20 Songs Released in 1981 You Must Hear


My rules:

  • Only one song per artist/group
  • The song must be released that specific year
  • Songs from live albums not allowed
  • Restricted to only 20 songs

Here are my 20 chosen songs released in 1981.

Every Grain of Sand – Bob Dylan

Written by Bob Dylan, recorded in Los Angeles in the spring of 1981 and released in August of that year on Dylan’s album Shot of Love.

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]The love in “Every Grain of Sand,” though firmly rooted in Dylan’s conversion experience and his Bible studies, immediately and obviously reaches beyond its context to communicate a deeply felt devotional spirit based on universal experiences: pain of self-awareness, and sense of wonder or awe at the beauty of the natural world.
-Paul Williams (Bob Dylan, performing artist:The Middle Years )[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]In the time of my confession, in the hour of my deepest need
When the pool of tears beneath my feet floods every newborn seed
There’s a dying voice within me reaching out somewhere
Toiling in the danger and the morals of despair[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]


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Ian Fraser Kilmister (Lemmy) Birthday – 5 fascinating cover songs by Motorhead/Lemmy

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]A kid once said to me “Do you get hangovers?” I said, To get hangovers you have to stop drinking.
— Lemmy Kilmister[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy, was an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, primary songwriter and only continuous member of the British rock band Motörhead.
Lemmy’s music was one of the foundations of the heavy metal genre.

Big River

Johnny Cash

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October 14: David Bowie released “Heroes” in 1977

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]And you,
You can be mean
And I,
I’ll drink all the time
‘Cause we’re lovers,
And that is a fact
Yes we’re lovers,
And that is that
― David Bowie (“Heroes”)[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]


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Van Morrison, David Bowie, Eddie Vedder sings “Comfortably Numb” – Happy Birthday Roger Waters

Eddie Vedder and Roger Waters

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]Hello?
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me
Is there anyone home?[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English songwriter, singer, bassist, and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served solely as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, he also became their lyricist, co-lead vocalist, and conceptual leader.

My favourite Roger Waters song is “Comfortably Numb”, in this post I’ve collected some great versions.

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John Lennon released “Imagine” 48 Years Ago Today – Here are cover versions by Neil Young, David Bowie, Elton John and more


[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today (ah ah ah)[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Imagine” (released October 11, 1971) is a song co-written and performed by English musician John Lennon. The best-selling single of his solo career, its lyrics encourage the listener to imagine a world at peace without the barriers of borders or the divisions of religion and nationality and to consider the possibility that the whole of humanity would live unattached to material possessions. Shortly before his death, Lennon said that much of the song’s “lyric and content” came from his wife Yoko Ono, and in 2017, she received a co-writing credit.

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July 11: David Bowie released Space Oddity (single) in 1969 – 50 years ago today

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]Ground Control to Major Tom
Ground Control to Major Tom
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on
Ground Control to Major Tom (ten, nine, eight, seven, six)
Commencing countdown, engines on (five, four, three)
Check ignition and may God’s love be with you (two, one, liftoff)[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]…Finally, he teamed up with Elton John producer Gus Dudgeon to create “Space Oddity,” a song he’d been fiddling with all year. The folk ballad about astronaut Major Tom getting stranded in space was rushed out by his label to coincide with the launch of the Apollo 11 moon landing, and the BBC played the song during the coverage of the event. “In England, it was always presumed that it was written about the space landing, because it kind of came to prominence around the same time. But it actually wasn’t,” he told Performing Songwriter. “It was written because of going to see the film 2001, which I found amazing.
rollingstone.com[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Single by David Bowie
from the album David Bowie
B-side “Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud”
Released 11 July 1969
Format 7-inch single
Recorded
Genre
  • Psychedelic
  • folk rock
Length 5:15 (album version)
4:33 (UK single edit)
3:26 (U.S. single edit)
Label Philips
Songwriter(s) David Bowie
Producer(s) Gus Dudgeon

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