo album Amused to Death. He sang:

"We cower in our shelters with our hands over our ears,
Lloyd Webber's awful stuff runs for years and years and years.
An earthquake hits the theater but the operetta lingers,
Then the piano lid comes down and breaks his f--king fingers,
It's a miracle…"

Rufus Wainwright borrowed the theme for the end of "Between My Legs" from his Release the Stars album in 2007.

Webber wrote a solo male version of this song for X Factor(UK) finalist Rhydian Roberts in 2007. Roberts wowed the judges with his performance and he eventually finished as runner-up to Leon Jackson.

XTC - Dear God

XTC - Dear God Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Skylarking
Released: 1986

Dear God Lyrics

Dear God, hope you get the letter and
I pray you can make it better down here
I don't mean a big reduction in the price of beer
But all the people that you made in your image
See them starving on their feet
'Cause they don't get enough to eat from God
I can't believe in you

Dear God, sorry to disturb you but
I feel that I should be heard loud and clear
We all need a big reduction in amount of tears
And all the people that you made in your image
See them fighting in the street
'Cause they can't make opinions meet about God
I can't believe in you

Did you make disease and the diamond blue?
Did you make mankind after we made you?
And the Devil too!

Dear God don't know if you noticed but
Your name is on a lot of quotes in this book
And us crazy humans wrote it, you should take a look
And all the people that you made in your image
Still believing that junk is true
Well I know it ain't, and so do you
Dear God
I can't believe in
I don't believe

I won't believe in heaven or hell
No saints, no sinners, no devil as well
No pearly gates, no thorny crown
You're always letting us humans down
The wars you bring, the babes you drown
Those lost at sea and never found
And it's the same the whole world 'round
The hurt I see helps to compound
The Father, Son and Holy Ghost
Is just somebody's unholy hoax
And if you're up there you'll perceive
That my heart's here upon my sleeve
If there's one thing I don't believe in

It's you
Dear God

Writer/s: ANDY PARTRIDGE
Publisher: BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Dear God

This was inspired by a series of books with the same title, which lead singer Andy Partridge saw as an exploitation of children. The song is essentially a letter to God asking about his existence.

The opening verse is sung by a friend's eight-year-old daughter, Jasmine Veillette, but was later lip-synched in the video by a young boy.

Originally released as a B-Side to the song "Grass," this was not included with the original pressing of Skylarking. After DJ's across America picked-up on the song, Geffen Records decided to replace the track "Mermaid Smiles" with "Dear God."

XTC has not toured in more than 15 years. They have done only a handful of radio station promotions, but performed this live during the 1986 CASBY award show (A Canadian Music awards show). (thanks, Tom - Rochester, NY, for all above)

Todd Rundgren produced the Skylarking album; he cites the experience as one of the most unpleasant of his career. According to Rundgren, Andy Partridge wanted to produce the album himself, but XTC's record company insisted on bringing in Todd. The process dragged on... and on. As Rundgren tells it, Partridge hated performing, so he would spend as much time in the studio as he could. Rundgren was a big XTC fan when he started the project, but says he couldn't listen to them after.

This was used in the 2012 movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower, starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, and Ezra Miller.

Partridge would eventually become an atheist, but explained he was "wrestling with the tail end of my belief" when he wrote this. He said in an interview with SFGate: "As a kid, I was really... I got myself worked into such a sweat over religion. I remember that, about the age of eight or nine, one afternoon I had visions in the sky of clouds parting, and there was God on His throne, surrounded by angels, talking to me and grinning at me. I mean, if I lived in a Catholic community, I could've milked that and made myself a fortune! But, no, I think it happened because I was in such a hysterical state about religion as a child, and about the existence of God and that sort of thing. Religion is a source of a lot of problems, and if there is a God, he would hate Christianity, he would hate Islam, he would hate Buddhism, he would hate everything that's done in His name, because nobody behaves in a way that you're supposed to behave."

The Outfield - Since You've Been Gone

The Outfield - Since You've Been Gone Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Bangin'
Released: 1986

Since You've Been Gone Lyrics

Since You've Been Gone
There's something I want to say
Since you've been gone
There's no one taking your place
Since you've been gone
I've just been foolin' around
Since you've been gone
This world's been turned upside down
Didn't think I'd find a girl that I could not forget
Anything we started not so long ago - ain't over yet

Since you've been gone
Staring at your photograph
And I know it won't be long
An' I know you're coming back

You turned me on
Since the first time I set eyes on you
You turned me on
Ooh the things you want me to do
Don't get me wrong
'cos you're not the only girl I've ever had
But since you've been gone
Girl you know the thought of you's driving me mad
All I do is think of you I lie awake - lie awake
And no matter how I try this loneliness - you know I can't take

Since you've been gone
Staring at your photograph
And I know it won't be long
An' I know you're coming back

Since you've been gone
There's something I want to say
Since you've been gone
There's no one to stand in my way
Since you've been gone
So scared of losing this time
Since you've been gone
Girl you know that I can't get you out of my mind

Since you've been gone
Staring at your photograph
And I know that I was wrong
An' I know you're coming back
Since you've been gone
Tried my best to read between the lines
If some things are hard to say
You better tell me one more time
Since you've been gone
Since you've been gone

