5 Soft Rock Songs From the 1980s That Get Stuck in My Head for Days on End

Soft rock is most closely associated with the 1970s, but that’s only because we were using different names for the same thing in the previous and subsequent decades. There was plenty of soft rock to enjoy in the 1980s, much of which will get stuck in my head for days after I listen. Seriously. After I’m done writing this, I will be singing them for the rest of the week. I did it all for you, dear reader.

“Africa” by TOTO

Full disclosure: I was a choir kid (like, a cappella choir kid), which means that I sang “Africa” by TOTO in eight-part harmony at least ten different times before I graduated college. This song is as cheesy as it is catchy. It’s also one I have to sing with the full conviction of someone who has actually blessed the rains down in Africa.

“Little Lies” by Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours gets all the love, and I’m not denying that it isn’t a fantastic album. But this band was still showing off their masterful domain over soft rock in the 1980s with songs like “Little Lies”. From the smooth arrangement to the lyrical content being rife with relationship drama, this song is as quintessentially Fleetwood Mac as the album that came out almost ten years earlier.

“I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” by Daryl Hall & John Oates

“I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” is one of those songs that I will find myself singing whenever I’m doing a mundane task. It’s an involuntary response, like blinking or breathing, at this point. The “noOOoO nooo, no can do” doesn’t just live rent-free in my head. It has already bought and paid off property inside my dome.

“Everybody Wants To Rule The World” by Tears For Fears

Tears For Fears’ “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” is only classified as synth-pop because it was released in 1985 and not 1975. I still classify this melodically forward track as soft rock, even if it is synthier than its 70s counterparts. Moreover, this song will almost always get stuck in my head for at least five business days.

“I Gotta Try” by Michael McDonald

Does it get more 1980s than Michael McDonald, former member of Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers, covering Kenny Loggins? It’s a question I ponder while listening to “I Gotta Try” at least 50 times in a row. The first time in the standard way, like on my car radio. The the next 49 times being the repeats that I run silently in my head.

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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