Hate Proof: Tears For Fears’ “Head Over Heels”

Tears For Fears was a “Second British Invasion” band, meaning they rode stateside on the coattails of MTV’s early-80s saturation. Around 1985, they were ubiquitous. Their single “Shout” is considered one of the most successful and recognizable songs of the 1980s. I swear to god, it played on the goddamn radio every single ride to school. I don’t know if I can claim to like it or hate it; it’s been looping in the back of my head since fifth grade. Actually, yeah. I hate it.

Roland Orzabal was the guy who looked like Jon Cryer’s older brother, and Curt Smith was the other, moodier bloke. Orzabal’s voice is fine, but it’s bass player Smith’s voice that completed the harmonies on their biggest chart-toppers. After Smith departed in 1991, Tears For Fears never recaptured the delirious heights of “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”.

“Me mate’s gone all weird-like!”

This was the apex of Tears For Fears’ success, and it’s ten times the song “Shout” is. The boys’ voices complement each other perfectly, and for mid-80s synth-pop, you could do a lot worse, for certain. Granted, it was on the air even more frequently.

In February of 1985, Songs From The Big Chair was released. This was Tears For Fears’ second album, and their highest selling. It contains “Shout”, “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”, and “Head Over Heels”, which kicks the shit out of all of them.

Behold that synth/piano intro. That’s the moment in 80s movies where the loser turns to see that the girl of his dreams came back, after spurning him for the first two acts. That’s when the bullies come around, and begrudgingly offer their respect, before helping clean up the house after the big soirée. The underdog at last has its day. That is the “sweet spot”.

Everything is complementary in “Head Over Heels”; the vocals and the synths, Smith’s lyrical basslines and the deep piano, the soaring guitar and the airiness of the production. It’s a huge sound to be coming out of such a small band. In my opinion, this is the “it’s all downhill from here” point. These poor bastards had three megahits on one disc. No wonder Smith left a few years later. Can you imagine the resultant label pressure?

This song is so fucking great that I don’t even notice it has a “NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH” section. I’m not a big fan of “nah-nah” sections- I was teased a lot as a child- but this has to be the finest I know of. Orzabal and Smith knock the vocals out of the park; really, these guys were a beaut of a combo, and this was the cream of their particular crop.

The inspiration for the title of Songs From The Big Chair was the Sally Field drama Sibyl, which was about a young woman with multiple personality disorder. Sibyl only felt safe in the “big chair”; a piece of furniture in her analyst’s office.

“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, March 1985

“Head Over Heels” resonates so well as a pop song because although the lyrics are light, the emotion behind it is more sincere and authentic than the medium tended to be. This was their “God Only Knows”; the single that encapsulates the band’s talents so acutely, it progresses the state and activity of the genre.

Since I’m running short on this one, here’s a bonus sweet spot: the best song on the Weird Science soundtrack. Max Carl has been lead singer of both Grand Funk Railroad and 38 Special, but whatever, listen to this!!!

1985 CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU!