TEARS FOR FEARS - EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD

Publicació: 22 de març de 1985

Llistes: EUA: #1  Regne Unit: #2

"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" és una cançó del segon àlbum d'estudi de Tears for Fears "Songs From The Big Chair" publicat al 1985. Va ser escrita per Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley i Chris Hughes i produïda per Hughes.

Aquesta cançó tracta sobre la recerca del poder i com pot tenir conseqüències desafortunades aconseguir-lo. En una entrevista el productor de la banda, Chris Hughes, va explicar que van passar mesos treballant a "Shout" i, cap al final de les sessions, Roland Orzabal va entrar a l'estudi i va tocar dos simples acords a la seva guitarra acústica, que es van convertir en la base de la cançó. Hughes va dir: "'Everybody Wants to Rule the World' va ser senzilla i va sorgir molt ràpidament, gairebé sense esforç. Tot i que musicalment aquesta és una cançó bastant enganxosa, la seva lletra és en realitat força fosca. "El concepte és bastant seriós: tracta de tothom que vol el poder, sobre la guerra i la misèria que provoca", va explicar Curt Smith de Tears For Fears al lloc web de la banda.

"Everybody Wants To Rule The World" és una línia de la cançó de Clash de 1980 "Charlie don't surf". Tears for Fears ho van plagiar? Joe Strummer de The Clash ho pensava. Va explicar que va trobar-se a Roland Orzabal en un restaurant i li va dir "me’n deus cinc". Roland es va posar la mà a la butxaca i va treure un bitllet de cinc lliures, aparentment com a compensació per robar-li la línia del seu títol d'èxit.

Com que "Shout" va ser el primer senzill del grup a la resta del món, Tears For Fears van pensar que també hauria de ser el seu primer llançament als Estats Units, però el segell discogràfic va insistir que "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" era més adequat per al seu debut americà. "La cosa és interessant vista en retrospectiva", va dir Smith a ‘Consequence of Sound’, "perquè va ser un d'aquells moments en què la discogràfica tenia raó i nosaltres estàvem equivocats, perquè per als Estats Units, sí, que va ser millor llançar-la primer".

Tears For Fears va passar la major part de l'any 1985 de gira en suport de l'àlbum "Songs From The Big Chair". Els va esgotar molt tant físicament com emocionalment i no van tornar a la feina fins uns anys més tard, quan van resorgir al 1989 amb el seu disc “The Seeds Of Love”. Curt Smith va explicar a la revista Outlook: "Aviat ens vam adonar que anar de gira no és gaire divertit quan vas amb un munt de caixes de tambors sintetitzadors i seqüenciadors. No vaig entrar al negoci de la música per ser programador informàtic, ho vaig fer per ser músic i tocar instruments tradicionals. Si la gent hagués volgut escoltar el disc, s'hauria pogut quedar a casa i escoltar-lo". 

Aquest va ser el primer número 1 als Estats Units per a Tears for Fears. La setmana del 8 de juny de 1985, la cançó va passar del 2 a 1, substituint "Everything she wants" de Wham! com a número u de la llista, on hi passaria dues setmanes. "Shout" va arribar al número 1 dos mesos després.

Els crítics musicals van elogiar "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" i alguns van qualificar la cançó entre les millors de la dècada. Juntament amb "Shout" és una de les cançons estandart de la banda. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" va guanyar "Best Single" de l’any als Brit Awards de 1986.

TEARS FOR FEARS - EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD

Released: March 22, 1985

Charted: US: #1  UK: #2

"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a song from Tears for Fears second studio album “Songs From The Big Chair” released in 1985. It was written by Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley and Chris Hughes and produced by Hughes. 

This song is about the quest for power, and how it can have unfortunate consequences. In an interview with Mix magazine, the band's producer Chris Hughes explained that they spent months working on "Shout", and near the end of the sessions, Roland Orzabal came into the studio and played two simple chords on his acoustic guitar, which became the basis for the song. Said Hughes: "'Everybody Wants to Rule the World' was so simple and went down so quickly, it was effortless, really. In fact, as a piece of recording history, it's bland as hell." Although musically this is quite a jangly and catchy song, its lyrical theme is actually pretty dark. "The concept is quite serious - it's about everybody wanting power, about warfare and the misery it causes," Curt Smith of Tears For Fears explained on the band's website.

"Everybody Wants To Rule The World" is a line from the 1980 Clash song "Charlie don’t surf". Did Tears for Fears lift it? Joe Strummer of The Clash thought so. He recounted a story about confronting Roland Orzabal in a restaurant, informing Orzabal that "you owe me a fiver." Strummer said that Roland reached in his pocket and produced a five pound note, ostensibly as compensation for poaching the line for his hit title.

Because "Shout" was the group's first single in the rest of the world, Tears For Fears thought it should also be their first release in the US, but the record label insisted "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" was better suited for their American debut. "Which is interesting in retrospect," Smith told Consequence of Sound, "because it was one of those times when the record company was right and we were wrong, because for America, yes, it was a better first single."

Tears For Fears spent most of 1985 touring in support of the “Songs From The Big Chair” album. It took so much out of them physically and emotionally, they didn't go back to work until a few years later, finally emerging in 1989 with their album “The Seeds Of Love”. Curt Smith explained in Outlook magazine: "We soon realized that touring isn't much fun with a bunch of drum machines and sequencers. We didn't get into the music business to be computer programmers. I did it to be a musician! On that tour, I just went out and did the album for nine months. If people wanted to hear the album, they could've stayed home and listened to it."

This was the first US #1 hit for Tears for Fears. On the week of 8 June 1985, the song moved  2 to 1, replacing Wham!'s "Everything she wants" as the number one on the chart, it would spend a total of two weeks in this position. "Shout" went to #1 two months later. 

Music critics praised "Everybody Wants to Rule the World” with some ranking the song among the decade's best. Along with "Shout" it is one of the band's signature songs. In 1986 "Everybody Wants to Rule the World” won "Best Single" at the Brit Awards.