Tears For Fears: Everybody Wants to Rule the World ANALYSIS and BREAK-DOWN | The Daily Doug Ep. 745 

Songs From the Big Chair deserves an album listen. Its one of the greatest albums of the 80s and of all time. Shout, The Working Hour, I Believe and Head Over Heads are classics. Even the closer Listen is great which doesnt get enough credit. Just a perfect album!

I've always been into metal/ hard rock/ progressive rock. Surprisingly, I find Tears for Fears to be an exceptional band. Their albums are really well-developed and deep. Can't help but love this song- such a perfect pop song.

I played this for my 10-year-old a few months ago, as one of those songs they sometimes hear me mangling under my breath, and they loved it. "Wait, this is *forty* years old? Whaaaaa?!" I explained that they were one of the founders of the modern synth sound. They shook their head and wandered off. It's now anchoring their Spotify playlist.

I loved this song in 1985 and I love it today in 2024. Great music never gets old.

One of the most exquisitely arranged pop songs ever written. It makes me grin from ear to ear every time I listen to it. Just perfection.

You are right!!! this was the song that was popular when I first learned how to drive! I felt so free with all of Tears For Fears music please do more of theirs

Definitely "Head Over Heels". It's an underrated classic.

The quintessential 80s song and my favorite song of all-time.

This song always evokes of the end of Real Genius to me.

There’s an underrated guitar solo right there! 🤔

Saw them live last year. Instruments and vocals were flawless. New album has beautiful music.

Rick Beato has also done a "What Makes This Song Great" episode about EWTRTW. It is awesome!

I have no desire to rule the world. But my God, do they make it sound so good! Pure Pop Perfection!!!

The in-between pitch is almost certainly the result of the (presumably) 1/2” master tape being varispeeded slightly at the mastering stage. My guess is that the actual recording is in D.

One of my favorite songs from the 80's Listen to that guitar Doug

Mad World -- the original video and then Curt and his daughter Diva. My favorite TFF song, by far.

One of the first cassettes ever bought along with Madonna and Duran Duran. Over 40 years later it's still the jam.

Probably my favorite song of the 80’s.

The working title for the song was "Everybody Wants to Go to War", but the studio convinced them to change it. Makes you wonder if the song would have been as popular if they released it with the original title. Regardless, I love the song and they still perform it in concert.

No matter how many times I hear it I turn it up loud. It drives me yet fills me with tearful emotions. Thank you, Doug. I need to grab a tissue.

It was impossible to escape this song when it first came out, would literally hear it at least 5 times a day. I have heard this song thousands of times, and can never get sick of it. Still gives me chills.

I just love how powerful those two simple synth chords are! Add in that super catchy beat and all the layers, and you've got a song I can listen to at any time! This is definitely one of those karaoke-in-the-car style songs I will sing at full volume while driving. Also the bridge on this song is KILLER!!! Just such a great tune.

One of the greatest songs ever recorded. I wore the hell out of that cassette("Songs From The Big Chair") & it was one of the soundtracks in 1985 during my high school years. Lots of memories.

Ahhhh I just love this tune. Love the melancholy melody over the moving motion of the chords. Everybody wants to write a song like this.

Love seeing your mind work as the song plays. It is fucking fascinating.

Dr. Doug as always your incite is fascinating. In college, I had a professor of music teaching part of a humanities class. I never took music theory, but his instruction on classical to country to pop to rock was one of my highlights. It's the same with your videos. I find myself going back and listening again to the music I love and grew up on with a new appreciation of the pure genius of the artists. I haven't seen any Bob Marley and the Wailers videos. I would love your take on their music.

I was born in the late 70's and this song reminds me of playing out during the summer holidays more than any other song. I get a massive hit of nostalgia for that time whenever it kicks in.

Love your stuff Doug thank you for sharing your knowledge. Super fun!

Great insight as always! Surprised we didn't get more mention of the song's polyrhythm. Really really complex groove that sounds natural and not too distracting

this song always brings to mind Real Genius

I always refer to TFF as a prog pop band. They have some really great groves and some surprising changes....which is one of my favourite 80's songs 🙂

I was a massive metal head in the 80's but I was a closeted Tears for Fears, Flock of Seagulls and Rick Springfield fan. i had their albums, but none of my friends knew that till about 10 years ago. ha..

Doug, I love it that you called it your musical education. I feel the same way about my own musical journey. I can still remember making my first mix tape with Beethoven, Mozart and Chikofsky when I was 10. Starting there allowed me to really become eclectic in my music appreciation. So when I hit high school and everyone was stuck on top 40 radio, I was playing the epic sounds of the last 50 years and collection the best of the B sides and unknown songs that took the house party game to the next level. I d9nt know where I'd be without a well rounded taste in music based in classical symphony and the deeper cuts that truly show off the talent of the greats.