Writer/s: WHITE, TED / FRANKLIN, ARETHA
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., NETTWERK MUSIC GROUP
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Since You've Been Gone

Outfield guitarist John Spinks wrote this about a breakup. The singer is in denial with the lines, "And I know it won't be long/And I know you're coming back." It's apparently too late to get her back but the loss hurts so much. (thanks, Mike - Mountlake Terrace, Washington - USA)

Chris de Burgh - Lady In Red

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Chris de Burgh - Lady In Red Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Into The Light
Released: 1986

Lady In Red Lyrics

Lady In Red

De Burgh started writing this song about his wife Diane, after an argument, but he was having a hard time finishing it. Part of the problem was that he needed a title: he didn't want to use "The Way You Look Tonight," because there there was already a song with that name. As de Burgh tells it, five months later he saw Diane, wearing red, across a crowded nightclub, which gave him the idea for the title. On the British TV series This Is Your Life, de Burgh said that the song was inspired by the memory of when he first saw Diane, and how men so often cannot even remember what their wives were wearing when they first met. On his website, he said the song was not specifically about Diane, but about appreciating the most important people in our lives, who we often take for granted; how we often fail to notice what attracted us to another person in the first place. In this account, he was already married to Diane but didn't realize it was her when he spotted her across the room.

Some interesting stuff about Chris de Burgh: he was born in Buenos Aires but moved with his family to Ireland when his diplomat father retired. He and Diane had two sons and a daughter named Rosanna Davison (Chris uses his mother's maiden name for showbiz - his real name is Chris Davison) who was chosen Miss Ireland, 2003 and went on to win the Miss World pageant. De Burgh has talked about his "healing hands," and how he can sometime cure maladies by laying his hands on people as a form of alternative therapy.

"Lady In Red" was a huge worldwide hit, going to #1 in 25 different countries. In the UK, it became a huge part of the cultural landscape, with listeners divided over whether it was the sweetest love song ever written or a pile of treacly musical mush. De Burgh was never able to duplicate the success of this song, but he developed a loyal following in Europe, where there was modest but lasting demand for his music. In America, his only other trip to the Top-40 was with his 1982 song "Don't Pay The Ferryman."

Some of the movies this song appeared in are American Psycho, Dodgeball, Baby Mama and Working Girl.

The real life love story of this song took a hit in the mid-'90s when de Burgh revealed that he had an affair with the 19 year old nanny he employed while his wife was recovering from a horseback riding accident. After some public contrition, with de Burgh saying "I don't want to gamble with my marriage and my family," he and Diane remained together.

Cast of Phantom of the Opera - Think of Me

Cast of Phantom of the Opera - Think of Me Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Phantom of the Opera
Released: 1986

Think of Me Lyrics

Think of Me

This song from Act I of the blockbuster Andrew Lloyd Webber musical The Phantom of the Opera is performed principally by the heroine/damsel Christine Daaé. In the 2004 film version she begins singing during a rehearsal of an imaginary opera which morphs quickly into the actual performance backed by the full orchestra. Seeing her perform it, a surprised Raoul sings a verse, but as he is not on the stage and his presence is fairly fleeting, this can hardly be called a duet. (thanks, Alexander Baron - London, England)

Sarah Brightman, then Andrew Lloyd Webber's wife, originated the role of Christine Daae in the musical. For the 2004 film adaptation, Emmy Rossum played the heroine and earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a musical or comedy.

Metallica - Welcome Home (Sanitarium)

Metallica - Welcome Home (Sanitarium) Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Master Of Puppets
Released: 1986

Welcome Home (Sanitarium) Lyrics

Welcome Home (Sanitarium)

A sanitarium is a mental institution that an inmate can leave at his own free will.

This is somewhat inspired by the play/movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The movie stars Jack Nicholson as a mental patient.

Metallica members James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and Kirk Hammett wrote this.

The chorus was supposed to be sung in a higher pitch, but while recording the vocals, James realized it wasn't going to work that way and sang it lower.

Limp Bizkit performed this on Metallica's MTV Icon special in May 2003. (thanks, Nick - Paramus, NJ)

On the HBO special Paradise Lost: The Murder At Robin Hood Hills (West Memphis), this song was played in the opening shots. This marks the first time Metallica ever let their music be used in a movie or soundtrack. (thanks, Jodie - Jacksonville, AR)

In the original demo tape of this song, the lyrics were very much different. The demo tape included no chorus; it contained basically the same tune, but halfway in the song cuts off into the bass Interlude of "Orion" which is another song on the album. (thanks, JT - Tullahoma, TN)

Paul Simon - Crazy Love, Vol. II

Paul Simon - Crazy Love, Vol. II Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Graceland
Released: 1986

Crazy Love, Vol. II Lyrics

Fat Charlie the Archangel
Sloped into the room
He said I have no opinion about this
And I have no opinion about that

Sad as a lonely little wrinkled balloon
He said well I don't claim to be happy about this, boys
And I don't seem to be happy about that

I don't want no part of this crazy love
I don't want no part of your love
I don't want no part of this crazy love
I don't want no part of your love

I don't want no part of this crazy love
I don't want no part of your love
I don't want no part of this crazy love
I don't want no part of this crazy love

She says she knows about jokes
This time the joke is on me
Well, I have no opinion about that
And I have no opinion about me

Somebody could walk into this room
And say your life is on fire
It's all over the evening news
All about the fire in your life
On the evening news

I don't want no part of this crazy love
I don't want no part of your love
I don't want no part of this crazy love
I don't want no part of your love

Fat Charlie the Archangel
Files for divorce
He says well this will eat up a year of my life
And then there's all that weight to be lost
She says the joke is on me
I say the joke is on her
I said I have no opinion about that
Well, we'll just have to wait and confer

I don't want no part of this crazy love
I don't want no part of your love
I don't want no part of this crazy love
I don't want no part of your love

I don't want no part of this crazy love
I don't want no part of your love
I don't want no part of this crazy love
I don't want no part of this crazy love

Writer/s: SIMON, PAUL
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Crazy Love, Vol. II

Paul Simon started recording this song when he went to South Africa in 1985. He had been listening to a bootleg tape of music from the country, and wanted those sounds for his Graceland album. He recorded with dozens of musicians in his 17 days there, and he had a great experience with members of a popular South African group called Stimela - drummer Isaac Mtshali and guitarist Ray Phiri. When Simon returned to America, Mtshali and Phiri joined him for more recording sessions (this time at The Hit Factory studios) and a Saturday Night Live appearance. Bits of the South African sessions were edited together with the New York recordings to complete the track. Simon says that the song ended up sounding more like the music of Malawi and Zimbabwe, rather than South Africa.

Paul Simon isn't big on political lyrics, so despite the myriad political issues he saw in South Africa, he wrote lyrics for the Graceland tracks that told little stories (this one about a love gone bad), and more importantly, matched the music. This wasn't easy, and Simon became frustrated when he couldn't get the lyrics to fit. The breakthrough came when he listened to the tracks again. In the Under African Skies documentary, he said, "I realized that the guitar part was playing a different symmetry than I assumed, and the bass was doing something that was much more important, and I might be better off following what the bass was doing. I started thinking about the lyrics and what effect that would have on storytelling, and I began to raise the bar on my own writing."

As Simon explained in an interview with SongTalk magazine, there are two reasons for the "Vol. II" in the title. One is that Simon wanted to differentiate his "Crazy Love" from the Van Morrison song of the same name. The other is that he is talking about a love that has started and stopped more than once.

The same guy who played the pennywhistle on "You Can Call Me Al" played soprano saxophone on this song. His name is Morris Goldberg, and he's a white South African who had moved to New York.

The opening line mentions Fat Charlie the Archangel. This character came completely out of nowhere. Says Simon: "It doesn't represent anyone."

In the US, this was released as the B-side to "The Boy in the Bubble." In the UK, it was the B-side to "Graceland." Neither single charted.

Paul Simon - Graceland

Paul Simon - Graceland Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Graceland
Released: 1986

Graceland Lyrics

The Mississippi Delta was shining
Like a National guitar
I am following the river
Down the highway
Through the cradle of the civil war
I'm going to Graceland
Graceland
In Memphis Tennessee
I'm going to Graceland
Poor boys and pilgrims with families
And we are going to Graceland
My traveling companion is nine years old
He is the child of my first marriage
But I've reason to believe
We both will be received
In Graceland

She comes back to tell me she's gone
As if I didn't know that
As if I didn't know my own bed
As if I'd never noticed
The way she brushed her hair from her forehead
And she said losing love
Is like a window in your heart
Everybody sees you're blown apart
Everybody sees the wind blow

I'm going to Graceland
Memphis Tennessee
I'm going to Graceland
Poor boys and pilgrims with families
And we are going to Graceland

And my traveling companions
Are ghosts and empty sockets
I'm looking at ghosts and empties
But I've reason to believe
We all will be received
In Graceland

There is a girl in New York City
Who calls herself the human trampoline
And sometimes when I'm falling, flying
Or tumbling in turmoil I say
Oh, so this is what she means
She means we're bouncing into Graceland
And I see losing love
Is like a window in your heart
Everybody sees you're blown apart
Everybody sees the wind blow

In Graceland, in Graceland
I'm going to Graceland
For reasons I cannot explain
There's some part of me wants to see
Graceland
And I may be obliged to defend
Every love, every ending
Or maybe there's no obligations now
Maybe I've a reason to believe
We all will be received
In Graceland

Writer/s: SIMON, PAUL
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Graceland

Graceland is the mansion in Memphis, Tennessee where Elvis Presley lived; it is where Elvis is buried, and it is now a museum and popular tourist attraction. Paul Simon started calling his song "Graceland" after he came up with the track, which reminded him of the Sun Records sound where Elvis recorded.

Simon says this song is an example of "how a collaboration works even when you're not aware of it occurring." He traveled to South Africa in February 1985 and recorded with a variety of local musicians. One of these sessions was with an accordion player named Forere Motloheloa, who played on the song "The Boy in the Bubble." These sessions produced a drum sound that Simon liked, which he described in the 2012 Graceland reissue: "The drums were kind of a traveling rhythm in country music - I'm a big Sun Records fan, and early-'50s, mid-'50s Sun Records you hear that beat a lot, like a fast, Johnny Cash type of rhythm."

