Tag Archives: goth music

Jun 10 2026

My Top 20 Songs from the 80’s

Having been born in ’81, I grew up with 80’s music playing in my house all the time. We even had vinyls of our favourite bands. There are so many bangers to have come out of this decade that I had a real hard time deciding on just 20. I put them in order, but really, a good few of these can be inter-changable depending on my mood. I may look at this list next month and say “what was I thinking??”, but this is how I feel right now. I won’t be adding songs that were written for movies, so no Disney songs or anything like that.

20 – I Walk the Line by Alien Sex Fiend

I’m sure there aren’t a lot of people that would add this one in their top 20, and it almost didn’t make mine, but I just really like this song, hehe.

19 – The Passion of Lovers by Bauhaus

So many great ones by Bauhaus, but I had to go with this one. I just love Peter Murphy’s voice!

18 – Sunglasses at Night by Corey Hart

Oh my lord, did I have a crush on Corey Hart when I was a wee one. I wanted to marry him when I was 5 years old, hehe. It’s no wonder I fell in love with Jensen Ackles when Supernatural came out, they really do look similar!

17 – Love Like Blood by Killing Joke

I can’t honestly say I know a whole lot of Killing Joke’s music, cause I just never looked into it, but if it’s anywhere near as good as this song is, I’m really missing out!!

16 – Lovesong by The Cure

I love a lot of The Cure’s music, but this has to be the best one to come out of the 80’s. Incidentally, it was my “first dance” at my wedding!

15 – Wicked Game by Chris Isaak

There have been many, many covers of this song (my favourite among them being the one by HIM), but the OG remains the best. And how sexy is this video??

14 – True Faith by New Order

New Order is one of only 2 artists (the other being Bowie) that has 2 songs on the list, simply because I couldn’t leave either of them out. I don’t think I’d ever actually seen this video before now. The 80’s were weird, man!

13 – Thriller by Michael Jackson

I don’t think anyone is surprised to see this on my list. Not only is it a great song, but the video is simply epic. Michael always went all out on his videos, but this one takes the cake. Still has some of the best makeups to ever hit the screen. Thanks Rick Baker. Plus, bonus Vincent Price!

12 – Never Let Me Down Again by Depeche Mode

So many great songs by Depeche Mode, but this is the best one to come out of the 80’s.

11 – How Soon is Now? by The Smiths

And now for a little depression brought to you by The Smiths. Morrisey’s voice is like butter (and boy does he ever know it, what a douche… lol).

10 – Don’t You Forget About Me by Simple Minds

The Breakfast Club is one of my favourite films to come from the 80’s (which I criminally forgot to add to my “Top 30 Films of the 80’s”), and this banger was the perfect end to the movie. I had a massive crush on Judd Nelson in this. But the video… does he know his suit is 3 times too big..?

9 – Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order

Boy, do I love synth-pop when it’s done right. And this one is near perfect! Sometimes I wish I were older so I could have experienced going out in the 80’s.

8 – Lucretia My Reflection by Sisters of Mercy

Probably the best goth song ever written. I love a lot of Sisters’ music, but this was the first one I heard, and remains my favourite.

7 – Ashes to Ashes by David Bowie

David Bowie probably has one of my favourite voices in the business. It’s a good thing that I decided to not put songs written specifically for movies, otherwise a good chunk of my list would be songs from Labyrinth (shout-out to Within You, though, that song always gets me). This song is my favourite of his outside of movie music.

6 – Still Loving You by The Scorpions

One of my all-time favourite love songs. It’s literally the only song I know by The Scorpions (I think), but his voice is just wonderful. This song is poignant, so full of longing, it hits me in the feels. Funny side note, did you know they are a German band and barely spoke english at the time? I don’t know if they’ve learned since then, but really, you could have fooled me.

5 – I Ran (So Far Away) by A Flock of Seagulls

Sometimes you listen to these one hit wonders and the song is so bloody good that it literally makes you angry that there aren’t more albums. This is one of those songs. And the singer’s kinda cute, in a weird way. That hair, though…

4 – In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel

And here, the best love song ever. May be cliché, but it’s popular for a reason. Hold up a boombox and play it for your girl. She’ll melt, I guarantee it!

3 – Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie

I’m not a huge Queen fan, but I can’t deny the man had some crazy pipes. This song with Bowie is a perfect mix of each other’s styles. Not only one of my favourite 80’s songs, but one of my favourite songs, full stop. Bowie’s solo at the end of the song gives me chills every time.

2 – Take On Me by a-ha

Everything about this song is perfect; the music, the video, and the singer. Morten Harket has one of the most unique, beautiful faces in the business. And that voice! I love to sing along to this song, but I stop just before that part. You know the one.

