Songs from the Big Chair

Songs from the Big Chair is the second studio album by English pop rock band Tears for Fears, released on 25 February 1985 by Phonogram Records. The album peaked at number two in the UK and at number one in the US and Canada, becoming a multi-platinum seller in all three countries. It also reached number one in Germany and the Netherlands and Top 10 positions in various other countries including Australia, Switzerland, New Zealand and Italy. It spawned the international hit singles "Mothers Talk", "Shout", "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", "Head over Heels", and "I Believe". It remains their best-selling album to date.

Songs from the Big Chair
Studio album by Tears for Fears
Released	25 February 1985
Recorded	1984[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]
Studio	The Wool Hall (Beckington, Somerset, England)
Genre	New wave[1] progressive pop[2]
Length	41:52
Label	Phonogram Mercury
Producer	Chris Hughes
Tears for Fears chronology
The Hurting (1983) Songs from the Big Chair (1985) The Seeds of Love (1989)
Singles from Songs from the Big Chair
"Mothers Talk" Released: 6 August 1984 "Shout" Released: 19 November 1984 "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" Released: 18 March 1985 "Head over Heels" Released: 10 June 1985 "I Believe (A Soulful Re-Recording)" Released: 30 September 1985 "Mothers Talk (U.S. remix)" Released: 1 April 1986

A companion video documentary entitled Scenes from the Big Chair was released in late 1985. Once the band had finished a lengthy touring and promotion schedule for the album, they took an extended hiatus from the music industry.

Background

"The title was my idea. It's a bit perverse but then you've got to understand our sense of humour. The 'Big Chair' idea is from this brilliant film called Sybil about a girl with 16 different personalities. She'd been tortured incredibly by her mother as a child and the only place she felt safe, the only time she could really be herself was when she was sitting in her analyst's chair. She felt safe, comfortable and wasn't using her different faces as a defence. It's kind of an 'up yours' to the English music press who really fucked us up for a while. This is us now – and they can't get at us anymore."

—Curt Smith explains the album's title in an interview with Melody Maker, March 1985[3]

Originally, the album was to be titled The Working Hour, but Roland Orzabal fought to change it to Songs from the Big Chair,[4] which was derived from the 1976 television film Sybil about a woman with multiple personality disorder who only feels safe when she is sitting in her analyst's "big chair". A mostly-instrumental track called "The Big Chair" (which includes dialogue samples from the film) was released as the B-side of "Shout" in 1984, it was not included on the album (but was available on its "special limited edition" cassette version, released in the UK in 1985[5]).

In an interview for the 2005 Deluxe version booklet, Smith noted "The Hurting really was influenced by modern technology at that time. Songs From The Big Chair expressed our desire to move on from there...It was an attempt to be less insular. We were very introverted on The Hurting; it was a very dark album. We found the need to be more outgoing on The Big Chair, and the use of big guitars and the things that we shied away from before allowed us to do that...I remember Chris Hughes bringing in more American stuff; that's when we started listening to Steely Dan – even, dare I say it, to Bryan Adams, before he took off. And Bruce Springsteen. It was really to broaden our horizons more than anything else...As usual, it started with us demoing songs, but the demoing turned into the recording as we became attached to the original demos:' The band started to generate new material around the beginning of 1984. The first song written for Big Chair was "Head Over Heels;' which TFF played live during a tour undertaken between the two albums. Regarding the recording sessions for the album, "They weren't bad. There wasn't any real pain involved in doing Songs From The Big Chair. I certainly think not being as precious and breaking out allowed us to relax a little. I don't remember it as particularly a painful experience."

On the need to reach out to a bigger audience, "That certainly was the plan, more of Chris Hughes and the record company than ours. They saw the capability within us to really reach a bigger audience. I don't think we ever were concerned with it. But we liked the idea of doing something different; we definitely embraced that. That conscious effort to bridge the ocean between here and America was really more down to Chris Hughes and Dave Bates [TFF's A&R man]: I'll give Chris Hughes his due: he was a big supporter of 'Rule The World' and we weren't that sure of it, and in America that was the first single they really went for. And it broke the market for us.' Furthermore, "'Shout' is the obvious stadium thing. We consciously started with the chorus. It was kind of a sing-along; a protest song-like 'Give Peace A Chance,' or 'Hey Jude,' even. It had a really in your face chorus. But we never imagined it would take off like that. We're from Bath. We're not part of any scene. We've never been fashionable. We're quite insulated when we make records. What happens afterwards is really out of our hands. It's not something you can really plan for. We certainly can't. I don't think we're that clever."[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Consequence of Sound	A+[8]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[9]
The Guardian	[10]
Mojo	[11]
Pitchfork	8.9/10[12]
Q	[13]
Record Collector	[14]
Smash Hits	8/10[15]
The Village Voice	B[16]