TFF are AWESOME. Next songs to consider: Woman In Chains, and Badman's Song.

Maybe 15 years ago or so, I made a “Driving” playlist and i put this song (one of my all time favorite songs) on it. Several years after that, I read that Curt and Roland said they actually wanted this song to fit the feeling of driving (there’s even quite a bit of driving in the video). The magic of music, right!?

Sure, other bands have songs that I like more, but there might not be a more perfectly-crafted piece of pop rock.

Ah! Now I know why I like this song so much. Thanks for all of the insight and sharing your expertise.

Your enthusiasm is addictive

The off key approach was a brilliant move . It's a great song , almost timeless , and that off key approach really complements the lyrical message , because you get an almost subliminal feeling something is " unsettled " even if you do not or can not realize what they did here . Absolutely brilliant approach .

Great reaction Doug!! I've always loved this song, and Tears For Fears in general. The whole Songs From The Big Chair album is a classic of 80's pop rock! Would love to hear your analysis of other Tears songs: Change, Woman In Chains, Mad World, Laid So Low (Tears Fall Down), Head Over Heels, Sowing The Seeds Of Love... So many great songs!! Cheers!

These musical terms like neighbor tone and compound meter are so interesting because this music isnt created with knowledge of those terms. It's just born from talent, creativity, and a love of music.

when i was young and angry i hated all them 70s and 80s, music but im now in my 30s my mindset has changed, and now im in love with the older music

Great review, Head Over Heels next please.

Congrats on popping your TFF cherry on the channel. Once you get through Songs from the Big Chair, PLEASE do Sowing the Seeds of Love. It's the best love letter to the Beatles ever.

Your parents did one heck of a powerful job shielding you from the outside world. Thank you for the explanation as to how you have never heard anything from the non classical music category.

Tears for Fears is the official soundtrack of the 80's.

The master tapes were probably sped up or slowed down.

One of my favourite 80s albums together with Kate Bush's "The Hounds of Love" and "No Sense of Sin" by the Lotus Eaters. Beautiful!

Absolutely love TFF. Their music is about as intricate and musically complex as pop gets, especially on Seeds of Love. The Working Hour from Big Chair is definitely also worth a deep dive.

Within the first 5 seconds of this classic i'm transported back to being a 10 year old kid, along with my kid brothers on our Summer holidays, camping. This was always on the radio back then 👍

From the great 80’s film, “REAL GENIUS”.

i can never get over how doug is so good at predicting the upcoming beats

That bridge is something else, all together.

Doug, I think you’d love breaking down “Woman in Chains.” So many rich layers to that song.

This band was just another pop band to me until I watched them at Knebworth 1990 and wow what a show, chock full of talent.

Great tune for sure. Check out Sowing the Seeds of Love with a Beatles vibe and Badman Song from Sowing the Seeds Lp.

The extended Maxi Versions of their Songs hits at any Party at that time loved it then and today thanks❤️‍🔥

It's not unusual for recordings to be between keys because producers will adjust the speed of the master recording to change the mood and tempo, etc.

yeah, you need to do a whole-album react to this one.

They are still making great music. They released an album during the pandemic The Tipping Point. Really good.

This song never gets old!

I got my Metal Makes Monday’s Better hoodie. Loving it! My favorite song from this album is Mother’s Talk

There are some great tunes from the 80s charts in the UK Howard Jones, Nik Kershaw I could go on and on. One of my favourites and a huge hit was It Bites Calling all the Heroes. Francis Dunnery the guitarist and did some work with Robert Plant and Chris Squire. ✅

One of the most underated guitar solos 5:15

Working Hour is another great song from these album

Love it. One of the best Pop-Songs of the 80's.

Songs from the Big Chair is a great album. HOWEVER, the follow-up, The Seeds of Love, is a classic. You may want to give it a listen. Again, just my opinion. Great job as always Doug.

Great band live as well.... I would love to see them again...

I would love to hear Doug review one of their later songs, Break It Down Again, because of the huge difference in style from this original one

There is a relatively small subset of "pop" music that I can even tolerate for long, so the fact that this band has so much good material is really saying something! I strongly recommend checking out some of their lesser known works. The albums "The Seeds Of Love" and "Elemental" both have outstanding cuts that never got any radio play.

The short solo guitar is wonderful.