1 – Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division

And finally, we have the ultimate goth anthem. Such an amazing, poignant song, Ian Curtis’s voice giving it that extra gravitas over the almost joyful music. It’s such a shame, he was so tortured, and took his own life at 23, just a month before the album that would define a whole subculture would be released.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my list! I hope I was able to turn you on to some new music, or to revisit songs you haven’t heard in decades. What are your favourite 80’s songs? Let me know!

M.

Jan 31 2014

Explaining Goth

Think of goth. Think hard. What’s the first thing to come to mind? Is it this?

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This is the first thing that came up on Google search. Maybe a bit much? How about this?

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Hmm. This was the second picture Google had for me. Ok, what about this?

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Ok, I’m seeing a pattern here. Let me explain something. This is not goth. Ok, it kinda is. Let me reiterate. This is not all goth is. Yes, some people dress like this, but (mostly) not on a daily basis. The boys and girls in these pictures aren’t going out for coffee. The first one at the top seems to be a shot taken in a nightclub, the other two are photo shoots.

I am goth. I guess I always have been. Although my clothes, even in my extreme days, weren’t as “bad” as those in the third picture. Yes, I wore leather and pvc and fishnets and dark eye makeup, but I never liked the black lipstick, and I dunno, maybe it’s me, but I like wearing pants. Or at least a skirt. Let me show you a little something.

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This is what a real goth party looks like. That’s me in the front with the glasses (hi!) and the cutie in the fishnet behind me (yelling like a banshee, hehe) is my dear husband. And while I’ll admit we’re not the most colourful bunch, it’s a far cry from what’s in the top pictures. “But ok, Mel,” you say, “but what about at a nightclub. like the first guy? Surely that’s how it is?”

Sure. There are a few. But the key word is few. But mostly?

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No. That’s me (hi again!) and two of my friends on my 25th birthday. Ah, good times… And look! What’s that?? Is that…..

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A tan??? You mean, goths don’t hide from the sun?? No, we certainly don’t! (Well, I do, now, but that’s due to illness, and is a whole other story…) And notice something else? We’re all smiling. That’s right, smiling. We’re having fun. We do know what it is.

I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve had to “explain goth” to people. “Well, there must be something wrong with you!” Oh yes, I’ve actually been told that. “I just thought you were smarter than that.” This gem from my father, after seeing some pictures of me and my friends at a club. I wanted to murder him. He’s grown since then, thankfully. Goths weren’t big in my high school, I think I was actually the closest thing to a real goth it had, and at that point it was mostly in my movie and book and music choices more than clothes (my mom wouldn’t buy me goth stuff. My little sister’s a lucky bitch, she inherited all my goth clothes now that I’m too fat for them, having a baby and getting sick will do that to a girl. So she gets to have everything I didn’t in school. Bitter, who me? Anyways…)

So, you know what I learned while hanging out with others “just like me” after school? While there are exceptions, most of them really were just like me. Kids who happen to like a certain type of music, a certain type a dress, a certain life-style. Now, most goths are promiscuous, that’s a fact. A lot of them are drama queens. But death-obsessed, depressed, sado-macho sad sacks who cut themselves while smoking cloves, writing bad poetry and crying? There may be some, but on the whole? No. None of my friends are like that. And I’m certainly not like that.

You know what else we aren’t? Violent. You want to know the number of times I saw a fight break out in a goth club? (And I used to go out a lot.) Zero, that’s how many times. We had a bouncer, but he spent most of his nights propped up by the bar, because there was nothing for him to do. No, that’s a lie. I remember he had to calm some guy getting rowdy once, but you know what? He was a “normal” (as my friends and I jokingly called non-goths) trying to stir shit up. He got shown the door quickly. Men will also not grope random women on the dance floor (or anywhere for that matter), without being invited first. I have a few friends who are “normals”, I’ve been to a “normal” club. Almost every time I went, I saw at least one fight, and had to physically move guys hands off me, more than once. Where this sense of entitlement these jerks have comes from, I have no idea.

I like industrial music, but I also like other stuff too: rock, alternative, electro, hell, even a few pop songs. I’m a horror movie fan, but I also love chick flicks and cartoons (which is good, since I have a 3 year old. No, 4! It was his birthday yesterday, happy birthday, AngelFace!). I also read horror books, but I like thrillers and mysteries and fantasy as well. I’m also, like a lot of goths, a geek. Star Trek, Doctor Who, Supernatural, Buffy, Angel, Dexter… those are my shows. Some may be “snobbish” (as I like to say) about the stuff they like, but in general we like what we like, no matter the genre.

And really, in the end, am I so wrong for thinking that this:

goth

..is hotter than this..?

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Yeee. If I am, then I don’t want to be right.

M.

p.s. Shout-out to ellemorrigan for inspiring this post! 🙂