Songs from the Big Chair received critical acclaim. In his review, critic Barry McIlheney of Melody Maker stated that "none of you should really be too surprised that Tears for Fears have made such an excellent album", calling it "an album that fully justifies the rather sneering, told-you-so looks adopted by Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal on the sleeve", before concluding, "An awful lot of people will, of course, go on and on about overcoats, The Lotus Eaters and an alleged lack of depth. And an awful lot of people will have to eat an awful lot of words."[17] Ian Cranna of Smash Hits described it as "looser, more exploratory than before" in nature, and noted its "unflinching lyrical honesty".[15] Rolling Stone critic Don Shewey wrote that Tears for Fears "sounds a lot like a lot of other British bands" and observed traces of "U2's social conscience, the Bunnymen's echoing guitars and XTC's contorted pop wit" on the album, but commented that Chris Hughes' production "nudges Songs from the Big Chair slightly ahead of the pack."[18] Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic in his review for The Village Voice, observing some substantial lyrics, particularly on "The Working Hour", and musical elements such as an "uncommon command of guitar and piano, Baker Street sax, synthesizers more jagged than is deemed mete by the arbiters of dance-pop accessibility". However, he felt these are all beneath grandiloquent lamentations suggesting "a depth and drama English lads have been falling short on since the dawn of progressive rock."[16]

In a retrospective review published on AllMusic, Stanton Swihart wrote: "In the loping, percolating 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World', Tears for Fears perfectly captured the zeitgeist of the mid-'80s while impossibly managing to also create a dreamy, timeless pop classic. Songs from the Big Chair is one of the finest statements of the decade."[7] Mark Elliott of Record Collector agreed, while adding that it contained the band's "most consistently interesting material".[14] Q remarked that the album "zeroed in on every angsty adolescent's desire to feel heroic, with a sound of spotlit, spacious sophistication plus anthemic choruses you'd bet your house on."[13] In Stylus Magazine, Andrew Unterberger concluded that "even today, when all rock musicians seem to be able to do is be emotional and honest, the brutality and power of Songs from the Big Chair's catharsis is still quite shocking."[19] Songs from the Big Chair has been included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[20] Slant Magazine listed the album at number 95 on its list of the best albums of the 1980s.[21]

In February 2020, the album was the focus of an episode of the BBC's Classic Albums documentary series. The episode included new interviews with key personnel including Orzabal, Smith, Ian Stanley, producer Chris Hughes, engineer Dave Bascombe, and A&R man David Bates. Additional interviewees included Oleta Adams and John Grant.[4]

Re-issues

In 1998, MFSL remastered and re-issued the album with an extended "Head over Heels" (running 5:24) and two bonus tracks (extended mixes of "Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World").

The album was remastered and re-issued on CD in 1999 with bonus tracks, including B-sides and remixes. The track listing is based on the Special Edition cassette version of the album, which featured five B-sides as bonus tracks—including three tracks ("The Conflict", "The Marauders" and "Broken Revisited") from The Hurting period. In addition to these tracks, it includes two remixes.

The album was re-released again in a deluxe edition 2-disc format in 2006 with the full collection of B-sides and many alternate versions and remixes of the album's tracks.

In 2014, the album was released by Universal Music Japan on SHM-SACD.

To mark the album's 30th anniversary, Universal Music released the album in five different formats on 10 November 2014, including a 6-disc Super Deluxe Edition which includes four CDs and two DVDs (1 audio, 1 video).[22] This edition also includes a 30-page replica 1985 tour programme and a 32-page booklet. Additional formats released simultaneously include another 2-disc Deluxe Edition, a single disc remastered edition, a 180-gram heavyweight vinyl album, and a "Pure Audio" Blu-ray edition. The 5.1 surround sound mix is done by renowned remixer and progressive rock musician Steven Wilson. The 6-disc set was reissued in 2020, to commemorate the album's 35th anniversary, along with a new vinyl picture disc of the album.

