Day 1: A song you like with a color in the title- Pale Shelter
Pale is a color right? This experiment is not getting off to the best of starts. However, it does give me the chance to talk about one of my favorite Tears for Fears songs. This was one of two songs that landed Tears for Fears their first record deal and its filled with themes that show up in numerous songs in their discography. Namely parental abandonment and the hole that leaves. With an amazing bass solo midway and smooth vocals by Smith, this haunting song is a great intro into the heart of Tears for Fears.
Day 2: A song you like with a number on the title- Standing on the Corner of the Third World
A song about leaving your problems behind you, this soulful song uses the Third World as a metaphor to bring attention to the exploitation and abuse those countries face. It is easy to be so focused on our own pain, that we forget how unfair the world is for everyone else.
Day 3: A song that reminds you of summertime- Sea Song
With it’s wistful piano opening and Orzabal’s crooning, it is the perfect song to listen to on a cold summer morning on the beach. It begins with references to sea creatures, but the song is really about what many Tears for Fears songs are about: just wanting to connect with someone, and the powerful feeling of realizing you are not alone.
Day 4: A song that reminds you of someone you’d rather forget- I Believe
This is a song about loss that can be interpreted in many ways. The lyrics on resignation and deep sadness speaks to the feelings you have when you lose someone who isn’t actually gone. They are just no longer in your life. It reminds me of a close friendship I had in college that was dissolved over tragic circumstances. While I am glad that person is no longer in my life, I do grieve the relationship we once had, and the closure I will never fully get.
Day 5: A song that needs to be played loud- Watch Me Bleed
I love how emo Tears for Fears can be. This song especially speaks to that. This is a song that demands to played on a 90s Panasonic RX-ED90 Cobra Top boombox at full volume, in a low lit motel, while you write in your diary and break stuff. It is Tears for Fear’s ultimate “YOU JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND ME DAD” song.
Day 6: A song that makes you want to dance- Mad World
Forget every slow, sad, downtrodden, cover of this song you have ever heard. The original Mad World is the only version that matters. The dark lyrics of death and depression are beautifully offset by the song’s upbeat, synth-pop, new wave sound. This is a heavy song about misery, but rather than wallowing in it, the band celebrates it! Best of all you can dance to it, they even have a specific dance break two minutes into the song.
Day 7: A song to drive to- Change
A track that the boys themselves aren’t too proud of, it nevertheless is a very fun song. One of the more popular songs from their debut album, it is the perfect song to bop your head to on a long drive.
Day 8: A song about drugs or alcohol- Ideas as Opiates
While this song references literal drugs in title, it wants to discuss the more metaphorical drugs we use to make sense of the world. Religion is often used as a coping mechanism, and a way to make sense of our unforgiving world. Orbazal’s wailing during the chorus is what really sends the message home.
Day 9: A song that makes you happy- Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams
As a child my mom always sent my siblings and I to vacation bible school to keep us busy during the summer. At the end of the camp we would always put on some cheesy play, this song contains the same energy of those plays.
Day 10: A song that makes you sad-The Hurting
The biggest influence of Tears for Fears comes from primal therapy, a form of psychotherapy created by Arthur Janov as a way to deal with repressed childhood trauma. As the title track of their debut album, The Hurting lets all that repressed childhood pain out. The song argues that by regressing to when the trauma occurred, and allowing yourself to truly feel the pain, anger and sadness, you will be free.
Day 11: A song you never get tired of- When In Love With A Blind Man
The best Tears for Fears song to workout to, for me it never gets old. I could repeat the 20 second instrumental opening all day.
Day 12: A song from your preteen years- Head Over Heels
At the age of 12 I feel deeply in love (and became deeply obsessed) with the 2001 movie Donnie Darko. This is a movie that incidentally is heavily influenced by the music of Tears for Fears. I have already alluded to a cover of a Tears for Fears song from the movie that I don’t care for, but before that they utilize the song Head Over Heels at the beginning of the film to great effect. By letting Orzabal’s wailing shine through, it sets the stage for strange and unique film to come.
Day 13: A song you like from the 70s
Day 14: A song you’d love to be played at your wedding- Famous Last Words
If my future spouse doesn’t allow this as our first dance song than I DON’T WANT THEM.
Day 15: A song you like that is a cover by another artist- Ready to Start
Tears for Fears don’t really do covers, which is why it was such a delight to see that in 2014, they covered Arcade Fire’s Ready to Start. Arcade Fire produces the same kind of earnest and sorrowful pop music that Tears for Fears paved the way for. I would be shocked if Win Butler and the crew didn’t feel they owed a great debt to them. This cover keeps the spirit of the song, while also completely revamping it to fit their own tastes.
Day 16: A song that’s a classic favorite- Everybody Wants to Rule the World
What is there to write about Everybody Wants to Rule the World? Arguably Tears for Fears most popular song it is a classic for a reason. This is a song that stays with you forever when you hear it, the lyrics, the melody, it’s all perfect. Everybody loved this song in the 80s, and it’s still popular on the radio to this day.
