"DON'T YOU (FORGET ABOUT ME)" SIMPLE MINDS (1985)

This month, I’m looking back at movies and tv shows to rediscover songs that graced the screen. The scenes and the music are inseparable. They’re engrained in our heads and our hearts. And they’re proof that the best music we have doesn’t exist in isolation. It attaches itself to a moment or an experience. #SceneSongs

Movie: The Breakfast Club

Few movies turned the high school experience upside down better than The Breakfast Club. It introduced us to all the cliques, spent nearly three quarters of the movie going through all the stereotypes, and then it flipped the paradigm on its head. The movie ends with Anthony Michael Hall’s character reading his note to the principal out loud: “Each of us is a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal.” Then one of the most iconic 80’s songs comes on as Bender walks through the high school football field, pumps his fist and we go to the closing credits. “Don’t You” was the exclamation mark for the whole movie.

Instantly recognizable from that first hit of the snare. “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” was a turning point in the commercial trajectory of Simple Minds. Up until then, they wrote a fair amount of great music, but not many in the States knew about them. The Breakfast Club changed all that. This was one of the original brat pack anthems. This was one of our anthems. No matter how you saw us. In the simplest terms. In the most convenient definitions. A brain. An athlete. A basket case. A princess. A criminal.

“DON'T YOU TRY AND PRETEND. IT'S MY FEELING WE'LL WIN IN THE END.”

"ALIVE AND KICKING" SIMPLE MINDS (1985)

I generally gravitate to the music first before the lyrics. But as a writer, I still marvel at well-spun verses and choruses. This month, I’m joining the music Twitter community in #31DaySongLyricChallenge

Day 12

This is one of the most uplifting songs of the era and one of my favorite Simple Minds anthems. It came on the heels of “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”, but this one was actually written by Kerr and his bandmates. There are quite a few gems on the entire Once Upon A Time album, including “All The Things She Said” and “Sanctify Yourself”, but this is the one that has had the most staying power. The height of the lyrics lies in the soulful transition between the verses and the chorus.

“What you gonna do when things go wrong? What you gonna do when it all cracks up? What you gonna do when the love burns down? What you gonna do when the flames go up? Who is gonna come and turn the tide? What's it gonna take to make a dream survive? Who's got the touch to calm the storm inside? Who's gonna save you?

"DON'T YOU (FORGET ABOUT ME)" SIMPLE MINDS (1985)

After spending an entire month looking back at the 80’s, I realized one thing. I need more. Luckily, a couple of fellow music fans on Twitter came up with the brilliant idea to highlight #30DaysOf80sMovieSongs during the month of April. I couldn’t resist at the opportunity to keep going, to keep listening, and to keep celebrating the decade that has meant more to me than any other from a musical standpoint. Each day I’m playing a different soundtrack favorite on the Mental Jukebox.

Movie: The Breakfast Club

Few movies turned the high school experience upside down better than The Breakfast Club. It introduced us to all the cliques, spent nearly three quarters of the movie going through all the stereotypes, and then it flipped the paradigm on its head. The movie ends with Anthony Michael Hall’s character reading his note to the principal out loud: “Each of us is a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal.” Then one of the most iconic 80’s songs comes on as Bender walks through the high school football field, pumps his fist and we go to the closing credits. “Don’t You” was the exclamation mark for the whole movie.

Instantly recognizable from that first hit of the snare. “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” was a turning point in the commercial trajectory of Simple Minds. Up until then, they wrote a fair amount of great music, but not many in the States knew about them. The Breakfast Club changed all that. This was one of the original brat pack anthems. This was one of our anthems. No matter how you saw us. In the simplest terms. In the most convenient definitions. A brain. An athlete. A basket case. A princess. A criminal.

“Don't you try and pretend. It's my feeling we'll win in the end.”

"ALIVE AND KICKING" SIMPLE MINDS (1985)

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

Simple Minds was one of the steadiest rock bands of the 80s with a late bloom presence in the U.S. Songs like “Waterfront”, “All the Things She Said”, “Promised You a Miracle”, “Up on the Catwalk” and “Sanctify Yourself” had that special beauty of being truly distinct from each other, but all still assuredly part of the Simple Minds sound. For a band that was great at writing rock songs that we’re slightly left of center, it’s ironic that their biggest hit wasn’t even penned by them: the breakthrough anthem “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”. Which is why I think “Alive and Kicking” is actually the true breakthrough Simple Minds track.

“Alive and Kicking” is, by far, my favorite song from the band. Simple Minds’ strength has always been in the composition. With a remarkable consistency, they’ve been just really solid at melding Kerr’s vocals with each instrumental layer. Mel Gaynor’s drums were an underrated rhythmic force to be reckoned with in the 80’s. Never particularly complex, but always powerful and present in the right moments. Michael MacNeil’s synth arrangements shimmered with this unexplainable sense of optimism and hope. On “Alive and Kicking”, those riffs felt like a baptism. But the thing that made the track shine more than other great Simple Minds songs were the crushing guest vocals from Robin Clark, who could also be heard on David Bowie’s “Young Americans”. She brought such a powerful, soulful voice to the table and seemed to blend so naturally with the band’s rock agenda.

“What's it gonna take to make a dream survive?”

"DON'T YOU (FORGET ABOUT ME)" SIMPLE MINDS (1985)

Instantly recognizable from that first hit of the snare. “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” was a turning point in the commercial trajectory of Simple Minds. Up until then, they wrote a fair amount of great music, but not many in the States knew about them. The Breakfast Club changed all that. This was one of the original brat pack anthems. This was one of our anthems. No matter how you saw us. In the simplest terms. In the most convenient definitions. A brain. An athlete. A basket case. A princess. A criminal.

“Don't you try and pretend. It's my feeling we'll win in the end. I won't harm you or touch your defenses. Vanity and security.”