Feel free to sing along:
welcome to your life
there's no turning back
even when we sleep
we will find you
acting on your best behavior
turn away from mother nature
everybody wants To Rule The World
In 1985, the song, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", was a top-10 hit for British pop group Tears for Fears, and was the first of many. On MTV and radio, his music was indispensable. And now, 40 years and 30 million albums later, it's unforgettable.
These days, lead singer Kurt Smith has a little short hair; Group co-founder Roland Orzabal actually has a lot in common. Both are 60 years old. And his signature sound is as impeccable as ever.
Correspondent Tracy Smith visited him at Kurt Smith's home in Los Angeles during a rare break in rehearsals. "so how R u?" Tracy asked.
"Well, great, thank you very much," Kurt replied.
"I'm great," said Rowland. "Yeah. I've never felt better."
"is that true?"
"No," he laughed.
They may laugh together now, but the fact that they are even speaking is a miracle.
In 1981, Orzabal and Smith were just two gifted children from Bath, England, who shared a love for music and a mild passion with pop psychology. Orzabal said, "Our driving force was a theory by a California psychologist named Arthur Janov, who became famous, famous because of his fundamental scream theory. And so, we bought into this big time because we could actually blame us. mother-father!"
And you could almost hear the anger in his music. Their debut album, 1983's "The Hurting", was dark, brooding, and extremely popular.
Their next album, "Songs from the Big Chair", was even, well, bigger:
shout, shout, let it all be over
these are the things i can do without
Come on, I'm talking to you, come on
"Shout," from "Song from the Big Chair":
In 1985 his first U.S. On tour, the boys were surrounded at every stop. "It was a little crazy because you really couldn't go anywhere," Kurt said.
Because of the fans? "Well, you can't really leave the hotel."
Tracy asked, "What kind of fans were that?"
"Youth!" Rowland said.
"We were young then," Kurt said. "I mean, to me, the idea that someone might yell at you and, like, cry when they really didn't know you were weird. I've always found it hard to deal with. You know, you wanna go, 'Indeed, I'm not who you think I am.'"
But he was a rock star, and with success came struggle. In the years that followed, Smith and Orzabal broke up, and in 1991 Smith left the group, a very bitter breakup.
Tracy asked, "You finally parted ways?"
"Yeah, I mean it was something we were both feeling," Kurt replied. "I just decided that, you know, I wanted to go and I wanted to go to New York. And it was backwards, it was trying to find itself. I didn't want to be that guy in tears of fear." For."
Both kept making music and kept distance from each other.
"So, how long have you both left without speaking?" Tracy asked.
"Nine years," said Rowland. "Nine years, two months and three days."
"...four hours, six minutes, twenty-four seconds," said Kurt.
The ice finally broke in 2000, when they began speaking, and then, playing together, as this performance at the 2017 Rock in Rio festival in Rio de Janeiro:
But they say they didn't really find their groove until they started writing together. His new album, "The Tipping Point", is his first album in 17 years.
Tracy asked, "Is it fair to say that this album is just the two of you getting back?
"Yeah, it seems so," said Kurt. "We just sat right here, right here, with two acoustic guitars, and started writing. We didn't just write with acoustic guitars, we just sat there, because we were probably 18 or 19."
"You haven't done it since you were a teenager? What was it like?"
"It felt necessary," said Rowland. "absolutely essential."
And now they're making music that feels just as personal as the old days.
The title track, "The Tipping Point", was inspired by Orzabal's late wife, Caroline, who died in 2017 after a long battle with alcoholism.
life is cruel, life is hard
Life is crazy then everything turns to dust
We let 'em out, we let 'em in
We'll let them know when this tipping point will be,
"We were drinkers, drinkers," Rowland said. "And, like, in England it's accepted as being okay. I've been drinking a half-bottle of wine a night, you know, it's just me. Now, Caroline was matching me. And that's enough." She was a young woman. So, her problem was largely due to alcoholism."
Orzabal wrote of his wife as a ghost of her former self:
So who is that ghost that is knocking on my door?
(You know I couldn't love you more)
What is that figure climbing my wall?
(You know I couldn't love you more)
Tracy asked, "Roland, for you, has it changed the way you look at your relationship with Kurt?"
"Yeah. Absolutely - I'll try not to break up now! - We're going beyond biting heads and really enjoying each other's company. And most importantly, understanding each other's strengths."
Looks like they are stronger now than before. Tears for fear will soon come out on tour again, feeling just the way you remember them.
Tracy asked, "Do you two need each other?"
"To do that, especially at this point in my life, is definitely needed," Rowland said.
"Yeah, especially at this age," Kurt said. "As Rowland says, it's like, yeah, that's as much help as you can get--"
"Help her climb the stairs. That's what she likes!" Roland laughed.
"The Tipping Point" by Tears for Fear (Concord Records) will be released on February 25. to see a