Simon put together a rhythm section comprised of three African musicians: guitarist Ray Phiri, fretless bass player Baghiti Khumalo, and drummer Isaac Mtshali. Simon played the drums for Phiri, and asked him to play something over it. Phiri started to play his version of American Country on electric guitar, which were chords not frequently used in African music: minor chords. When Simon asked him why he played that, Phiri responded, "I was just imitating the way you write."

Simon asked him to overdub it with a lick, and along with Khumalo and Mtshali, they came up with the basic track. Said Simon, "The track has a beautiful emptiness to it. That's what made me think of Sun Records when it was nothing but slapback echo and the song."

With Phiri playing his approximation of Amercian country, and Baghiti playing a straight ahead African groove on bass, Simon felt there was a commonality in the music, and he wrote a lyric to express that.

At first, Simon considered the word "Graceland" a placeholder title until he could come up with something better - maybe something that had to do with Africa. After a while, he realized the title wasn't going away, and he got comfortable with it. Said Simon: "I couldn't replace it. I thought, Maybe I'm supposed to go to Graceland. Maybe I'm supposed to go on a trip and see what I'm writing about, and I did."

Simon describes that trip in the song; he drove to Graceland from Louisiana on Route 61, and the lyrics were his thoughts of the countryside: "The Mississippi Delta is shining like a national guitar." When he finally got to Graceland, he took the famous tour.

This is the title track of Simon's most successful album, selling over 15 million copies and winning a Grammy for Album of the Year. It is an album focusing mostly on African music, but it also explores other forms of non-mainstream music, like Zydeco. Simon considers this song to be less African-sounding than most of the other African-based tracks. The single also won Simon his third Record of the Year award - he previously won for "Mrs. Robinson" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water."

Paul Simon's visit to South Africa was no easy task, as many nations were boycotting the country because of their racist apartheid policy. However, the United Nations Anti-Apartheid Committee supported his efforts since he only recorded with black South African musicians and did not collaborate with the government in any way. This didn't appease some critics, who felt that violating sanctions undermined efforts to effect change in the country, no matter his artistic intentions. Ultimately, the Graceland project helped raise awareness to the apartheid struggle and expose many South African musicians to a global audience. The sanctions were put in place mainly to prevent entertainers from performing lucrative gigs at the Sun City resort, and Simon did nothing to support the corrupt government there.

Regarding the lyrics, "There's a girl in New York City who calls herself the human trampoline," Simon explained to SongTalk magazine: "That line came to me when I was walking past the Museum of Natural History. For no reason I can think of. It's not related to anybody. Or anything. It just struck me as funny. Although that's an image that people remember, they talk about that line. But really, what interested me was the next line, because I was using the word 'Graceland' but it wasn't in the chorus. I was bringing 'Graceland' back into a verse. Which is one of the things I learned from African music: the recapitulation of themes can come in different places."

Explaining the World Music component of this song in the album reissue, Simon explained: "The part of me that had 'Graceland' in my head I think was subconsciously reacting to what I first heard in the drums, which was some kind of Sun Records/country/blues amalgam. What Ray was doing was mixing up his aural recollections of what American country was and what kind of chord changes I played. So the whole song really is one sound evoking a response, and that eventually became a lyric that instead of being about a South African subject or a political subject, it became a traveling song. That's really the secret of World Music is that people are able to listen to each other, made associations, and play their own music that sounds like it fits into another culture."

Several months after the initial recording sessions, Nigerian pedal steel guitarist Demola Adepoju was added to the track. This added a sound familiar to both American and African music, as the pedal steel guitar is a popular instrument in West Africa.

This song has stood the test of time, but when it was released as a single, it only charted at #82 in the US and didn't crack the charts in the UK. It didn't fit neatly into any radio formats like "You Can Call Me Al," so it lacked hit potential. It did find an audience as part of the album, which went to #1 in the UK and stayed on the charts for nearly two years. In America, the album peaked at #3 but stayed on the chart for 97 weeks.

According to an article in the London Times, part of this song is an account of Paul Simon's marriage breakup with his first wife Peggy Harper. The nine-year-old "traveling companion" he refers to is their son Harper, who three years later, at the age of 12, accompanied his father on the Graceland tour. Harper Simon, born in 1972, developed into a singer-songwriter. He teamed up with his stepmother Edie Brickell for the 2008 album Heavy Circles, and a year later released his first solo album, which is called Harper Simon.

Don and Phil Everly of the Everly Brother sang backup on this track. Paul Simon and his musical partner Art Garfunkel idolized the Everlys and recorded their song "Bye Bye Love" for their Bridge Over Troubled Water album. Simon said he heard "Graceland" as "a perfect Everly Brothers song."

In a 1993 interview on Larry King Live, Simon said this was his favorite song.

The B-side of the single was "Hearts And Bones," which can be found on the album of the same name, released three years prior to Graceland.

Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over

Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Crowded House
Released: 1986

Don't Dream It's Over Lyrics

There is freedom within, there is freedom without
Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup
There's a battle ahead, many battles are lost
But you'll never see the end of the road
While you're traveling with me
Hey now, hey now
Don't Dream It's Over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
We know they won't win

Now I'm towing my car, there's a hole in the roof
My possessions are causing me suspicion but there's no proof
In the paper today tales of war and of waste
But you turn right over to the T.V. page

Hey now, hey now
Don't dream it's over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
We know they won't win

Now I'm walking again to the beat of a drum
And I'm counting the steps to the door of your heart
Only shadows ahead barely clearing the roof
Get to know the feeling of liberation and release

Hey now, hey now
Don't dream it's over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
We know they won't win

Don't let them win
(Hey now, hey now, hey now, hey now)
Hey now, hey now
Don't let them win
(They come, they come)
Don't let them win
(Hey now, hey now, hey now, hey now)

Writer/s: NEIL FINN
Publisher: Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Don't Dream It's Over

Crowded House lead singer Neil Finn wrote this song. He explained in an interview with Goldmine: "I wrote that on my brother's piano. I'm not sure if I remember what the context was, exactly, but it was just about on the one hand feeling kind of lost, and on the other hand sort of urging myself on: Don't dream it's over. That one actually fell out literally, without me thinking about it too much."

This was Crowded House's biggest hit in the US. The group is from New Zealand, where they are very popular. Crowded House was their first album, which did very well in the US. Subsequently released albums had success in the UK, but not in the states.

This was used in commercials for the New Zealand Tourism Commission.

In 1989 Paul Young performed a cover of this song at the Nelson Mandela Tribute Concert. (thanks, Gabor - Budapest, Hungary)

This song was used in the TV miniseries The Stand, which aired in March 1994. The miniseries was based on the Stephen King novel. (thanks, Johnny - Rockland, MA)

Sixpence None The Richer recorded this song for their album Divine Discontent. Their version has a similar arrangement, but with female vocals. Veteran music video director Sophie Muller helmed a clip for this version, which has lead singer Leigh Nash discovering a baby goat and singing the tune among paratroopers on a beach.

Metallica - Master Of Puppets

Metallica - Master Of Puppets Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Master Of Puppets
Released: 1986

Master Of Puppets Lyrics

Master Of Puppets

The "Master" of puppets is a reference to drugs. Throughout the song the "Master" controls you and your life. This is evident in lyrics like, "chop your breakfast on a mirror," "The Master Of Puppets is pulling your strings, twisting your mind and smashing your dreams." Drugs is the Master while the drug user is the puppet. (thanks, Tore - W. Germany)

Metallica recorded this with the San Francisco Symphony in 1999. That version is on their album, S&M.

James Hetfield plays the first solo during the slow instrumental part, Kirk Hammet plays the final, fast heavy solo. While playing the solo, Kirk pulled the top string off of the fretboard of the guitar (usually done by accident when someone bends the high string down instead of up) to make the really high siren-like sound. Everyone loved the way it sounded on the track so they kept it that way.

There are two ways the song is played live. There is one where they just play the song how it is normally played in it's entirety, and another where they play the first two verses, and when it's time for the instrumental part they play another song (like "Nothing Else Matters" or "Sanitarium") and when that song is done they continue the final verse of "Master Of Puppets."

This was written by James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Cliff Burton.

At the end of the song, you can hear backwards recordings of the band's guitars while the bandmember's echoed laughter is played. (thanks, Nick - Paramus, NJ, for above 4)

In an MTV Icon special, James Hetfield said that it wasn't until after this song was written that he realized it related to his alcoholism. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)

James Hetfield in Thrasher magazine: "'Master of Puppets' deals pretty much with drugs. How things get switched around, instead of you controlling what you're taking and doing it's drugs controlling you. Like, I went to a party here in San Francisco, there were all these freaks shooting up and geezin' and this other girl was real sick."

When Metallica played two shows in China in 2013, the Chinese government told them not to play this song - perhaps not wanting to harbor unrest with lyrics about being controlled by a greater entity. The band complied, although Kirk Hammett made sure to play the riff during their sets.

The Cure - Charlotte Sometimes

The Cure - Charlotte Sometimes Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Staring At The Sea - The Singles
Released: 1986

Charlotte Sometimes Lyrics

All the faces
All the voices blur
Change to one face
Change to one voice
Prepare yourself for bed
The light seems bright
And glares on white walls
All the sounds of
Charlotte Sometimes
Into the night with
Charlotte sometimes

Night after night she lay alone in bed
Her eyes so open to the dark
The streets all looked so strange
They seemed so far away
But Charlotte did not cry

The people seemed so close
Playing expressionless games
The people seemed so close
So many other names

Sometimes I'm dreaming
Where all the other people dance
Sometimes I'm dreaming
Charlotte sometimes
Sometimes I'm dreaming
Expressionless the trance
Sometimes I'm dreaming
So many different names
Sometimes I'm dreaming
The sounds all stay the same
Sometimes I'm dreaming
She hopes to open shadowed eyes
On a different world
Come to me scared princess
Charlotte sometimes

On that bleak track
(see the sun is gone again)
The tears were pouring down her face
She was crying and crying for a girl
Who died so many years before

