Where have all the love songs gone?
I wouldn't say I'm stuck in a time warp, but my teenage years in the 80s have had a profound psychological impact on my memory. The other day, the clever little elves at Spotify suggested a 'recommended playlist.' It was titled '80 Love Songs,' which I found confusing as I had not listened to anything remotely close (to pick up on the algorithm), but it got me thinking, 'Where have all the love songs gone?'
The likes of George Michael, George Benson, Lionel Ritchie and Spandau Ballet were among the selection of tearjerkers and heartbreaking melodies that made even the most commitment-phobe swoon on the dance floor back when every self-respecting disco had a designated dance floor.
Very quickly, the myriad of playlist selections grew until I had a decade's worth of love songs ever recorded. As I flipped through most of the not-so-recognisable tracks, I realised that they didn't pull the same heartstrings (pun) as the lyrics from 'Endless Love', for example. So I called out to the Gen Z daughters of my closest friends and asked the same question. 'Do you listen to Love songs?'
'I don't listen to love songs. Do you mean to break up songs?' This was the standard response. I was on to something. After a further deep dive into the songs I liked, I noticed a precise segmentation. Love songs, it seemed, had their own sub-group. There were songs of being in love, songs of lost love, songs of unrequited love, jealous songs, ladies in love anthems and classic, leaving me now songs.
I was presented with a new list of artists to research. Olivia Rodrigo, Bryson Tiller, Taylor Swift and Tate McRae just to name a few. I listened to them while I took the dog for a walk, drove my kiddo to training, listened while preparing the daily meal and waited for the same lived experience of the 80s to resonate years (and years) later! And as my Gen Z darling said, 'I do see the difference in how love songs have changed, and I feel like it's a lot to do with how 'love' is viewed nowadays.'
While I wasn't a hopeless romantic, I was romantically hopeless. In a time when anticipation ruled, and our emotional link was via the radio or boom box glued to our ears, I remember lyrics impacting my psyche. Is it not the same now? I fear in 2022, our kids (and I think I've earned the right to call them that) seem to have little left to the imagination with the need for instant validation, subterfuge and the need to 'move past it.' Even the 'break up songs' lyrics reads like a laundry list of finger-pointing exercises.
And I don't have a definitive answer to the original question except to add that according to my 21-year-old son, 'the love songs have not gone; they have just changed, and mum, your lived experience is not the same as my generation.'
Therefore, I have a call out to all Gen Xs. How did you feel when Careless Whisper, November Rain, Listen to Your Heart, or any of those 80's songs popped up in your Spotify/Music Streaming playlist?
Please explain! (pun)
Thank you Kate, Alana, Olivia and Jess for your insights!
#80lovesongs #genzopinion #genx