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Songs About AIDS: 10 Tracks That Foster Understanding and Awareness
- Posted by Pat Pemberton
'Together Again'
Janet Jackson
Jackson wanted to write a song about friends who have died of AIDS, but she didn't want it to be sad or mournful. So in this 1997 dance tune -- probably the most upbeat song you'll hear about the disease -- Jackson looks forward to one day meeting her friends again in the afterlife. With its hopeful message, the song became an anthem for AIDS victims and their families.
Ian Dickson/Redferns
'Streets of Philadelphia'
Bruce Springsteen
While making one of the first mainstream movies to address AIDS, homophobia and homosexuality, director Jonathan Demme asked Springsteen to write a song for the soundtrack, hoping the Boss's contribution would broaden the film's audience. Up to the task, Springsteen studied the film's scenes and wrote this 1994 song from the point of view of an AIDS patient. The stark lyrics describe a "bruised and battered" man wasting away, who can't even recognize himself in the mirror.
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'In This Life'
Madonna
After her friend and former roommate died of AIDS-related complications in 1986, Madonna organized an AIDS benefit concert in which audience members were given a comic book describing how you could and could not get AIDS. This song, from her 1992 'Erotica' album, was inspired by the roommate, Martin Burgoyne, as well as her mentor Christopher Flynn, who also died as a result of the disease.
Ke.Mazur/WireImage
'The Last Song'
Elton John
Long involved in the fight against AIDS, John was one of the "friends" in Dionne Warwick & Friends (along with Warwick, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder) and a close friend to AIDS victims Ryan White and Freddie Mercury. In this 1992 song, a man dying of AIDS complications makes peace with his father about his sexuality. Like Michael Jackson's 'Gone Too Soon,' this was dedicated to White, the Indiana teen who contracted HIV from a blood transfusion.
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'Hold On'
Sarah McLachlan
Karin and Blair Donnan were married in 1987 despite Blair's HIV diagnosis two months earlier. Before his death in 1989, Blair asked his wife to speak publicly about the ignorance surrounding AIDS. After watching 'A Promise Kept,' a documentary about the couple, McLachlan was inspired to write this 1994 song about them.
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'We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off'
Jermaine Stewart
By the late '80s, the AIDS scare had inspired several songs about safe sex, including Janet Jackson's 'Let's Wait Awhile,' Kool Moe Dee's 'Go See the Doctor' and Carrie McDowell's 'Casual Sex.' But this one, released in 1986, is considered the first. Sadly, Stewart himself would die of AIDS-related complications in 1997 at age 39.
Craig Sjodin/ABC/Getty Images
'Waterfalls'
TLC
This R&B trio often preached about safe sex, going so far as to hand out free condoms at its shows. "We spend thousands of dollars on condoms in a week," the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes once told the Chicago Sun-Times. This hugely successful 1995 song for TLC includes a verse about a man who has casual sex -- his "waterfall" -- and can't understand why he gets ill.
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'Halloween Parade'
Lou Reed
For most people, mention of New York's annual Greenwich Village Halloween Parade conjures images of dancers, artists and circus performers. But for Reed it conjures ghosts. In this 1989 song, Reed recounts the names of parade characters whose voices won't be heard next time due to AIDS.
Paul Natkin/WireImage
'Too Hot'
Coolio
Whenever he performed this song live after its 1995 release, Coolio made it a point to rattle off statistics about AIDS and HIV, quickly quieting once enthused crowds. Then he'd end his informative talk with this advice: "Ladies, if he don't got no condom, he don't get none." The song sampled Kool and the Gang, using their 1980 hit 'Too Hot' as a metaphor for HIV infection.
Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
'Positive'
Spearhead
After visiting the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and St. Clare's Hospital, which housed HIV-positive prisoners in New York, Spearhead lead singer Michael Franti said he realized two things: More money was needed to fight AIDS, and people needed to be tested for the disease. In this jazzy 1994 song, the narrator does the right thing -- he gets tested so he won't infect his lover -- but at the same time, he worries about the results while reflecting on past partners.
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Add a Comment
Another song referring to the effects of AIDS was sung by Reba McEntire and named "She Thinks His Name Was John". Playing devils advocate, even couples, straight or gay, who use condoms are still at risk of infecting or being infected with HIV. Not every person in engaging in sex is reckless or ignorant. What's more unfortunate is when a person doesn't know they're carrying the virus and risking transferring it to another person.
March 10 2012 at 12:13 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
Pedro Reyes
2 replies to Pedro Reyes's comment
AIDS is preventable. So if you get it, you deserve it. Lets not find a cure and maybe people will start being more responsible. Now if you're gay and you get AIDS, that is awesome.
March 10 2012 at 11:35 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplySo Pedro, let me get this straight. An innocent child who is born HIV positive because mom used dirty needles or was already infected "deserves" to get AIDS? You are sick in the head and I feel sorry for you.
March 10 2012 at 12:14 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down ReplyPedro, I also meant to say that you are also an uneducated piece of rat filth.
March 10 2012 at 12:16 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Reply
lord of the isles
1 reply to lord of the isles's comment
......Dont forget about apache indians' 'aids warning'...this is a warning to each and everyone, you have fe know 'bout the aids upon the island (uk that is)
December 01 2010 at 12:44 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI've never heard of this. Can you tell us more about it?
March 10 2012 at 12:18 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
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