Five songs from 1984 that were years ahead of their time
The year was 1984. A time when Gremlins traumatised a generation of children, Apple launched their first Macintosh computer, and Michael Jackson’s hair caught on fire while filming a Pepsi advert. They really were the halcyon days. But from a musical perspective, this was also a year that would go on to change history, with hit after everlasting hit cementing the status of the decade as one of the best to ever grace the airwaves.
It was the shiny, synth surf of the new wave met with protest anthems and charity juggernauts, as Band Aid geared into life for the very first time that festive season and unleashed ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ into the world, subsequently bracing for the mother of all events in the form of Live Aid the following year. Elsewhere, the pop canon was busy creating a sound for the ages in songs that both precisely epitomised their moments but have also transcended the decades, making a legacy discography that is still well worth our attention some 41 years on.
So, what were the big hits? Well, you had a top-tier selection from Prince with ‘When Doves Cry’, Lionel Ritchie’s ‘Hello’, and even Kenny Loggins’ classic ‘Footloose’ thrown in for good measure. All of them are banging tunes, of course, but there’s just something about them that’s so quintessential to their decade. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but there’s also just an extra level of godly tunes so all-encompassing and ethereal in their approach that they could have been written at any time, anywhere, and still sound so fresh to this day.
There’s a myriad of possible examples, but here we have picked out five of the best tunes from 1984 that were years, if not decades and generations, ahead of their time. That’s when you know it’s a good one—when the tunes are approaching half a century in existence, but you could never imagine it as they’re just such an essential part of the universal fabric of the pop canon.
Five ahead-of-their-time songs released in 1984
‘Careless Whisper’ – George Michael
It goes without saying that Wham! were a vital force of nature in propelling the virtuosity of the 1980s music scene to stratospheric heights, but it was only when George Michael took the main spotlight with ‘Careless Whisper’ on their sophomore album, Make It Big, that things really began to step up a gear. Suddenly, romance had a new sexy, searing soundtrack, and it was all down to one nascent ambition.
It’s probably the most well-known fun fact in all of music, but Michael wrote the lyrics to the classic tune when he was only 18 years old, in 1981, exploring the temptations and moral reckonings he faced with his first experience of infidelity. In the end, despite the fame of the song, it didn’t become one of Michael’s favourites of his own discography, but, in other ways, it didn’t really matter, as with a song that seismic, there was no point looking back.
‘Like a Virgin’ – Madonna
To some, the 1980s might not seem that long ago, but when you consider the shock and scandal that surrounded an artist like Madonna when she dared to make a sexual allusion, you realise just how much times have changed. Though it was still half a decade off from her real controversy with ‘Like a Prayer’, its simile counterpart song ‘Like a Virgin’ also racked up its fair share of notoriety.
Of course, the ‘Queen of Pop’ made the song all the more iconic for her memorable performance at that year’s MTV Video Music Awards, creating a pop culture moment for the ages, but also speaking to something far more subversive regarding women’s public personae. She could be sexy, frivolous, and fun all while still maintaining her own agency, and all of a sudden, Madonna was on the path to the legendary leagues.
‘Pride (In the Name of Love)’ – U2
U2 were firmly on the ascension to becoming rock gods in 1984, but they certainly set their sights high with the release of ‘Pride (In the Name of Love)’. It would become Bono’s trademark to fire out protest anthems after protest anthems in the years to come, yet the song set up the stall of the band’s spirit, combined with boundless optimism, perhaps better than anything else.I
Initially inspired by Ronald Reagan’s pride in the United States’ military personnel, during the writing process the tune transformed to be about the civil rights activist leader Martin Luther King Jr, whose actions throughout his lifetime invigorated not just a muse of strength and promise for Bono, but for the millions of marginalised groups around the world. ‘Pride (In the Name of Love)’ may have only been a piece in the puzzle of helping that cause, but it certainly cemented U2 as an effervescent voice of the scene.
‘Take On Me’ – A-ha
From rousing protest anthems to gloriously unbridled chart pop, A-ha’s iconic hit ‘Take On Me’ is perhaps the tune considered before its time in the most literal sense Despite it being initially released in the band’s native Norway, in 1984, it wasn’t until an international re-release took place the following year that the song really went soaring into defining the sound of the 1980s.
But not only representing the height of its time, ‘Take On Me’ has also provided countless inspirations to chart tracks of the modern day, in everything from rapper Pitbull to Harry Styles’ 2022 storming song, ‘As It Was’. Who knew a simple synth riff could spurn such a transcendental sonic odyssey? And whether artists are accused of ripping it off or otherwise, A-ha will certainly be laughing all the way to the bank.
‘I Want to Break Free’ – Queen
Let’s be honest, anything that Queen ever did could be considered effervescent to its moment, from glam rock operas right down to their final curtain call, but it was testament to the band’s power that even in their toughest moments, they could still bang out a transcendental hit for the ages, especially in the form of ‘I Want to Break Free’.
Roger Taylor’s brainwave to have the band dressed in drag parodying Coronation Street was not only humorous, but also highly subversive in putting those archetypes out in the mainstream. Paired alongside its empowering lyrical message, it’s no surprise that the song went on to become an anthem in fighting oppression the world over, and still very much remains so today. It may have involved Freddie Mercury donning a neon pink top and a horrific synthetic wig, but the heart was always there. Above all else, that was exactly what made ‘I Want to Break Free’ so transformative, whether it was in 1984 or, indeed, this very moment.