Track listing

Original release

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Shout"	Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley	6:32
2.	"The Working Hour"	Orzabal, Stanley, Manny Elias	6:30
3.	"Everybody Wants to Rule the World"	Orzabal, Stanley, Chris Hughes	4:10
4.	"Mothers Talk"	Orzabal, Stanley	5:09

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"I Believe"	Orzabal	4:53
2.	"Broken"	Orzabal	2:38
3.	"Head over Heels/Broken (Live)"	Orzabal, Curt Smith	5:01
4.	"Listen"	Stanley, Orzabal	6:48

Notes

• "I Believe" is dedicated to 'Robert Wyatt (if he's listening)'[23]
• In some US editions, the live reprise of "Broken" was omitted, and the end of "Head over Heels" led directly into "Listen". On these same US editions, the full 5:09 version of "Mothers Talk" was replaced with the 3:53 short version, resulting in an overall runtime two minutes and ten seconds shorter than the original album.
• In some later Canadian editions, "Head over Heels" and the live reprise of "Broken" was split into two separate tracks creating a nine-track release; the booklet and other CD artwork still had the original tracklist, however.
• A limited edition UK cassette version of the album contained many bonus tracks ("The Big Chair", "Empire Building", "The Marauders", "Broken Revisited", "The Conflict") as well as a short version of "The Working Hour" (titled "Piano Version", although there is none); the configuration was recreated on CD for the 30th anniversary with even more additional tracks appended.

1999 remastered CD bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
9.	"The Big Chair"	Orzabal, Smith, Stanley, Hughes	3:21
10.	"Empire Building"	Smith, Orzabal, Stanley	2:52
11.	"The Marauders"	Orzabal, Stanley	4:16
12.	"Broken Revisited"	Orzabal	5:16
13.	"The Conflict"	Orzabal, Smith, Stanley	4:05
14.	"Mothers Talk" (U.S. remix)		4:13
15.	"Shout" (U.S. remix)		8:02

Note

• "Mothers Talk" (U.S. remix) on the remastered CD is the correct version of this remix, but has had additional reverb applied. The 1999 remaster is the only CD on which this "extra reverb" version can be found.

Deluxe Edition (2006)

Disc one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Shout"	Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley	6:33
2.	"The Working Hour"	Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley, Manny Elias	6:31
3.	"Everybody Wants to Rule the World"	Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley, Chris Hughes	4:11
4.	"Mothers Talk"	Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley	5:06
5.	"I Believe"	Roland Orzabal	4:54
6.	"Broken"	Roland Orzabal	2:38
7.	"Head over Heels / Broken (Live)"	Roland Orzabal, Curt Smith / Roland Orzabal	5:02
8.	"Listen"	Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley	6:54
9.	"The Working Hour" (Piano version)	Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley, Manny Elias	2:08
10.	"The Marauders"	Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley	4:16
11.	"Empire Building"	Roland Orzabal, Curt Smith, Ian Stanley	2:52
12.	"The Big Chair"	Roland Orzabal, Curt Smith, Ian Stanley, Chris Hughes	3:21
13.	"Pharaohs"	Roland Orzabal, Curt Smith, Ian Stanley, Chris Hughes	3:43
14.	"When in Love with a Blind Man"	Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley	2:22
15.	"Sea Song"	Robert Wyatt	3:51
16.	"Broken Revisited"	Roland Orzabal	5:16

Disc two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Way You Are" (7" single)	Roland Orzabal, Curt Smith, Ian Stanley, Manny Elias	4:49
2.	"Mothers Talk" (7" single)	Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley	3:53
3.	"Shout" (7" single)	Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley	4:03
4.	"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (7" single)	Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley, Chris Hughes	4:08
5.	"Head over Heels" (David Bascombe remix)	Roland Orzabal, Curt Smith	4:15
6.	"I Believe" (A Soulful Re-recording)	Roland Orzabal	4:41
7.	"Mothers Talk" (Bob Clearmountain U.S. remix)	Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley	4:13
8.	"Shout" (U.S. remix)	Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley	8:02
9.	"Shout" (U.S. dub version)	Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley	6:49
10.	"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (Urban mix)	Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley, Chris Hughes	6:06
11.	"Mothers Talk" (Beat of the drum mix)	Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley	8:54
12.	"Broken / Head over Heels / Broken (Preacher mix)"	Roland Orzabal / Roland Orzabal, Curt Smith / Roland Orzabal	8:00