Sometimes I dream
Where all the other people dance
Sometimes I dream
Charlotte sometimes
Sometimes I dream
The sounds all stay the same
Sometimes I'm dreaming
There are so many different names
Sometimes I dream
Sometimes I dream

Charlotte sometimes crying for herself
Charlotte sometimes dreams a wall around herself
But it's always with love
With so much love it looks like
Everything else
Of Charlotte sometimes
So far away
Glass sealed and pretty
Charlotte sometimes

Writer/s: SMITH, ROBERT JAMES / TOLHURST, LAURENCE ANDREW / GALLUP, SIMON
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Charlotte Sometimes Song Chart

This song is based on one of Robert Smith's favorite books: a 1969 novel called Charlotte Sometimes by the British author Penelope Farmer. In the book, the title character finds herself transported 40 years back in time. Smith wrote this song using the same themes of time shifting and displacement.

During the filming of the video at a disused lunatic asylum in Virginia Water, Robert Smith found drawings by old inmates. Smith's fascination with the drawings led to the band's performances at benefit concerts for MENCAP (The Society For the Mentally Handicapped).

The American singer/songwriter Jessica Poland goes by the alias Charlotte Sometimes.

Cinderella - Nobody's Fool

Cinderella - Nobody's Fool Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Night Songs
Released: 1986

Nobody's Fool Lyrics

I count the falling tears
They fall before my eyes
Seems like a thousand years
Since we broke the ties
I call you on the phone
But never get a rise
So sit there all alone
It's time you realize

I'm not your fool
Nobody's Fool
Nobody's fool
I'm no fool
Nobody's fool
Nobody's fool
Never again, no, no

You take your road, i'll take mine
The paths have both been beaten
Searchin' for a change of pace
Love needs to be sweetened
I scream my heart out, just to make a dime
And with that dime i bought your love
But now i've changed my mind

I'm not your fool
Nobody's fool
Nobody's fool
I'm no fool
Nobody's fool
Nobody's fool
Never again, no, no
Nobody's fool
Nobody's fool
I'm no fool
Nobody's fool
Nobody's fool

I count the falling tears
They fall before my eyes
Seems like a thousand years
Since we broke the ties
Ohhh

I'm not your fool
Nobody's fool
Nobody's fool
I'm no fool
Nobody's fool
Nobody's fool
I'm no fool
Nobody's fool
Nobody's fool
I'm no fool
Nobody's fool
Nobody's fool

Nobody's fool
Nobody's fool
Nobody's fool
Nobody's fool

Nobody's fool
Nobody's fool
No, nobody's fool
Nobody's fool
No, nobody's fool
Nobody's fool
Nobody's fool

Writer/s: KEIFER, THOMAS CARL
Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Nobody's Fool Song Chart

This was Cinderella's first hit. They were a Philadelphia-based band led by Tom Keifer (vocal) and Jeff LeBar (lead guitar). The group signed to Mercury Records after Jon Bon Jovi saw them perform.

Tom Keifer wrote this and all of Cinderella's other hits. He had a knack for writing power-ballads that he delivered with a sincerity rarely found in the Hair Bands of the '80s and early '90s. In this song, he feels used and mistreated by a girl, and is determined to leave her behind. He hints that she may have been a groupie or someone attracted to his wealth: "I scream my heart out, just to make a dime, and with that dime I bought your love but now I've changed my mind."

Cinderella's first single was "Shake Me," which is a rocker that failed to chart, but primed the band for success. The video for "Nobody's Fool" follows the storyline in "Shake Me," about a modern-day Cinderella who is magically transported to their concert.

In our interview with Tom Keifer , he explained: "That song, that's something I think everyone can relate to. In life there is the falling in love, and then there's the falling out of love. There are songs for both experiences, and 'Nobody's Fool' is certainly the song for the falling out of love experience. And I would say that was not written for any one particular person. I'd been through that several times prior to writing that song. A lot of times, the emotions of songs are cumulative. That's not one particular experience, but the culmination of many."

Kansas - All I Wanted

Kansas - All I Wanted Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Power
Released: 1986

All I Wanted Lyrics

All I Wanted
Kansas
(Steve Walsh / Steve Morse)
You say it's time to stay behind
All I wanted was to hold you
All I wanted was to touch you

No need for blame cause we're not the same
All I wanted was to love you
That's all I wanted

How many times will it take
Hurting me the way you do
How many times till I break
You're hurting me the way I'm loving you the way I do

It's not so strange for us to change
All I wanted was to love you that's all I wanted

How many times will it take
Hurting me the way you do
How many times till I break
You're hurting me the way

I'm loving you the way I do
Writer/s: MARTIN CLANCY / PAUL BYRNE
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

All I Wanted Song Chart

What we have here is a power ballad by Kansas. The '80s was filled with rockers from the '70s who got on MTV and added keyboards to their mix (Yes, Chicago and Heart come to mind), but Kansas missed this train, scoring just minor hits in the video era with "Play The Game Tonight" (#17, 1982) and "All I Wanted."

This song is a classic heartbreak ballad, with lead singer Steve Walsh whinging over a breakup, telling the girl that all he wanted was to hold her, touch her, and love her. It was a giant leap from the classic Kansas sound of the previous decade, where they were known for intricate songs like "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Point Of Know Return." In the '00s, Kansas embraced their prog side by touring with Yes, but in 1989, their tourmates were Night Ranger.

