Some songs seem as if they were created just to get you to sing. While certain tracks are perfect for drifting away to sleep or for setting a gentle mood, there are others whose rhythms and lyrics feel as if they were made in a lab with one single purpose.
It’s as if they were conjured to get you to open your mouth and belt out the lyrics. Here below, we wanted to highlight three tracks from back in the day that do just that. Indeed, these are three rock songs from the 1980s that will get your friends singing.
Videos by American Songwriter
“Girls Just Want To Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper from ‘She’s So Unusual’ (1983)
Cyndi Lauper is infectious. Her music is like an amusement park ride. You want to get on over and over and spin around while singing her buoyant lyrics. In the 1980s, Saturday morning cartoons were all the rage. Somehow, Lauper embodied their colorful aesthetic, and she used it to her great advantage. One of the most important artists of the decade, she never made you feel bad for being who you were. She just inspired you to sing along.
“I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll” by Joan Jett And The Blackhearts from ‘I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll’ (1981)
If you’re ever in a bar and things feel a little slow or dead around the place, take out 50 cents and walk to the jukebox. When you get there, find Joan Jett’s rendition of “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll” and put it on. After that, you can see things liven. People relax. And when the chorus on the track kicks in—well, then you and your friends and everyone else in the place will surely start to sing about how much they love the buzzing music genre of rock.
“Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey from ‘Escape’ (1981)
As soon as the piano comes in on this song, you know you’re ready for a performance. You start to take deep breaths and clear your throat. And then you notice everyone around you is doing the same thing. When the lyrics begin, suddenly you and a dozen friends are singing about a small-town girl and a city boy from South Detroit taking the midnight train going anywhere. Little did anyone know when the night began—but there is now an impromptu Journey cover band show happening in your favorite watering hole!
Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images
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