# Incredibly vague 80s song question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 3, 2019, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009 "2019-04-03T23:15:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Drummond\_Bays](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@Drummond\_Bays](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drummond_Bays)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/41 "2019-04-05T02:04:51Z")
A longshot, as you’ve said it’s not a spacey song, but flash-in-the-pan for sure. Babylon Zoo - Spaceman ? [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/XCbAEkfXSDE/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGH8gOChBMA8=&rs=AOn4CLDNeQfQE-cG1y56dEzsD-kPRK5WTw "BABYLON ZOO ◊ Spaceman (Official Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCbAEkfXSDE) ---
**Author:** ![Drummond\_Bays](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@Drummond\_Bays](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drummond_Bays)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/42 "2019-04-05T02:47:13Z")
Any other hints? Male or female? Was it fast or slow? Crooney? Soulful? Rappy? Sad? Macho? Can you remember the… Feel of the song? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/43 "2019-04-05T03:07:43Z")
Male. I think band instead of individual. Voices closer to REO Speedwagon than to Springsteen. If I’m not conflating memories, it had a bit of the “feel” of “_Heaven Is a Place on Earth_” by Belinda Carlisle–a positive, upbeat song. _Very_ 80s pop–the kind of song that would have been sold on 3 LPs or 2 CDs on late-night TV. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/44 "2019-04-05T05:02:51Z")
_Stargazer_? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/45 "2019-04-05T05:31:02Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Maybe ‘space’ was in the band name: [Spacehog - _In the Meantime_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDkhl-CgETg) One of the ‘Magic Songs’. I can’t explain. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/46 "2019-04-05T14:31:45Z")
I keep wondering if it’s something by The Outfield. They check all the marks: upbeat pop-rock, late '80s, male voice kinda similar to REO Speedwagon. But I’ve looked at the lyrics for a few of their hits, and don’t see anything resembling the key phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/47 "2019-04-05T18:38:55Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > I keep wondering if it’s something by The Outfield. They check all the marks: upbeat pop-rock, late '80s, male voice kinda similar to REO Speedwagon. But I’ve looked at the lyrics for a few of their hits, and don’t see anything resembling the key phrase. Looked at the lyrics of all of their songs. One mentioned a rocket, but that wasn’t it. (I just want to add that the song isn’t particularly \*important \*to me–it is just one of those things that you halfway remember and it drives you crazy trying to figure it out.) ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/48 "2019-04-05T18:53:49Z")
Can you hum a little bit of it for us? ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/49 "2019-04-06T09:06:02Z")
Love Walks In by Van Halen? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wTC7ANZekMA/maxresdefault.jpg "Love Walks In (2004 Remaster)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTC7ANZekMA) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/50 "2019-04-06T10:53:49Z")
Not it. _Very_ unlikely to be from a band that remained in the public eye for more than 13 seconds–the song played for a few weeks and I’ve _never_ heard it again. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/51 "2019-04-06T11:38:41Z")
[Crowded House - The World Where You Live](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IA-1PbsAZnU) '86 release, got to 65 on a the US charts ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/52 "2019-04-06T15:49:23Z")
Dancing in Heaven by Q-feel? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/53 "2019-04-06T23:21:47Z")
Since it hasn’t been mentioned to be eliminated by the OP, it wouldn’t be [Silent Running](https://youtu.be/HFaXHcVS33A) by Mike & the Mechanics, is it? A bit too early for your timeline, but the video is bizarre as hell and has a space theme, so it fits in some measure. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2019, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/54 "2019-04-07T00:38:37Z")
Sorry, no. As I mentioned, the song wansn’t “space themed”, it merely mentioned something about wondering if there was other life out there as a philosophical aside or metaphor to the real message of the song (which IIRC was upbeat and positive) and it isn’t a song that you would hear on any radio station or streaming list today (at least, I have never heard it outside of the few weeks that it originally played.) If the song you think of is anything that is in any way popular, iconic, well-known, or used in any soundtrack, there is a 99.99% chance that it isn’t the song. (I was hoping that maybe it would randomly trigger someone’s memory, though–we get lots of really obscure answers here all the time.) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2019, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/55 "2019-04-07T01:22:33Z")
I don’t think the _song_ “Silent Running” is space-themed, but that weird-assed video is. Like I said, nominated solely to be eliminated. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2019, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/56 "2019-04-07T02:07:31Z")
Perhaps if you could be hypnotized you could remember some of the subtler details that you’ve forgotten that could narrow it down a little more. No chance it’s “Silent Lucidity” by Queensrÿche, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2019, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/57 "2019-04-07T02:37:24Z")
No, very syrupy pop or very light rock. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2019, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/58 "2019-04-07T03:10:09Z")
Afternoon Delight by the Starland Vocal Band No reason to toss this into the ring other than it just popped into my head: True by Spandu Ballet or If You Leave by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2019, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/59 "2019-04-07T05:08:02Z")
And I thought I was the only one who stumped the Dope with a ‘name this song’ thread. ---
**Author:** ![MarvinKitFox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MarvinKitFox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarvinKitFox)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2019, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/60 "2019-04-08T06:10:35Z")
The specs are so vague, this could be almost anything, even stuff like Sigue Sigue Sputnik. They liked to throw catchy buzz-words in the the songs with almost no regard for context. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009.md?page=4)