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Rating: The true test is distance.
Distance creates objectivity. It inhibits secondary senses, not those functional for appreciating a work.
Backstory: if I'm asked to give voice to what I consider the perfect pop, or better yet, to give voice to the sheer essence of pop, I say Tears For Fears.
Explanation: I am not a fan.
The surface of my consideration is encapsulated in any one of their radio hits. Come on, you know them, you know more than I do. The depth lies in ‘Listen’ (Songs From The Big Chair).
When Gary Jules, in 2004, in the wake of ‘Donnie Darko’, revisited ‘Mad World’, he helped to tear this (my) certainty solely to strengthen it.
So much so, I thought: it would be superficial to place a random album of theirs in this review. It would be pompous and opportunistic to lean on a Greatest Hits, and they have released tons of them.
Therefore: go to your children and tell them: this is the caress of Curt and Roland. It is a golden touch, dated, meager if you will. Of an irretrievable meagerness, because: the two reconciled in the early 2000s, released an album, nice, come on, just as nice as the solo-not-solo works of Roland (who retained the trademark for a couple of works then went underground). But it's not the same.
We are left with three albums, which magnificently end in ‘Laid So Low’, the unreleased track presented in 1992 with the first compilation.
Those who love the group viscerally, found solace in the reunion. The two set aside all feuds, all pain, offering glimpses of life.
True, only one new album under their belt, but many concerts, many ideas, many performances.
But someone had to do it. In the sense: give the duo the star, the legacy that will never pass, because there's no going back, indeed, the past does not return, and if it does, it's clumsy, or at worst, distractedly.
They were the contemporary pop, the pop of the '80s, the courteous, clean, essential definition of a groove carved with immense strength.
I challenge you: you may loathe the charming smooth guys, squander humiliating comparisons with clowns of various backgrounds, scrutinize the failure of false prophets under the lens, but with Tears For Fears, you will always feel the need to precede with a silent reflection. Because if one engages in research, it can only enrich.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Sowing the Seeds of Love (06:20)
High time we made a stand and shook up the views of the common man
And the lovetrain rides from coast to coast
D.J.'s the man we love the most
Could you be, could you be squeaky clean
And smash any hope of democracry ?
As the headline says you're free to choose
There's egg on your face and mud on your shoes
One of these days they're gonna call it the blues
And anything is possible when you're Sowing the Seeds of Love
Anything is possible - Sowing the Seeds of Love
I spy tears in thier eyes
They look to the skies for some kind of divine intervention
Food goes to waste !
So nice to eat, so nice to taste
Politician Grannie with your high ideals
Have you no idea how the Majority feels ?
So without love and a promise land
We're fools to the rules of a Goverment plan
Kick out the style ! Bring back the jam !
Anything...
Sowing the Seeds
The birds and the bees
My girlfriend and me in love
Feel the pain
Talk about it
If you're a worried man - then shout about it
Open hearts - feel about it
Open minds - think about it
Everyone - read about it
Everyone - scream about it !
Everyone
Everyone - read about it, read about it
Read in the books in the crannies and the nooks there are books to read
Chorus !
(Mr. England Sowing the Seeds of Love)
Time to eat all your words
Swallow your pride
Open your eyes
High time we made a stand and shook up the views of the common man
And the lovetrain rides from coast to coast
Every minute of every hour - " I Love a Sunflower "
And I believe in lovepower, Love power, LOVEPOWER !!!
Sowing the Seeds
An end to need
And the Politics of Greed
With love
02 Everybody Wants to Rule the World (04:11)
Welcome to your life
There's no turning back
Even while we sleep
We will find you
Acting on your best behavior-Turn your back on Mother Nature
Everybody wants to rule the world.
It's my own design
It's my own remorse
Help me to decide
Help me make the most
Of freedom and of pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world.
There's a room where the light won't find you
Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down
When they do I'll be right behind you.
So glad we've almost made it
So sad they had to fade it
Everybody wants to rule the world.
