Marriage can be a kind of wonderful thing—two people blending their lives together, sharing dreams, and building memories. But what happens when they have distinct differences of opinion? Case in point: my hubby likes to play DJ. And when he does, he always goes for classic 70s HEART—songs like Crazy on You, Magic Man, and Barracuda. Meanwhile, I’ll always stand by 80s HEART with my favorites like Who Will You Run To, Never, Alone, These Dreams, and There’s the Girl.

One night, he played Crazy on You, and I even said, “If you didn’t know, you’d never suspect this was the same HEART 80s fans grew up with.” The two decades really do feel like two different bands. Fans on Reddit and Facebook still debate which HEART era was better. For my husband, it’s Ann Wilson’s wailing rock vocals in the 70s, while I’ll take the soaring 80s ballads and synth-polished hooks.

HEART and the Echo of Nostalgia

Looking back, I think HEART’s catalog mirrors why we’re so nostalgic for 80s music in general. Those were songs filled with emotion—about love, heartbreak, longing, and the messy parts of relationships. Before the digital age, we communicated through handwritten notes passed in classrooms and late-night talks on corded telephones. Music lyrics weren’t just background noise; they touched our deepest emotions and put words to what we couldn’t always say.

Even Taylor Swift could relate to the ache in Who Will You Run To. The lyrics hit the universal nerve of betrayal, longing, and hope that maybe, just maybe, someone would be there to catch you when the world fell apart.

“Who will you run to when it all falls down?
Who’s gonna pick your world up off the ground?”

It’s a reminder that as much as music speaks to our hearts, the only one who can truly “pick your world up off the ground” is Jesus. And yet, HEART—whether it’s the raw 70s rock or the polished 80s ballads—reminds us that music has always been the bridge between what we feel and what we believe.

So while my husband may prefer Barracuda and I’ll belt Alone any day of the week, at the end of it all, he’s still the one I run to.