This song was written by lead singer Steve Walsh and guitarist Steve Morse. Kansas broke up in 1983 after a poorly attended tour. Kerry Livgren, who was their original guitarist and composer of many of their most popular songs, formed his own band called AD, which recorded Christian rock. When the band got back together in 1986, Morse replaced Livgren, both as guitarist and songwriter.

Morse was a founding member of an eclectic group called The Dixie Dregs, and would later join Deep Purple. In our interview with Morse , he explained how this song came together. "It was mostly a Steve Walsh song that he had been trying to get to fit with Kansas for a couple of albums," he said. "I came in after that was mostly written, and thought, 'You know what? If we change this and this and put in this instrumental and then have this at the end of your phrase, we have that payoff with this guitar line, or do it as a string line, that that would be really cool.'

You know how when somebody walks in and you've been working on something, and they say, 'Hey, you moved this and this around. It'll work, definitely.' That's all I did."

The music video was a bricolage of black-and-white footage, close-ups of Steve Walsh, and some of the rotoscoping effects seen in the a-ha video for "Take On Me." Oddly, Walsh and Morse are the only band members who appear in the clip.

Madonna - Papa Don't Preach

Madonna - Papa Don't Preach Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: True Blue
Released: 1986

Papa Don't Preach Lyrics

Papa Don't Preach Song Chart

This song is about teenage pregnancy. Madonna takes the voice of a confused teenager who wants advice from her father at a difficult time. In a 2009 interview with Rolling Stone, she said: "It just fit right in with my own personal zeitgeist of standing up to male authorities, whether it's the pope or the Catholic Church or my father and his conservative, patriarchal ways."

The line "I've made up my mind, I'm keeping my baby," caused anti-abortion groups to praise Madonna and abortion-rights groups to criticize her. Madonna refused to take a stance on the issue.

Madonna called this "a message song that everyone is going to take the wrong way."

This was one of the most controversial Madonna songs. Many articles were written about it in the context of abortion. The media attention helped make it a hit and keep it on the charts.

A producer named Brian Elliot wrote this song for a new artist he was working with named Christina Dent, who was on the same label as Madonna. When a record company executive heard it, he convinced Elliot to give it to Madonna instead, because she was an established star.

This was one of the first Madonna songs to take on a political issue. Her previous hits, like "Holiday," "Borderline," and "Lucky Star," stayed well clear of controversy.

The video featured Danny Aiello as Madonna's father. He recorded an answer song from the father's perspective called "Papa Only Wants The Best." Aiello was mostly unknown at the time, but went on to star in Do The Right Thing and Moonstruck.

Around this time, Madonna was working out and had a more toned body that she showed off in the video by wearing a tight black outfit. It was rumored that you could see her nipples when she leaned back.

Ozzy Osbourne's daughter, Kelly, recorded this with Mike Einziger and Jose Pasillas from the group Incubus for the soundtrack to The Osbournes, an MTV show about Ozzy's home life. Kelly's mom, Sharon Osbourne, asked her to do it. Her version peaked at #74, making it the first instance of a cover of a Madonna song reaching the Hot 100. Osbourne's rendition also reached #3 in the UK singles chart.

The guy who plays Madonna's boyfriend in the video is Alex McArthur, who is featured in the Desperado movies. (Thanks, Linda - Oudenaarde, Belgium)

In it's review of the album True Blue, Rolling Stone magazine referred to this song as "Madonna's Billie Jean." Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" had a similar theme, about a pregnancy complicating people's lives. Jackson has been called "The King Of Pop," while Madonna has been referred to as "The Queen of Pop."

Rock critic Dave Marsh gave this song a glowing review: "that ultimate rarity - a message song that opens with Beatles-esque cellos that you can dance to." (thanks, Adam - Dewsbury, England, for above 2)

Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone

Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Top Gun Soundtrack
Released: 1986

Danger Zone Lyrics

Revvin' up your engine
Listen to her howlin' roar
Metal under tension
Beggin' you to touch and go

Highway to the Danger Zone
Ride into the danger zone

Headin' into twilight
Spreadin' out her wings tonight
She got you jumpin' off the track
And shovin' into overdrive

Highway to the danger zone
I'll take you
Ridin' into the danger zone

You'll never say hello to you
Until you get it on the red line overload
You'll never know what you can do
Until you get it up as high as you can go

Out along the edges
Always where I burn to be
The further on the edge
The hotter the intensity

Highway to the danger zone
Gonna take you
Right into the danger zone

Highway to the danger zone

Writer/s: MORODER, GIORGIO / LOGGINS, KENNY / WHITLOCK, TOM
Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Danger Zone Song Chart

This was featured in the action scenes of the 1986 movie Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer. After the movie came out, the US Navy had a slew of applicants for it's flying program.

This was written by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock, who also wrote "Take My Breath Away" for the movie. A year later, they wrote "Meet Me Halfway," which Loggins recorded for the arm wrestling movie Over The Top.