I can't stand this indecision
Married with a lack of vision
Everybody wants to rule the world
Say that you'll never never never never need it
One headline why believe it?
Everybody wants to rule the world.
All for freedom and for pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world.
03 Woman in Chains (06:28)
You better love loving you better behave
You better love loving you better behave
Woman in Chains
Woman in Chains
Calls her man the Great White Hope
Says she's fine, she'll always cope
Woman in Chains
Woman in Chains
Well I fell lying and waiting is a poor man's deal
And I feel hopelessly weighed down by your eyes of steel
It's a world gone crazy
Keeps Woman in Chains
Trades her soul as skin and bone
Sells the only thing she owns
Woman in Chains
Woman in Chains
Men of Stone Men of Stone
Well I feel deep in your heart there are wounds Time can't heal
And I feel somebody somewhere is trying to breathe
Well you know what I mean
It's a world gone crazy
Keeps Woman in Chains
It's under my skin but out of my hands
I'll tear it apart but I won't understand
I will not accept the Greatness of Man
It's a world gone crazy
Keeps Woman in Chains
So Free Her So Free Her
04 Shout (06:33)
Shout, shout, Let it all out
These are the things I can do with out
Come on, I'm talking to you, come on
Shout, shout, let it all out
These are the things I can do without
Come on, I'm talking to you, come on
In violent times
You shouldn't have to sell your soul
In black and white
They really really ought to know
Those one track minds
That took you for a working boy
Kiss them goodbye
You shouldn't have to jump for joy
You shouldn't have to jump for joy
Shout, shout, let it all out
These are the things I can do without
Come on, I'm talking to you, come on
They gave you life
And in return you gave them hell
As cold as ice
I hope we live to tell the tale
I hope we live to tell the tale
Shout, shout, let it all out
These are the things I can do without
Come on, I'm talking to you, come on
Shout, shout, let it all out
These are the things I can do without
Come on, I'm talking to you, come on
Shout, shout, let it all out (let it all out)
These are the things I can do without
Come on, I'm talking to you, come on
And when you've taken down your guard
If I could change your mind
I'd really love to break your heart
I'd really love to break your heart
Shout, shout, let it all out
These are the things I can do without
Come on, I'm talking to you, come on
Shout, shout, let it all out
These are the things I can do without
Come on, I'm talking to you, come on
05 Head Over Heels (04:14)
I wanted to be with you alone
And talk about the weather
But traditions I can trace
Against the child in your face
Won't escape my attention
You keep your distance
With a system of touch
And gentle persuasion
I'm lost in admiration
Could I need you this much
Oh, you're wasting my time
You're just wasting time
Something happens and
I'm head over heels
I never find out 'till
I'm head over heels
Something happens and
I'm head over heels
Ah, don't take my heart
Don't break my heart
Don't, don't, don't throw it away
(Throw it away)
I made a fire
I'm watching it burn
Thought of your future
With one foot in the past
Now just how long will it last
No, no, no, have you no ambition
My mother and my brothers
Used to breathe in clean air
(Changes with those)
And dreaming I'm a doctor
(They can't stop)
It's hard to be a man
When there's a gun in your hand
Oh I feel so
Something happens and
I'm head over heels
I never find out 'till
I'm head over heels
Something happens and
I'm head over heels
Ah, don't take my heart
Don't break my heart
Don't, don't, don't throw it away
And this is my four leaf clover
I'm on the line, one open mind
This is my four leaf clover
La, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la...
In my mind's eye
One little boy, one little man
Funny how time flies
07 Pale Shelter (04:39)
How can I be sure ?