Day 18: A song from the year you were born - Trees
During his time away from Tears for Fears and Orzabal, Curt Smith moved to New York City to create a solo career. He released a solo album in 1993 to dismal reviews, Smith among those who hated it most. He later partnered with songwriter Charlton Pettus to create the band Mayfield who released their only album in 1997. Their song Trees is the best of an okay bunch of songs.
Day 19: A song that makes you think about life- Sowing the Seeds of Love
Otherwise known as the song where Tears for Fears do The Beatles! The Beatles was cited as an influence for the Seeds of Love album, and that doesn’t come through clearer than on this track. Inspired by Margaret Thatcher’s reelection, this politically charged song taps into the anger many working class people were feeling at the time. The themes of environmental destruction and a lack of democracy ring true today, all backed up by a funky beat.
Day 20: A song that has many meanings to you- Woman in Chains
The most objectively feminist song in their overe, this song holds great meaning to me. In 1985, Orzabal and Smith walked into a hotel bar in Kansas City, Missouri and discovered a woman that would be one of their greatest collaborators, Oleta Adams. Woman in Chains is a duet between her Orzabal and one of the richest songs Tears for Fears ever recorded. Taken as a song about one woman’s struggle through life, or an overall opus to female suppression, it's sadly resonants even today.
Day 21: A song you like with a person’s name on the title- Raoul and the Kings of Spain
Fun fact: Raoul was originally going to be the first name of Roland Orbazal. The name has obviously stuck with him, and he gets a great song out of it.
Day 22: A song that moves you forward- Mothers Talk
Another politically charged Tears for Fears hit, nothing makes me want to DO SOMETHING than Orzabal singing “We can, only we can work it out”. Complacency was not welcome then and it is not welcome now.
Day 23: A song you think everybody should listen to- Broken
Basically a continuation of the song Head over Heels, Broken continues the synthy beats, and guitar solo from the former song, while adding extra tidbits on searching for meaning in life. It should be listened to both as an extension of Head Over Heels, and just a great song with its own merits.
Day 24: A song from a band you wish were still together- Everybody Loves a Happy Ending
I am going to cheat a little on this one but it is justified. As mentioned above, there was a period during the 90s and early 2000s, where Tears for Fears were not together. Neither of their careers really took off on their own, or reached the heights of Tears for Fears. In 2000 after being broken up for nine years, Roland and Curt got dinner to go over legal documents and reconciled. Their reunion album Everybody Loves A Happy Ending was released in 2004 and truly captured what their solo ventures were missing. This is most notable on the title track, it speaks to the time they wasted and the joys of connection. All while back with a traditional Tears for Fears synth pop beat. I’m so happy the boys are back.
Day 25: A song you like by an artist no longer living- Suffer the Children
This is a prompt that at first glance, didn’t seem like it would fit my list. Both Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith are still very much alive. However, someone who was integral to band no longer is. Roland Orzabal's wife of 35 years Caroline Johnson died in 2017. She contributed a lot to the band, and provided the “child vocals” on their song Suffer the Children. This was one of two songs (the other being pale shelter) that landed Tears for Fears their original record deal, and you can see why the producers took note. It is a beautiful song of innocence lost, and Johnson’s haunting vocals adds a needed balance to the song.
Day 26: A song that makes you want to fall in love- Advice for the Young at Heart
I once forced my good friend to listen to this song on repeat with me while locked in a car, so there is a chance I might never find love. Nonetheless, this is a very affirming song that invites you to not hold back when it comes to love. It tells you to be honest, be open, and be happy. Isn’t that what love is all about?
Day 27: A song that breaks your heart- Memories Fade
Deep down I feel we all fear that one day, we will be forgotten. How we keep that from happening, is by living on through the ones that love us, and the differences that we make in this world. But what happens when those we loved, no longer love us? This song tears right into that notion by reeling in the pain of needing someone so much it destroys you.
Day 28: A song by an artist whose voice you love- Goodnight Song
While I prefer the boys together rather than apart, that doesn’t mean that they didn’t produce some solid work on their own. Particularly Orzabal. I wanted to highlight a song that showcases his impressive vocal range. A song that can be read as a goodbye ode to from him to Smith, it shows how vocally strong Orzabal is on his own, but also that there is a huge hole left without Smith.
Day 29: A song you remember from your childhood- Shout
I didn’t become a ride or die stan of Tears for Fears until last year, but they have really been an integral part of my whole life. I have an early memory when I was 7 of hearing this song in a restaurant. I remember just being blown away by it. I got overstimulated easy as a child, so I walked into the field next to the restaurant for some space, and (no pun intended) shouting the lyrics to this song. Or at least the 2 lyrics I knew. I maybe truly found Tears for Fears in my twenties, but they have been with me much longer.
Day 30: A song that reminds you of yourself- ???
After much reflection, I truly could not pick one Tears for Fears song that represents me. I think this is because I connect so much with the overall spirit and message of the band. They were ahead of their time in so many ways, which is why I believe they deserve more modern recognition. The overall message on freeing yourself from your pain, and opening yourself up to love could help so many people. I know they have helped me, and I will be singing these songs for the rest of my life.
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