"Food For Thought" was the first single released by British reggae band UB40.
Food For Thought was an attempt to publicize and condemn the Ethiopian famine in Africa, comparing it with the Western over-indulgent celebration of Christmas, a full five years before Band Aid brought the subject to widespread attention. It reached No.4 in the UK singles chart early in 1980 - the first Top 10 hit for a single without a major distributor - and No.1 in New Zealand in September 1980.
Lyrics
Ivory madonna dying in the dust, Waiting for the manna coming from the west. Barren is her bosom, empty as her eyes, Death a certain harvest scattered from the skies.
Skin and bones is creeping, does`nt know he`s dead. Ancient eyes are peeping, from his infant head. Politician`s argue sharpening their knives. Drawing up their Bargains, trading baby lives.
(Chorus)
Ivory madonna dying in the dust, Waiting for the manna coming from the west.
Hear the bells are ringing, Christmas on it`s way. Hear the angels singing, what is that they say? Eat and drink rejoicing, joy is here to stay. Jesus son of mary is born again today.
(Chorus)
Ivory madonna dying in the dust, Waiting for the manna coming from the west. Ivory madonna dying in the dust, Waiting for the manna coming from the west.
If there were no tomorrows If there was just one more chance I'd take it again You know I'd take it again You turn and it's gone forever In time you forget You know that's love It's only love
And no matter where the days have left you Every day ends at the street cafe The street cafe
And no matter where the road may take you Every time it brings you back to the street cafe
It's where you have to be Well the people may come and go but Here the street and the scene is just The way that it was The way that it was No nothing will ever change here Maybe a smile reminds you Now and again You wonder now and again When another night will take you nowhere You go down to the street cafe And any time you know the crowd can hide you The days end at the street cafe Yeah the street cafe You turn and it's gone forever In time you forget You know that's love You know it's only love
But no matter where the days have left you Every day ends at the street cafe The street cafe
And no matter where the road may take you Every time it brings you back to the street cafe Yeah the street cafe Oh no no no
No matter where the road may take you We'll meet again someday You know we'll meet someday Someday at the street cafe
Trouble" is a song by Lindsey Buckingham. It was the biggest hit off the album Law and Order, which was released in 1981. It was also Buckingham's first hit as a solo artist.
"Trouble" was the only song on the album that Buckingham didn't play bass or drums on; his Fleetwood Mac bandmate Mick Fleetwood was brought in to do the drums. Things didn't work out very well in the recording session, and a taped loop of the drum track, about four-seconds long, was used over and over for the song.
The single would become a #9 hit in the US in early 1982. It topped the charts in Australia for 3 weeks.
Beds Are Burning" is a 1987 hit single by Australian rock band Midnight Oil, the first track from their album Diesel and Dust. This song was not the first song from the album to be released as a single; the first to be released was "The Dead Heart."
It reached #1 in the South African charts, #3 in the Netherlands Top 40, #5 in the France Top 50, #6 in the UK charts, #11 in Ireland, #17 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 10 and in Sweden.
This is a political song about giving native Australian lands back to the the Pintupi, who were among the very last people to come in from the desert. These 'last contact' people began moving from the Gibson Desert to settlements and missions in the 1930s. More were forcibly moved during the 1950s and 1960's to the Papunya settlement. In 1981 they left to return to their own country and established the Kintore community which is nestled in the picturesque Kintore Ranges, surrounded by Mulga and Spinifex country. It is now a thriving little community with a population of about 400.
Midnight Oil performed this in front of a world audience of billions, (including Prime Minister John Howard who has claimed this is his favorite Midnight Oil song) at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The whole band were dressed in black, with the words "sorry" printed conspicuously on their clothes. This was a reference to the Prime Minister's refusal to apologize, on behalf of Australia, to the Aboriginal Australians for the way they have been treated over the last 200 years.