Such an underrated cut. What makes the song unique is that on first listen, you hear the bass and drums. However on the studio cut, that is a synth bass and programmed drums. They sound absolutely astounding, especially that synth bass. Yes they were both used a lot in the 80's, but nothing even remotely close to this. They sound so crisp and the headroom is perfect. So one of the rarities in the industry happens during the first chorus. A single instrument which doubles the melody (keyboard). It is so ballsy, but adds to the simplicity of the track. You do have to listen to it a few times to hear it. As it is buried in the mix. The second chorus uses a syncopated guitar to complement the keyboards. Which adds even more depth, as it moves to the bridge. Another rarity is the use of the bridge. The first of which you hear is the vocal bridge (There's a room..). The guitar becomes more pronounced and the vocal harmonies begin for the first time. After which there is an instrumental bridge. What is awesome about using both bridges, is that it gives so much space for the instruments and song to breathe. Nothing is rushed and nothing is out of place. Yet the melodic river simply flows ever so serene. This is one of those cuts where you cannot add another note, tinker with the melody, etc. The hook practically plays itself. This song because of most of the above, sets itself apart from a lot of the music of the era. My take on this anyway.

Thanks for this Doug. I had to dive deep into some of the terms you used to describe this production and he helped push me deeper into music theory. Love this channel.

Do Head over Heels!!!!

Good ear, Doug! In between keys. Nice.

Excelente análise!

Such a classic song and poetic really kinda in that it’s still very much relevant today in the world. Curt Smith can still sing pretty much like he did back when that song was first released too.

Do you know I'm so glad you confirmed it was between keys.. I love playing it but it would always bug the hell out of me that it seemed out of step with standard tuning. Now I know it is.. 😂 I agree with Manhatten.. it['s a fine album and worth popping on your whole album listen list. They've dished up a few interesting songs of note, prior to this album being the (very new wave vs guitar rock/pop) single "Mad World" which would go on to become a cover for Gary Jules which, I believe, made a notable appearance in the form of that cover in the movie DONNIE DARKO.

Love this song and had to listen as soon as I saw you were covering it. TFF were definitely a favourite of mine at the time.

As more of a Metal person ,this song kinda helped me to rediscover some of those songs from many years ago!!

Neil Taylor played the guitar solo outro. He has a video on youtube discussing it. Incredible solo.

You need to hear "Shout". Both songs were such hits in the 80s. Good to see some with classical background dive into popular music. From a classic music lover.

As sound engineer if I had to guess the singer was singing either flat or sharp, more likely flat and the song was slowed down to match their pitch. 😊

The Warning need to be covered by this channel...3 sisters from Mexico. Dust to Dust Live!

...and that was considered pop music in the 80's. What a time it was.

When King Crimson reformed in the very early 80s, their debut (as a band called “Discipline” before the band recycled the KC name and “Discipline” became the album title) was at Moles Club in Bath. Roland and Curt were students there, and there’s a photo of Curt at the gig. Listening to the solo, with its overlaying and polyrhythms I can’t help but think something from the KC gamelan-style tracks went into Curt and Roland’s influences that night.

This song was the intro and outro To Dennis miller live a talk show on HBO In the 90s

I didn't think much of these T4F tunes back in the day when they were new, but now, they are major go-to selections, including karaoke picks back when I was still doing that. The vocal styling was so organic for me and my mimickry, I could maintain authenticity to the original very comfortably... hmm, maybe that's how my appreciation for the songs grew? Haha.

Most important new wave band of the 80s. Brilliant musicians.

Hi Doug. Love the channel. It was standard practice in the days of analog that singles would be sped up in the final stages of mastering to "brighten and make louder' when it was played on radio. so, often songs would be between keys on the single mixes. This might have been the very end of this way of thinking, not sure, just a guess based on past practices. Take care, be well.

One of my favorite songs, and that's coming from a metal and prog nerd. By the way, I HIGHLY recommend the drum cover by El Estepario Siberiano. It's delightful.

It is featured in the movie "Peter's Friends" (1992).

I'm more into rock and metal these days but as a child of the 80's I grew up with bands like Tears for Fears, The Thompson Twins, Duran Duran and Aha. My sister was massively into Spandau Ballet (she had a massive crush on Martin Kemp) and I'd love to hear Doug do a reaction to 'Through The Barricades'.

Seeds of Love in ‘87 is a great album…Woman in Chains is a phenomenal track from it.

This song just puts me in such a good mood :)

I love this track

Hi Doug!!! I absolutely love your videos, your insight, expertise and just love of music!! Have you ever analyzed any film scores, or have I just missed those videos? I’m a professional musician and former high school music teacher and I love what I learn from you! Keep up the excellent work!!!

This song instantly makes me think of Real Genius and everyone munching on the popcorn that ruined that beautiful house 😂

Synth drums & bass, tastefully done! Everything in balance. If you haven't already, could you review "Woman in Chains"?

An absolutely perfect song.....