Notes

• Track 4 was intended to be "Everybody Wants to Run the World" but was mistakenly replaced by a repetition of the album version (incorrectly labeled as the '7" version', but such a version does not exist); the album's liner notes confirm this.
• Track 7 is labeled "U.S. remix" on the packaging but is in fact a different version from the real U.S. remix of "Mothers Talk" on the original vinyl singles. On CD, the real "U.S. remix" can be found on the compilations The Millennium Collection: The Best of Tears for Fears and Shout: The Very Best of Tears for Fears, as well as the 30th anniversary edition.

Super Deluxe Edition (2014)

Disc one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Shout"	6:31
2.	"The Working Hour"	6:29
3.	"Everybody Wants to Rule the World"	4:09
4.	"Mothers Talk"	5:04
5.	"I Believe"	4:54
6.	"Broken"	2:38
7.	"Head over Heels"	5:02
8.	"Listen"	6:54
9.	"The Big Chair" ("Shout" b-side)	3:20
10.	"Empire Building" ("Mothers Talk" b-side)	2:41
11.	"The Marauders" ("The Way You Are" b-side)	4:13
12.	"Broken Revisited"	5:15
13.	"The Conflict" ("Change" b-side from The Hurting)	4:02
14.	"The Working Hour" (piano version)	2:08
15.	"Pharaohs" ("Everybody Wants to Rule the World" b-side)	3:42
16.	"When in Love with a Blind Man" ("Head Over Heels" b-side)	2:22
17.	"Sea Song" ("I Believe" (UK) / Mothers Talk (US)" b-side)	3:51

Disc two: Edited Songs from the Big Chair

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Way You Are"	4:49
2.	"Mothers Talk" (single version)	3:53
3.	"Shout" (single version)	5:58
4.	"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (single version)	4:14
5.	"Head over Heels" (remix)	4:15
6.	"I Believe" (A Soulful Re-Recording)	4:39
7.	"Everybody Wants to Run the World"	4:30
8.	"The Way You Are" (short version)	4:21
9.	"Mothers Talk" (U.S. remix)	4:14
10.	"Shout" (U.S. single version)	4:51
11.	"Everybody Wants to Run the World" (running version)	4:30
12.	"Head over Heels" (radio version)	4:20
13.	"Mothers Talk" (video version)	4:37
14.	"Shout" (short version)	4:03
15.	"Listen" (clean intro)	6:50
16.	"Interview with Curt & Roland"	7:35

Disc three: Remixed Songs from the Big Chair

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Way You Are" (extended version)	7:37
2.	"Mothers Talk" (extended version)	6:18
3.	"Shout" (extended remix)	7:40
4.	"Everybody Wants to Rule the World"	5:40
5.	"Broken/Head over Heels/Broken" (Preacher Mix)	8:00
6.	"Mothers Talk" (Beat of the Drum Mix)	8:54
7.	"Shout" (U.S. remix)	8:02
8.	"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (urban mix)	6:06
9.	"Mothers Talk" (U.S. remix alternate)	4:12
10.	"Shout" (dub)	6:49
11.	"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (instrumental)	4:21
12.	"Shout" (a cappella)	5:02

Disc four: Unreleased Songs from the Big Chair

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Head over Heels" (Radio 1, Richard Skinner Session)	4:14
2.	"The Working Hour" (Radio 1, Richard Skinner Session)	6:06
3.	"Broken" (Radio 1, Richard Skinner Session)	3:19
4.	"Mothers Talk" (live at Massey Hall)	4:05
5.	"Broken / Head over Heels" (live at Massey Hall)	5:01
6.	"Memories Fade" (live at Massey Hall)	6:50
7.	"The Working Hour" (live at Massey Hall)	7:31
8.	"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (live at Massey Hall)	4:19
9.	"Shout" (live at Massey Hall)	7:50
10.	"Mothers Talk" (early mix / instrumental)	4:39
11.	"The Way You Are" (early mix)	4:25
12.	"Broken" (early mix)	5:38
13.	"Shout" (early mix)	5:08
14.	"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (alternate single version)	4:20