Lyrics
Out where the river broke The bloodwood and the desert oak Holden wrecks and boiling diesels Steam in forty five degrees
The time has come To say fair’s fair To pay the rent To pay our share The time has come A fact’s a fact It belongs to them Let’s give it back
How can we dance when our earth is turning How do we sleep when our beds are burning
Four wheels scare the cockatoos From kintore east to yuendemu The western desert lives and breathes In forty five degrees
(live - on scream in blue The time has come A fact’s a fact It belongs to us all Let’s give it back)
Sister Christian is a power ballad by the hard rock band Night Ranger, which was first released on their album Midnight Madness.
It was written and sung by the band's drummer, Kelly Keagy, for his sister. It was the band's biggest hit, peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #2 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
The song is about Keagy's little sister, Christy. Keagy wrote the song at his apartment, near Divisadero and California streets in San Francisco, after he had just returned from a visit to his hometown in Eugene, Oregon. He had been struck at how fast his teenage sister, 10 years younger than him, was growing up.
"After we started playing it a lot, Jack turned to me and said, 'What exactly are you saying?' " Keagy recalled. "He thought the words were Sister Christian, instead of Sister Christy, so it just stuck." He added that the real Christy was so mortified when the song came out she nearly changed her name.
The lyric, "You're motoring. What's your price for flight? In finding Mr. Right?" is the subject of much debate. The band stated in a VH-1 Behind the Music interview that the term "motoring" was synonymous with the term "cruising." The term is most often used to describe driving around in a car slowly as a social experience, but can also be used to describe picking up people for casual sex. When Keagy visited his family he heard second hand about his sister cruising for a man to casually sleep with. After verifying this with her he was shocked and lamented how fast she was growing up. He then went back home and wrote "Sister Christian" about the experience. This song is sometimes incorrectly called, "Motorin".
Lyrics
Sister Christian
Oh the time has come
And you know that you're the only one
To say O.K.
Where you going
What you looking for
You know those boys
Don't want to play no more with you
It's true
You're motoring
What's your price for flight
In finding mister right
You'll be alright tonight
Babe you know
You're growing up so fast
And mama's worrying
That you won't last
To say let's play
Sister Christian
There's so much in life Don't you give it up
Before your time is due
It's true
It's true yeah
Motoring
What's your price for flight
You've got him in your sight
And driving thru the night
Motoring
What's your price for flight
In finding mister right
You'll be alright tonight
Motoring
What's your price for flight
In finding mister right
You'll be alright tonight
(repeat)
Sister Christian
Oh the time has come
And you know that you're the only one
To say O.K.
But you're motoring
You're motoring
"Golden Brown" is a song by the English rock band The Stranglers. It was released as a 7" single in January 1982, on Liberty.
It reached #2 in the official UK singles chart in February 1982, behind "Town Called Malice" by The Jam.
The comparatively conservative BBC Radio Two, at that time a middle-of-the-road (MOR) music radio station, decided to make the record the single of the week, a surprising step considering the band was almost as notorious as Sex Pistols only a few short years before. The fourth line of the song, "With my mind she runs," is a common source of mondegreens. The band claimed that the song's lyrics were akin to an aural Rorschach test and that people only heard in it what they wanted to hear, although this did not prevent persistent allegations that the lyrics alluded to the narcotic heroin (although in an interview with Channel 4, Drummer Jet Black quipped it was a song about Marmite)
The single was a hit around the world, scaling the Top 10 as far away as Australia. Its commercial success was probably the single factor that secured The Stranglers their continuing life in pop mainstream for the remainder of the 1980s.
There has been much controversy surrounding the lyrics. In his 2001 book The Stranglers Song By Song, Hugh Cornwell clearly states "'Golden Brown' works on two levels. It's about heroin and also about a girl". Essentially the lyrics describe how "both provided me with pleasurable times."
The music was largely written by keyboardist Dave Greenfield, with lyrics by Hugh Cornwell.