When your intrusions' my illusion
How can I be sure
When all the time you changed my mind
I asked for more and more
How can I be sure
When you don't give me love
You gave me Pale shelter
You don't give me love
You give me cold hands
And I can't operate on this failure
When all I wanna be is
Complete[ly] (in) command
How can I be sure
For all you say you keep me waiting
How can I be sure
When all you do is see me through
I asked for more and more
How can I be sure
I've been here before
There is no why, no need to try
I thought you had it all
I'm calling you, I'm calling you
I ask for more and more
How can I be sure
08 I Believe (04:50)
I believe that when the hurting and the pain has gone
We will be strong, Oh yes we will be strong
And I believe that if I'm crying while I write these words
Is it absurb ? Or am I being real
I believe that if you knew just what these tears were for
They would just pour like every drop of rain
That's why I believe it is too late for anyone to believe
I believe that if you thought for a moment, took your time
You would not resign yourself to your fate
And I believe that if it's written in the stars, that's fine
I can't deny that I'm a Virgo too
I believe that if your bristling while you hear this song
I could be wrong or have I hit a nerve ?
That's why I believe it is too late for anyone to believe
I believe that maybe somewhere in the darkness
In the nighttime, In the storm
In the casino
Casino spanish eyes
I believe, no I can't believe that every time you hear a new born scream
You just can't see the shaping of a life
The shaping of a life
10 Mothers Talk (04:59)
My features form with a change in the weather
Weekend
We can work it out
My features form with a change in the weather
Weekend
We can work it out
When the wind blows
When the mothers talk
When the wind blows
When the wind blows
When the mothers talk
When the wind blows
We can work it out
It's not that you're not good enough
It's just that we can make you better
Given that you pay the price
We can keep you young and tender
Following in the footsteps of a funeral pyre
You were paid not listen now your house is on fire
Wake me up when things get started
When everything starts to happen
My features form with a change in the weather
Some of us horrified
Others never talk about it
But when the weather starts to burn
Then you'll know that you're in trouble
Following in the footsteps of a soldier girl
It is time to put your clothes on and to face the world
Don't you feel your luck is changing
When everything starts to happen
Put your head right next to my heart
The beat of the drum is the fear of the dark
My features form with a change in the weather
11 Change (03:54)
You walked in to the room
I just had to laugh
The face you wore was cool
You were a photograph
When it's all too late
It's all too late
I did not have the time
I did not have the nerve
To ask you how you feel
Is this what you deserve
When it's all too late
It's all too late
(Chorus)
Change
You can change
(Repeat)
And something on your mind
Became a point of view
I lost your honesty
You lost the life in you
When it's all too late
It's all too late
We walk and talk in time
I walk and talk in two
Where does the end of me
Become the start of you
When it's all too late
It's all too late
Chorus
What has happened to
The friend that I once knew
Has he gone away
It's all too late, It's all too late
Change
Chorus X2
12 Advice for the Young at Heart (04:54)
Advice for the young at heart
Soon we will be older
When we gonna make it work ?
Too many people living in a secret world
While they play mothers and fathers
We play little boys and girls
When we gonna make it work ?
I could be happy
I could be quite naive
It's only me and my shadows
Happy in our make believe
Soon...
And with the hounds at bay
I'll call your bluff
hey...
Cos it would be okay
To walk on tiptoes everyday
And when I think of you and all the love that's due
I'll make a promise, I'll make a stand
Cos to these big brown eyes, this comes as no surprise
We've got the whole wide world in our hands
Advice for the young at heart
Soon we will be older
When we gonna make it work ?
Love is promise
Love is a souvenir
Once given
Never forgotten, never let it disappear
This could be our last chance
When we gonna make it work ?
Working hour is over
And how it makes me weep
Cos someone sent my soul to sleep
And when I think of you and all the love that's due
I'll make a promise, I'll make a stand
Cos to these big brown eyes, this comes as no surprise
We've got the whole wide world in our hands
solo
We've got the whole wide world in our hands
We've got the whole wide world in our hands (in our habds)
Advice for the young at heart
Soon we will be older
When we gonna make it work ?
Advice for the young at heart
Soon we will be older
When we gonna make it work ?
Working hour is over
We can do anyhting that we want
Anything that we feel like doing
Advice...
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