Prince addressed politics by Dirty Mind, and sexuality on Prince.

There was a good deal of anti-war songs in the 80s that were dance songs. "Electric Avenue" by Eddy Grant, "Another One Bites The Dust" by Queen, "99 Red Balloons" by Nena being early examples, as the music scene started to change. They were big hits, and dance songs.

It was really the mood at the time. With new technology like synthesizers and drum machines, artists felt a new liberation in music. Punk also lent to a freedom in lyrics that people hadn't quite felt in a good decade or more. People often dismiss the 80s as cheesy, but the fact is the 80s are still so popular is because they delved into new sounds, technology, and addressing social issues.

Jimmy Carter was doing little about the Iran hostage crisis (which went on over a year if memory serves), the Cold War was still in full swing (well before "tear down this wall" was even considered), and plenty more showed up in the lyrics of songs. Prince definitely hit a nerve with his lyrics in stuff like "1999", "Partyup", "Ronnie Talk 2 Russia" (another Reagan reference to the Cold War), "Annie Christian", and so forth. Most were danceable, some weren't. I'm glad he took a bold move in those areas like other artists did and put politicians etc on blast.