Two shots from Golden Brown: the band performing the song in Leighton House with Baroque instruments, and as explorers.The video for "Golden Brown" depicts the group both as explorers in an Arabic country (images of the Pyramids in the sequence allude to the Giza area of Egypt) in the 1920s and performers for a fictional "Radio Cairo". In addition to the Pyramids the video is intercut with stock footage of a madrassa in Uzbekistan, and Great Sphinx, dhows sailing, and Bedouins riding and camel racing in the United Arab Emirates. The performance scenes were filmed in the Leighton House Museum in Holland Park, London.
Lyrics
Golden brown texture like sun Lays me down with my mind she runs Throughout the night No need to fight Never a frown with golden brown
Every time just like the last On her ship tied to the mast To distant lands Takes both my hands Never a frown with golden brown
Golden brown finer temptress Through the ages she's heading
West From far away Stays for a day Never a frown with golden brown
Never a frown With golden brown Never a frown With golden brown
This song was inspired by a true story. A man named Edward Leedskalnin was dumped by his fiancée Agnes Scuffs the day before they were to be married. He built Coral Castle, a monument complete with furniture made of coral, in Homestead, Florida hoping to win her back, but she still did not want to marry him. His nickname for her was Sweet Sixteen.
Lyrics
I'll do anything For my sweet sixteen, And I'll do anything For little run away child
Gave my heart an engagement ring. She took ev'rything. Ev'rything I gave her, Oh sweet sixteen.
Built a moon For a rocking chair. I never guessed it would Rock her far from here Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Someone's built a candy castle For my sweet sixteen. Someone's built a candy brain And filled it in.
Well I'll do anything For my sweet sixteen Oh I'll do anything For little runaway child
Well, memories will burn you. Memories grow older as people can They just get colder Like sweet sixteen
Oh, I see it's clear Baby, that you are All through here Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Someone's built a candy castle For my sweet sixteen, Someone's built a candy house To house her in. Someone's built a candy castle For my sweet sixteen. Someone's built a candy brain And filled it in.
And I do anything For my sweet sixteen Oh, I do anything For little run away girl.
Yeah, sad and lonely and blue. Yeah, gettin' over you. How, how do you think it feels Yeah to get up in the morning, get over you. Up in the morning, get over you. Wipe away the tears, get over you, get over, get over...
My sweet sixteen Oh runaway child Oh sweet sixteen Little runaway girl.
Gave my heart an engagement ring She left everything Everything I gave her Sweet sixteen Built a moon For a rocking chair, Never guessed it would Rock her far from here Oh, oh, oh
Someone's built a candy castle For my sweet sixteen. Someone's built a candy house To house her in. Someone's built a candy castle For my sweet sixteen Someone's built a candy house To house her in.
And I'll do anything For my sweet sixteen Oh, I'll do anything For little runaway child.
Do anything For my sweet sixteen I'll do anything For little runaway girl Little runaway girl Oh sweet sixteen Oh sweet sixteen Oh
"Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" is the second track on the 1986 album Invisible Touch by Genesis. It peaked at #3 in the US and #18 in the UK as the fourth single from the album.
In the music video for the song, the atmosphere is reminiscent of the film Blade Runner, which was purportedly a source of inspiration for the video.
Lyrics
Im coming down, coming down like a monkey, but its alright Like a load on your back that you cant see, ooh but its alright Try to shake it loose, cut it free, just let it go, get it away from me.
Cos tonight, tonight, tonight - oh, Im gonna make it right Tonight, tonight, tonight - oh.
Im going down, going down, like a monkey, ooh but its alright Try to pick yourself up, carry that weight that you cant see, Dont you know its alright Its like a helter skelter, going down and down, round and round But just get it away from me - oh.
Because tonight, tonight, tonight - oh Were gonna make it right Tonight, tonight, tonight - oh.
