'80s Songs For When You Wish You Could Turn Back Time To High School

Ahh the 1980s. For some of us, it was an era that taste forgot, yuppies were in and hippies were out, and by the end of the decade, rock went with a fizzle, rather than a bang. The high school experience for kids during the '80s largely depended on where you lived. Many remember it being a place of cliques that rarely crossed paths with others, while the designated smoking areas on school grounds would be unthinkable in the 21st century, and everyone — teachers included — had big hair.

Musically, it was a creative melting pot. The 1980s gave rise to some of the world's biggest stars who are still drawing crowds decades later (hey gurrrrl to Madonna). There were also many other '80s musicians who have completely slipped our minds, but we loved their songs at the time. As teenagers, we lapped up the cheesiest pop, smooth R&B, and anthemic rock, and many of the songs we loved then stayed with us as we grew up.

But whenever we hear our faves, for a few moments, we are whisked back to a time when we weren't burdened by adult responsibilities. Whether at the high school dance or in the sanctity of our bedrooms, these '80s songs were a chance to sing our lungs out or strut our stuff. You can't put a price on that feeling, then or now.

You could probably count the number of high school kids who did what their parents, teachers or other responsible adults told them on the fingers of one hand. But when enigmatic star Prince started talking? Man, we all listened, even if we didn't always fully understand what he was talking about. "Let's Go Crazy," the first track on the iconic album "Purple Rain," was a snap to attention with its opening lines: "Dearly beloved / We are gathered here today / To get through this thing called life."

Even the most bored, moody high schooler could not fail to be captivated, and once that heartbeat of a drum kicked in, we were off to the races. You could try to stand still if you wanted to, but even now, Prince's infectious, irrepressible beat is impossible to ignore. Couple that with his cheeky encouragement for us all to "go crazy" and "get nuts," and it's easy to see why we were more than happy to follow that instruction.

Of course, as we got older, we realized Prince wasn't just talking about jumping on the furniture — his kind of "crazy" was perhaps more for adults only. Today, we can still remember goofily dancing along to "Let's Go Crazy," relishing the 1980s innocence of it all. Then Prince's wicked guitar solo kicks in, and suddenly it's not so bad to be a grown-up.

The release of Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet" album in 1986 was a seismic event in 1980s music and while it is home to several monster hits, "Livin' on a Prayer" was arguably its Godzilla. If the opening bass riff didn't get you (it did), or the gritty, working-class tale of romance against the odds (not so much, at least until we were older), then the gut-busting wail of a chorus (heck yes) definitely did.

High schoolers were immersed in the story of Tommy and Gina, and "Livin' on a Prayer" blasted from every car stereo in the parking lot, morning, noon, and night. If you didn't own at least one Bon Jovi cassette, who even were you? Of course, the song raced to the top of the Billboard charts in 1987, and almost literally became part of '80s high schoolers' DNA. 

John Bon Jovi and his band mates may have slightly less big hair than in their 1980s heyday and, like us, there are more white and gray strands, but the power of "Livin' on a Prayer" hasn't diminished one bit. Within seconds of hearing that deep guitar throb and the "oo-wa-oo-wa-oo-wa" opener, we're primed and ready to deliver that lung-busting chorus with all the passion of decades ago.

Madonna made her Billboard Hot 100 debut in 1983 with the perky tune "Holiday." It was a great bop and gave off an exercise video vibe, but just over a year later, she scored her first number one with "Like a Virgin," a song that had millions of parents clutching their pearls, and millions of high schoolers wanting to pair them with a cut-off t-shirt, grandma's lace blouse, and skin-tight leggings.

Madonna's faux-innocent voice cut through our teenage angst like a knife and put into words what no high schooler would have dreamed of ever saying out loud: "Like a virgin, hey / Touched for the very first time / Like a virgin / With your heartbeat next to mine." While some of the lyrics might give us pause in the 21st century, what with all the thawing out of "what was scared and cold," for '80s high school girls in particular, they were empowering.

Although not as controversial as her later hit "Like a Prayer," Madonna's "Like a Virgin" did break new ground. It gave us permission to flirt and be sexy at a time when Mother Nature really wasn't helping matters. Singing along to it also meant the "V" word was no longer taboo — at least among our high school friends. As the years have passed and even after seeing Madonna deal with career highs and lows, and reinvent herself again and again, "Like a Virgin" is the perfect throwback to a time when we felt as if we could call all the shots.

Did you have a class song back when you were in high school? Many people on social media did, and one of the most popular was Simple Minds' 1985 track "Don't You Forget About Me." Its pulsing drum beat and synth melody was full of hooks, but the lyrics were the internal monologue of every high schooler with an unrequited crush: "Will you recognize me? / Call my name or walk on by."

Of course, it wasn't just the song that caught our imaginations. "Don't You Forget About Me" was a key part of the soundtrack to John Hughes' movie "The Breakfast Club," which tapped into the crappiness of being a high schooler in the 1980s. Whether you identified with the brain, the athlete, the basketcase, the princess, or the criminal, the song bolstered the movie's message that all this would one day be a memory.

As we look back on our high school days (some of us with genuine fondness, others maybe not so much), "Don't You Forget About Me" takes on a new shape. Unlike high school hits from the '70s that make us cringe, it's a reminder to look at how far we've come. We can remember the high schoolers we once all were and, like Judd Nelson, raise a gloved fist in salute to them when that booming drum hits hard.