Disc five: DVD Audio 5.1 Mix

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Shout"	6:32
2.	"The Working Hour"	6:31
3.	"Everybody Wants to Rule the World"	4:11
4.	"Mothers Talk"	5:10
5.	"I Believe"	4:54
6.	"Broken"	2:38
7.	"Head over Heels"	5:20
8.	"Listen"	6:49

Disc six: DVD Video

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Scenes from the Big Chair" (1985 documentary)	1:14:43
2.	"Interview with Producer Chris Hughes" (2005)	35:00
3.	"The Way You Are" (music video)	3:57
4.	"Mothers Talk" (alternate UK video)	4:00
5.	"Mothers Talk" (music video)	4:49
6.	"Shout" (music video)	6:31
7.	"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (music video)	4:52
8.	"Head over Heels" (music video)	4:26
9.	"I Believe" (music video)	4:45
10.	"Mothers Talk" (U.S. remix) (music video)	4:52
11.	"Everybody Wants to Run the World" (music video)	4:52
12.	"The Way You Are" (Top of the Pops)	4:11
13.	"Mothers Talk" (Top of the Pops)	3:48
14.	"Mothers Talk" (Top of the Pops)	3:51
15.	"Shout" (Top of the Pops)	4:20
16.	"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (Wogan)	4:08
17.	"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (Top of the Pops)	3:35
18.	"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (Top of the Pops)	3:45
19.	"The Working Hour" (Wogan)	4:28

Personnel

Tears for Fears

• Roland Orzabal – guitar, keyboards, lead vocals, grand piano on 5, vocal styling on 8, bass synth and LinnDrum programming on 1
• Curt Smith – bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on 3 and 8
• Ian Stanley – keyboards, LinnDrum programming, arrangements on "Listen"
• Manny Elias – drums (all except tracks 1 and 8), drum arrangement on "The Working Hour"

Additional personnel

• "Shout": Sandy McLelland – backing vocals, Chris Hughes – drums
• "The Working Hour": Jerry Marotta – percussion and saxophone arrangement, Will Gregory – saxophone solos, Mel Collins – saxophone, Andy Davis – grand piano
• "Everybody Wants to Rule the World": Neil Taylor – second guitar solo, Chris Hughes – MIDI programming Drumulator
• "Mothers Talk": Stevie Lange – backing vocals
• "I Believe": Will Gregory – saxophone
• "Broken": Neil Taylor – guitar solo
• "Head Over Heels": Sandy McLelland – backing vocals, Andy Davis – grand piano, Annie McCaig – backing vocals, Marilyn Davis – backing vocals
• "Listen": Marilyn Davis – operatic vocal

Production

• Chris Hughes – Record producer
• Dave Bascombe – engineer
• Paul King – management
• Tim O'Sullivan – cover photography

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1985) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[24] 5 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[25] 22 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[26] 1 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[27] 1 European Albums (Music & Media)[28] 5 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[29] 11 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[30] 1 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[31] 2 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[32] 17 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[33] 25 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[34] 5 UK Albums (OCC)[35] 2 US Billboard 200[36] 1 30th Anniversary Edition Chart (2014) Peak position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[30] 79 UK Albums (OCC)[37] 95 Reissue Chart (2020) Peak position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[38] 161 Scottish Albums (OCC)[39] 14 UK Albums (OCC)[40] 87

Year-end charts Chart (1985) Position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[24] 6 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[41] 2 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[42] 8 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[43] 24 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[44] 8 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[45] 25 UK Albums (OCC)[46] 5 US Billboard 200[47] 10

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[48]	7× Platinum	700,000^^
Germany (BVMI)[49]	Gold	250,000^^
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[50]	Platinum	20,000^*
Netherlands (NVPI)[51]	Platinum	100,000^^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[52]	Platinum	15,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[53]	3× Platinum	900,000^^
United States (RIAA)[54]	5× Platinum	5,000,000^^
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Notes

1. "Broken" (live) recorded December 1983 at Hammersmith Odeon
2. "Mothers Talk (U.S. remix)" recorded 1986

References

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4. "Tears For Fears – Songs From The Big Chair". Classic Albums. 14 February 2020. BBC Four.
5. References and details on Discogs.com
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