I got some money in my pocket, about ready to burn I dont remember where I got it, I gotta get it to you So please answer the phone, cos I keep calling, but youre never home What am I gonna do Tonight, tonight, tonight - oh Im gonna make it right Tonight, tonight, tonight - oh.
You keep telling me Ive got everything, you say Ive got everything i Want You keep telling me youre gonna help me, youre gonna help me, but you Dont But now Im in too deep You see its got me so that I just cant sleep Oh get me out of here, please get me out of here Just help me Ill do anything, anything If youll just help me get out of here.
Im coming down, coming down like a monkey, ooh but its alright Its like a load on your back that you cant see, Ooh dont you know that its alright Just try to shake it loose, cut it free, let it go But just get it away from me Cos tonight, tonight, tonight - oh Maybe well make it right Tonight, tonight, tonight - oh.
Please get me out of here Someone get me out of here Just help me Ill do anything, anything If youll just help get me out of here Tonight - oh, Im gonna make it right Tonight, tonight, tonight - oh.
Yes tonight, tonight, tonight - oh, Yes Im gonna make it right, tonight, tonight, tonight - oh...
He's just a local boy Modelling for magazines Nun-Chukka Things are never quite as they seem He's got throwing stars He's got silver tops Mama's grabbed her jewellery Hidden in the bathroom Calling the cops
Bridge Give me somewhere to go Don't give me train rides When the shops are all closed Don't give me train rides
Chorus Never gave anyone the slightest notion Never showed us that the call was cast Mama don't want you Daddy don't want you Your Motor's running way too fast
Now the Mallway's shuttered Hanging in the afternoon Drink a little Vodka Picking up the old man Rolling him 'round in her room
"Moonlight Shadow" is a pop song written by British multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield and released as a single in May 1983 and included on the album Crises in the same year. The vocals were performed by the Scottish vocalist Maggie Reilly, who had joined Mike Oldfield in 1980.
The single peaked at number 4 in the British charts, making it Oldfield's second highest ranked single after "Portsmouth" which reached number 3 in 1976. "Moonlight Shadow" was successful throughout Europe, It reached number 1 in countries including Italy, Austria, Switzerland for four weeks and Norway for six weeks. It spent four weeks at number 2 in Germany and also hit number 6 in Australia.
It was long believed that the lyrics are a reference to the murder of John Lennon, although when asked about this in a 1995 interview, Oldfield responded:
[It's] not really [about Lennon]... well, perhaps, when I look back on it, maybe it was. I actually arrived in New York that awful evening when he was shot and I was staying at the Virgin Records house in Perry Street, which was just a few blocks down the road from the Dakota Building where it happened, so it probably sank into my subconscious. It was originally inspired by a film I loved - Houdini, starring Tony Curtis, which was about attempts to contact Houdini after he'd died, through spiritualism... it was originally a song influenced by that, but a lot of other things must have crept in there without me realising it.
Lyrics
The last that ever she saw him Carried away by a moonlight shadow He passed on worried and warning Carried away by a moonlight shadow.
Lost in a river last saturday night Far away on the other side. He was caught in the middle of a desperate fight And she couldn't find how to push through
The trees that whisper in the evening Carried away by a moonlight shadow Sing a song of sorrow and grieving Carried away by a moonlight shadow
All she saw was a silhouette of a gun Far away on the other side. He was shot six times by a man on the run And she couldn't find how to push through
I stay I pray I see you in heaven far away I stay I pray I see you in heaven one day
Four am in the morning Carried away by a moonlight shadow I watched your vision forming Carried away by a moonlight shadow
Star was light in a silvery night Far away on the other side Will you come to talk to me this night But she couldn't find how to push through
I stay I pray I see you in heaven far away I stay I pray I see you in heaven one day Far away on the other side.
Caught in the middle of a hundred and five The night was heavy but the air was alive But she couldn't find how to push through Carried away by a moonlight shadow Carried away by a moonlight shadow
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