Loggins was a movie soundtrack mainstay in the '80s, and had a #1 hit with the theme song to the movie Footloose two years earlier. Asked in 2007 about performing these soundtrack songs in concerts, Loggins said of "Danger Zone," "It's a good rock 'n' roll song, but I don't think it holds up that well."

Nissan used this in commercials. The spots were a parody of Top Gun, with birds trying to poop on the cars.

The Georgia Satellites - Keep Your Hands To Yourself

The Georgia Satellites - Keep Your Hands To Yourself Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Georgia Satellites
Released: 1986

Keep Your Hands To Yourself Lyrics

I got a little change in my pocket goin' jing-a-ling-a-ling
Wants to call you on the telephone baby, a-give you a ring
But each time we talk, I get the same old thing
Always no hug-ee no kiss-ee until I get a weddin' ring
My honey my baby, don't put my love upon no shelf
She said don't hand me no lines and Keep Your Hands To Yourself

B-B-B-baby baby baby why you wan' treat me this way
You know I'm still your lover boy I still feel the same way
That's when she told me a story, 'bout free milk and a cow
And said no hug-ee no kiss-ee until I get a weddin' vow
My honey my baby, don't put my love upon no shelf
She said don't hand me no lines and keep your hands to yourself

(Go man go)

Hold it here
See I wanted her real bad, and I was about to give in
But that's when she started talking about true love,
Started talking about sin
And I said, honey I'll live with you for the rest of my life,
She said no hug-ee no kiss-ee until you make me your wife-a
My honey my baby, don't put my love upon no shelf
She said don't hand me no lines and keep your hands to yourself

Writer/s: BAIRD, DANIEL JOHN
Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Keep Your Hands To Yourself Song Chart

Lead singer Dan Baird wrote this about the problems their drummer was having with his girlfriend. He wrote it in one sitting on their tour bus.

The video portrayed a shotgun wedding, complete with very pregnant bride and actual shotgun. It was directed by Bill Fishman, whose other credits include the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated" and Good Charlotte's "Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous."

This was the only hit for the Georgia Satellites, although Dan Baird had a hit as a solo artist in 1992 with "I Love You Period."

Many people thought the line "I've got a little change in my pocket, going jingle, linga, ling" was a reference to masturbation. The group denied this.

The group was signed to Elektra Records after executives heard a cheaply made 8-track demo of this song. Elektra gave the band a 5-figure budget to cut an entire album of material, but despite attempting several different recordings of "Keep Your Hands to Yourself," none of these takes were as good as the demo. The demo was included on the album, and that is the version you hear. (thanks, Dan - Montreal, Canada)

The Outfield - Better Than Nothing

The Outfield - Better Than Nothing Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Bangin'
Released: 1986

Better Than Nothing Lyrics

[Chorus:]
It's Better Than Nothing, girl
It's better than nothing at all
It's better than nothing, girl
It's better than nothing

Let's find a hideaway tonight
Somewhere where we can be together
I'm tired of waiting for the right time
If this is not the Ritz, whatever

[Chorus]

I want to hold more than your hand
I want to touch more than emotion
You don't need words to understand
This hole might be run-down and broken

[Chorus]

Don't think because I just can't wait that I don't care
This isn't meant to be a backseat love affair

[Chorus]

Writer/s: JOHN FREDRICK SPINKS
Publisher: NETTWERK MUSIC GROUP
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Better Than Nothing Song Chart

This is about the desire to make love for the first time in a relationship. The line "This is not the Ritz whatever" is reference to the luxury hotel chain. "This isn't meant to be a backseat love affair" is implying that this is not about a one-night-stand, but rather the beginning of a meaningful relationship.

Outfield guitarist John Spinks wrote this. (thanks, Mike - Mountlake Terrace, Washington - USA, for above 2)

Eric Clapton - Tearing Us Apart

Eric Clapton - Tearing Us Apart Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: August
Released: 1986

Tearing Us Apart Lyrics

A modern man with an old-fashioned heart.
One look at her and I fell apart.
I was always the one playing it cool.
I got caught in the act, now there's no turning back.

[Chorus:]
I got tangled in love, tangled in love.
I got tangled in love, tangled in love.
I got caught up, bought up, strangled, tangled in love.
I got tangled in love, tangled in love.
A long black dress and the call of the wild.
I was a fool to think she was just a child.
Out of my mind, out of control.
Knew that feeling too well, tried to run but I fell.

[Chorus]

I never meant to feel this way,
Now I always want to stay

[Chorus]

I got tangled in love, tangled in love. [Repeat: x4]

Writer/s: CLAPTON, ERIC PATRICK/PHILLINGANES, GREGORY ARTHUR
Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Tearing Us Apart Song Chart

Tina Turner sang with Clapton on this. She performed it at many of her concerts.

Clapton and Turner performed this in 1986 at The Prince's Trust Rock Gala in London's Wembley Stadium.

In 1993, Turner presented Clapton with the Record of the Year Grammy for "Tears In Heaven."

Clapton named the album after the month his son Conor was born. Sadly, Conor died when he fell out of a window in 1991.

Phil Collins produced this and played drums on it. He helped out Clapton on this and his previous album, Behind The Sun. Clapton played on Collin's first solo album in 1981.