"1985" is a 2004 song that was written and recorded by

SR-71 The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a Range (aeronautics), long-range, high-altitude, Mach number, Mach 3+ military strategy, strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporati ...

for their album '' Here We Go Again''.

Mitch Allan Mitchell Allan Scherr, known professionally as Mitch Allan, is an American record producer, songwriter, and musician. He has written and produced songs for artists such as Demi Lovato, Third Eye Blind, Miley Cyrus, Carlie Hanson, Jason Derulo, Pi ...

, SR-71's frontman, gave the song to American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Bowling for Soup Bowling for Soup (abbreviated as BFS) is an American rock band formed in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1994. The band consists of Jaret Reddick (lead vocals, guitar), Chris Burney (guitar, backing vocals), Gary Wiseman (drums, percussion, backing voc ...

, who recorded a cover version. The cover version reached number 23 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was featured on the band's album ''

A Hangover You Don't Deserve ''A Hangover You Don't Deserve'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Bowling for Soup. It was released on September 14, 2004, as their third album with Jive Records. The first single, "1985", quickly became a Top 40 staple, peaking ...

''. The song is about a middle-aged woman who is stuck in the 1980s due to being in denial that her life is zooming by so fast and the fact that she never got to live out her ideal life before settling down and starting a family.

Background

The song was originally written by

frontman

and drummer John Allen for the band's third album ''Here We Go Again.'' The album was initially only made available in Japan.

Bowling for Soup version

There are conflicting stories on how

came to record a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the track. According to SR-71's website, Bowling for Soup's

Jaret Reddick Jaret Ray Reddick is an American musician, singer, songwriter, composer, podcaster and actor, best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Bowling for Soup. As a voice actor, Reddick is known for his work o ...

heard the song and asked for permission to record a cover. However, according to Bowling for Soup's website, it was Allan that called Reddick to suggest the possible cover. In a 2010 interview with ''

Songfacts Songfacts is a music-oriented website that has articles about songs, detailing the meaning behind the lyrics, how and when they were recorded, and any other info that can be found. The journalists who work for the site have interviewed thousa ...

'', Reddick said that the cover materialized through the two bands’ association with producer

Butch Walker Bradley Glenn "Butch" Walker (born November 14, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the glam metal band SouthGang from the late 1980s to early 1990s as well as the lead vocalist ...

. Bowling for Soup made some changes to the lyrics of the original song. In the second verse, the reference to the film ''

Fast Times at Ridgemont High ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' is a 1982 American coming-of-age comedy film directed by Amy Heckerling (in her feature directorial debut), from a screenplay by Cameron Crowe, based on his 1981 book ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A True Story' ...

'' is replaced by ''

St. Elmo's Fire St. Elmo's fire — also called Witchfire or Witch's Fire — is a weather phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created by a corona discharge from a rod-like object such as a mast, spire, chimney, or animal hornHeidorn, K., Weather Element ...

''. The line "Never knew

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

was gay/hoped they'd hook up one day" is changed to "Thought she'd get a hand/on a member of

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

." The ending lines "Where's her fairytale? Where's her dream?/Where's the quarterback from her high school football team?/How many times will she ask herself 'What happened to me?'" are changed to "Where's the mini-skirt made of snake skin?/And who's the other guy that's singing in

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

?/When did reality become TV?/Whatever happened to sitcoms, game shows? (on the radio?)". Bowling for Soup's lines reference

Sammy Hagar Samuel Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose and subsequently launched a successful solo car ...

joining Van Halen in 1985 and the advent of

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

. The line "(The rubber broke!)" after "'What happened?'" is omitted. Bowling for Soup added the line "And when did Ozzy become an actor?" to the bridge, referencing rock singer

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

's appearance in the reality TV show ''

The Osbournes ''The Osbournes'' is an American reality television program featuring the domestic life of heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne and his family—his wife Sharon, their daughter Kelly, and their son Jack. The series premiered on MTV on March 5, 2002 ...

''.

Chart performance

Released on July 26, 2004, the song climbed to the number 23 spot on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

chart and debuted at number 1 on the

Hot Digital Tracks The Hot Digital Tracks chart is a song popularity chart that ranks the best selling digital tracks in the United States according to ''Billboard'' magazine. It is not to be confused with the Hot Digital Songs chart, which combines different versi ...

chart, with 15,500 paid downloads.

Music video

The music video is directed by Smith n' Borin (Ryan Smith and Frank Borin). It takes place on a neighborhood street where the character of Debbie, played by actress Joey House, fixes up the cluttered lawn of her house but gets distracted by Bowling for Soup playing music in their garage across the street. The band parodies the music videos for Robert Palmer's " Addicted to Love" and

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...

's "

Faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people often ...

", as well as the acts

Run-DMC Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of ...

and

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albums ...

. At the end of the video, Debbie walks across the street to the band, lets her hair down, and in a nod to

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own entit ...

's video for "

Here I Go Again "Here I Go Again" is a song by British rock band Whitesnake. Originally released on their 1982 album, '' Saints & Sinners'', the power ballad was re-recorded for their 1987 self-titled album. The song was re-recorded again the same year in a ...

", writhes around on top of a car. She continues to do this even after the song ends, until her husband calls out to ask her what she’s doing.

from SR-71 appears in the video as a passersby who gives the band a look of contempt.

Track listings

UK CD1 and digital download # "1985" – 3:14 # "Major Denial" – 2:36 UK CD2 # "1985" # "Bipolar" # "Major Denial" # "1985" (video) UK 7-inch single :A. "1985" – 3:13 :B. "Make It Up to You" – 3:52 Digital EP # "1985" – 3:13 # "Bipolar" – 2:37 # "Major Denial" – 2:22 # "Make It Up to You" – 3:52

Charts

Certifications

Release history

Cover versions and parodies

Christian parody band

ApologetiX ApologetiX is an American Christian parody band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The band was founded in 1990, and since then, has played in almost all 50 states, released 40 studio albums, and built up a fan club that includes over 65,000 peopl ...

released a parody titled "None Too Ladylike" on the group's ''

Wordplay Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phone ...

'' album, about

Jezebel Jezebel (;"Jezebel"
(US) and ) was the daughte ...

from the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. The Bowling for Soup version has been covered by Richard Thompson on the live album ''

1000 Years of Popular Music ''1000 Years of Popular Music'' is a 2003 live album by Richard Thompson. The album was originally conceived after Richard Thompson, along with many other artists, was asked by ''Playboy'' magazine to nominate his choice of the best songs of th ...

''. On July 9, 2022,

Thomas Ian Nicholas Thomas Ian Nicholas (born July 10, 1980) is an American film actor, film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate vari ...

released a parody cover of "1985" titled "1999".

References

External links

Cover Without Context
by JP Timko {{Authority control 2004 singles Bowling for Soup songs Songs written by Mitch Allan Songs written by Jaret Reddick List songs Song recordings produced by Butch Walker SR-71 (band) songs 2004 songs Song recordings produced by Mitch Allan Songs about nostalgia