5 Songs From The '80s That Nail The Meaning Of Life

Musicians in the 1980s weren't the first to explore the meaning of life through pop music. Reflecting their dynamic times, '60s and '70s artists like Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Aretha Franklin, and Stevie Wonder turned popular song into art that explored life and society. As the era of excess, President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and suburbanization, the '80s may not call to mind the social change or introspection of the decades preceding them. But these years saw no shortage of songs taking on the same big questions about life and existence.

Artists in this time found their own ways to address these universal themes. Bon Jovi's motivational rock anthem "Livin' on a Prayer" and Whitney Houston's empowering "The Greatest Love of All" took over the charts. More than two decades into a heavy career, the Grateful Dead came to grips with mortality on "Touch of Grey," and with "The Message," hip-hop pioneers Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five depicted the experience of being Black and poor in America. And then there was XTC's controversial "Dear God," which put the Almighty on trial and found him guilty.

Humans have been exploring the meaning of life through art for thousands of years, and no song can (or should) tell you exactly what existence means. As with our list of '60s songs that nail the meaning of life, we looked for lyrics that grappled with the full range of life's complexities: its joys, its magic, its tragedies, horrors, and drudgery. We also tried to include a mix of musical genres and styles. Just as insightful as the day they were released, these songs explore the big questions.

The '80s were a decade full of rock anthems urging us to chase our dreams and not give up. Like Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" and Starship's "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now," Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" is about clinging to hope despite the odds being stacked against us. While depicting the economic hardships of frontman Jon Bon Jovi's native New Jersey, it carries a motivational message. As tough as things get, we can help each other get through life, and we can dare to dream. 

But the lyrics make it clear that life is no fairytale. Times are tough for the young, working-class couple at the center of "Livin' on a Prayer." Tommy's dockworkers union is on strike and he's pawned his guitar; his wife Gina is working double shifts at the diner to help them get by. Yet, as the pre-chorus goes, "We've gotta hold on to what we've got / It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not / We've got each other and that's a lot." This karaoke and singalong staple tells us to appreciate what we have and to support one another. 

Co-written with songwriter and producer Desmond Child and bandmate Richie Sambora, the song almost didn't have a prayer. "Jon didn't think it was going to be right for the direction that they were going into," Child recalled on Ken Dashow's Beatles Revolution podcast (via iHeart). "Richie Sambora and I literally got on our hands and knees...and begged him to record it." It worked, and in 1987, the blue-collar anthem of resilience blew up, spending four weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. 

If life gets you down, there are few songs from the '80s better than Whitney Houston's "The Greatest Love of All" to pick you back up. Commanded by Houston's powerful, luminous voice over sweeping orchestral flourishes, the track is a testament to self-empowerment. "If I fail, if I succeed / At least I'll live as I believe," goes the pre-chorus, which crescendos into a rapturous "I found the greatest love of all inside me." It's a song that urges us to believe in and accept ourselves as we are, reminding us that each person has the beauty and strength to achieve their dreams. 

"The Greatest Love of All" was written by producer Michael Masser and lyricist Linda Creed, and originally recorded by George Benson for the soundtrack of the 1977 Muhammad Ali biopic, "The Greatest." While the original peaked at No. 24 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts, Houston's rendition took over. In 1986, it became the third single from her self-titled debut album to hit No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart: a first for both a debut record and a female solo artist. Sung magnificently and swelling with heartfelt emotion, this song's sweet and optimistic message is truly timeless. Resonating with generations of listeners, it re-entered the Hot 100 charts after Houston's tragic passing in February of 2012.  

In a list of '80s songs about the meaning of life, a song by '60s psychedelic rock icons the Grateful Dead seems an odd choice. But few tunes capture the weight of the passage of time and the need for resilience in as catchy, danceable, and jammy a manner as "Touch of Grey," off 1987's "In the Dark" album. The world-weary lyrics, penned by band lyricist Robert Hunter and guitarist and vocalist Jerry Garcia, urge transcendence. "I know the rent is in arrears / The dog has not been fed in years / It's even worse than it appears," goes the third verse, "but it's alright." In the face of life's challenges and absurdities — the highs and the lows — all you can do is keep on truckin'. 

On their own trip in the music industry, the Grateful Dead were never a singles band, famously preferring live performances to the studio. By touring constantly, they built up a massive, devoted following of "Deadheads," packing arenas across the country throughout the early '80s. Catchy and danceable, "Touch of Grey" — released 20 years after the wild Summer of Love on the band's first album in six years — became their first single to break the Top 40 of the Billboard Singles charts, peaking at No. 9. Sung by counterculture legends in the third decade of a storied career, the ending refrain, "We will get by," is a call to keep flying your freak flag, no matter which way the wind is blowing.

With hard-hitting lyrics, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five's "The Message" paints a scathing portrait of early '80s inner-city life. Released in 1982, it catalogues the rampant poverty, racist policing, crumbling infrastructure, limited opportunities, drug use, and crime affecting urban Black communities. On the last verse, rapper Melle Mel cuts to the core: "You'll grow in the ghetto living second rate / And your eyes will sing a song of deep hate." The constant pressure creates a powder keg, and the iconic chorus says it all: "Don't push me 'cause I'm close to the edge / I'm trying not to lose my head / It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder / how I keep from going under."

Though performed by Grandmaster Flash and his crew, "The Message" was mostly written by co-producers Ed "Duke Bootee" Fletcher and Clifton "Jiggs" Chase, with the Furious Five's Melle Mel penning the last verse. Exploring the impact of poverty, racism, and society on the individual, it's a far cry from the party anthems coming out of what would become known as the golden age of rap in the early '80s. In that way, it laid the groundwork for the socially conscious hip-hop acts that would follow, such as Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, and De La Soul.

While some songs on this list lift spirits, XTC's "Dear God" plunges us into existential despair. Set to a minimal, guitar-driven arrangement, the lyrics take God to task for allowing evil and injustice into the world and then deny his existence outright. "See them starving on their feet," goes the first verse, sung hauntingly by the 8-year-old daughter of a friend of the band, Jasmine Veillett, "'cause they don't get enough to eat from God / Can't believe in you." As XTC frontman and the song's lyricist Andy Partridge told music journalist Todd Bernhardt (via Far Out), "I liked the idea of writing to God to address the fact that I didn't believe he existed."

And though "Dear God" barely cracked the U.K. Singles Chart in 1987, peaking at No. 99, it stirred controversy and gained cult status. First released as the B-side to the single "Grass," it appeared on a U.S. release of XTC's "Skylarking" album. With its open questioning of religion and a music video in heavy rotation on MTV, there was a backlash from religious listeners and organizations. Partridge received hate mail, and radio stations that played it in the American South got flooded with angry calls. At a local rock station in Panama City, Florida, a bomb threat prompted the DJ to cut the song off before it was over. 

This controversy and anger baffled Partridge. As he told The New York Times, "People shouldn't be annoyed by this tiny ... idea that maybe there isn't an aging English actor wrapped in a sheet on a ball of cotton wool." "Dear God" shakes its fist at the sky and nails that feeling of losing faith.