For the month of October, I’m selecting a song each day from the decade that has the most meaning to me: the 80s. It was the decade that I grew up in. The period of time where I discovered my love for music — and explored many different genres. For the next 31 days, I’ll highlight a handful of songs that I truly loved and that were representative of the decade. #31DaysOf80sSongs
In the early 80s, Culture Club was churning out monster hit singles as fast and furiously as Wham! and Duran Duran. “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya”, “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me”, “Karma Chameleon”, “It’s a Miracle”, “Church of the Poison Mind”, the hits kept coming. And none grabbed me more than “Time (Clock of the Heart)”, which had this musical arrangement that seemed to be a near-perfect statement of the times.
One could argue that “Time (Clock of the Heart)” was the least Culture Club of all the aforementioned singles. And it’s probably true. But the beauty of the song is that lyrically it was recounting the preciousness of time in a romantic relationship, while musically it reflected all these elements of the song’s own time. Shimmery keyboard arpeggios. Soaring string arrangements. Fluttering sax solo. And that simple, yet unforgettable bass line played on a keytar of all instruments. The track was like a time capsule of 1982.
“In time it could have been so much more. The time has nothing to show.”