# 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:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**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 8, 2019, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/61 "2019-04-08T06:35:37Z")
> [@MarvinKitFox](#): > > The specs are so vague, this could be almost anything, even stuff like Sigue Sigue Sputnik. Well, it could be if you haven’t actually read the descriptions I gave–such as the context, and saying that it isn’t a “space themed” song or band. ---
**Author:** ![Thrull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Thrull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thrull)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2019, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/62 "2019-04-08T07:06:14Z")
If you recall what radio station you heard it on (or which one you think you would have likely heard it on), you can try calling them and asking. They keep pretty extensive lists, though I have no idea how back they go. Also, people at a radio station are probably a lot more likely to know this kind of thing. G’luck. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2019, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/63 "2019-04-08T10:33:06Z")
You are not thinking of _99 Red Balloons_, by [Nena](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZ1TQYjCwYc), are you? Na, probably too early - it could rather be something by Thomas Dolby, being pseudo-scientific was his traademark for a while. As I am here I will hijack this thread for a similar question, if i may: In Julio Cortázar’s novel \*Rayuela \*(translated into English as _Hopscotch_) a song is quoted: \*Rayuela \*Chapter 16: You so beautiful but you gotta die some day, You so beautiful but you gotta die some day, All I want’s a little lovin’ before you pass away. In \*Hopscotch \*Chapter 16 the words differ a little, probably with Cortázar’s blessing, as he followed the translation process closely, he himself being a translator: Skin like darkness, baby, you gonna die some day, Skin like darkness, baby, you gonna die some day, I jus’ want some lovin’ be-fore you go your way. And I believe this lirics are sung during the credits at the end of the movie Malcolm X. Can anyone tell me what the title of the song is and who sang it? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/64 "2019-04-09T20:12:05Z")
Did anyone guess [Triumph](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTR8WXFliRM) yet? Not exactly the OP’s description but we’re running out of guesses here. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2019, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/65 "2019-04-12T00:09:29Z")
By the late 1990’s there were several comedians repeating the joke that Styx, Kansas, REO Speedwagon, Boston, and Journey were all the same band. So I’ll throw out Kansas: Point of Know Return And sometimes Queen got included in that joke so I’ll throw out Queen: '39 But I think that one came out in the 1970’s… Or, more blatantly space-themed: Billy Thorpe: Children of the Sun And, for that matter, the mid-to-late 1990’s might have been when REO Speedwagon released The Earth, A Man, a Small Dog, and His Chicken though I don’t know if there were any space-themed tracks on that album. –G! ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2019, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/66 "2019-04-12T00:59:24Z")
Rio by Duran Duran ---
**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 12, 2019, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/67 "2019-04-12T01:28:28Z")
It sounds like the song in question is obscure enough that we’re probably not going to guess it without some big clues. ---
**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 12, 2019, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/68 "2019-04-12T03:59:52Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > It sounds like the song in question is obscure enough that we’re probably not going to guess it without some big clues. Yes, I figured from the beginning that it would be something that someone just happened to remember and not something that could be reasoned to. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2019, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/69 "2019-04-12T05:17:36Z")
Could it be Sheherazade by Peter Cetera? The song features Madonna singing the background vocals and briefly mentions the morning star. Here is a link. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_Ez0UUXIwUY/hqdefault.jpg "Scheherazade [Peter Cetera featuring Madonna]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ez0UUXIwUY) ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/70 "2019-04-12T16:27:10Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > 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. I’m going to suggest waterboarding. Unlikely to be effective, but a lot more entertaining, and an appropriate response for triggering the biggest wild-goose-chase on this board since the “14 k of g in a f p d” fiasco. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2019, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/71 "2019-04-14T15:09:02Z")
Could it be that **Darren Garrison** just dreamed it? I’m serious. I’ve had dreams where there were songs and chants and such that weren’t from real life. A good vivid dream can really mess with your memory. I take B6 and other supplements just to have such dreams. They are a total blast to have. If not, can he record himself humming a few bars (as he remembers it) and posting it here? It might help. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/72 "2019-04-18T09:58:45Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > This one might be too vague (and un-memorable) to get an answer–as I have said, it isn’t a “space themed” song, but simply has a line in it that is something like looking at the sky and wondering if there is any life out there, as a sort of philosophical musing–if the song (or band) you think of is anything overtly sciency or science-fictional, it isn’t the song. Think something in the league of the aforementioned \*We’ve Got Tonight. > \* “Forever Young” - Alphaville very long shots: “Pump Up the Volume” “Meet Me Halfway” “Kyrie” ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/73 "2019-04-18T11:30:54Z")
Mike Batt - [Children Of The Sky](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7byDJA24I0) ---
**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 18, 2019, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009/74 "2019-04-18T12:14:59Z")
Thanks, none of those. I’ll mention again that the line is specifically about wondering about/thinking that there is extraterrestrial life among the stars. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-vague-80s-song-question/832009.md?page=3)