Songs from the Big Chair

The album was to be titled The Working Hour, but Roland Orzabal thought to change it to Songs from the Big Chair, a title derived from the 1976 American television film Sybil about a woman with multiple personality disorder who only feels safe when sitting in her analyst's "big chair." The title, according to Curt Smith, reflects both the distinct personalities of each song on the album, and the band's opinion that they were the targets of a hostile British music press at the time. In an interview for the 2006 deluxe-version booklet, Smith noted: "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." The band started to generate new material for their second album in 1983. The first songs written for the new album were "Mothers Talk", "Head over Heels", and "The Working Hour", which the band played live during their December 1983 tour, as captured on the ''In My Mind's Eye'' concert performance video. == Writing and recording ==

The album was recorded at The Wool Hall (the band's own studio) in 1984. Conceptually and musically, it further developed the band's sound from the previous studio album The Hurting (1983), expanding the use of guitars in addition to their electronic sound and imparting a wider approach overall. Early songs written for the album included "Head over Heels", "The Working Hour", and "Mothers Talk", which was released months before the album as a single. These songs, as well as "We Are Broken" (the B-side to "Pale Shelter" and now segued with "Head over Heels" due to the shared musical motif), were all performed on Tears for Fears' December 1983 tour that featured in ''In My Mind's Eye. "Mothers Talk" was originally recorded in early 1984 with producer Jeremy Green, but was discarded as the record company disliked it, eventually bringing back The Hurting'' co-producer Chris Hughes back into the fold. Recording officially began in April 1984, with the album taking eight months to complete, including a month of mixing at Union Studios in Munich. Both singles "Mothers Talk" and "Shout" would take the longest to complete, taking up to half the album's production time. "I Believe" was influenced by the songwriting of Robert Wyatt, and was originally intended for him to record but the band recorded it themselves. "Broken" is a reworking of the earlier "We Are Broken" and a studio version and a live reprise bookends the song "Head over Heels". The largely instrumental "Listen" has been described as a symphonic piece. Lyrically, the psychological themes on The Hurting were continued and extended to include a variety of themes such as politics, war, money, and love. Near the end of the completion of the album, Roland Orzabal played two simple chords on his acoustic guitar that formed the foundation of the song "Everybody Wants to Rule the World". Although he was initially not interested in working on it, Orzabal was convinced to write a song based on the two chords and he added the chorus line. The song was completed in about a week and was the last track recorded for the album. == Release ==

Songs from the Big Chair was released on 25 February 1985 The album reached number two on the UK Albums Chart and spawned several commercially successful singles, including two top 5 hits: "Mothers Talk" (UK No. 14), "Shout" (UK No. 4), "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (UK No. 2), "Head over Heels" (UK No. 12), and "I Believe" (UK No. 23). The radio-friendly "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" marked the band's breakthrough in the United States; both this single and its follow-up, "Shout", reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. Songs from the Big Chair also reached number one on the Billboard 200 and sold five million copies in the US alone. In November 2025, Songs from the Big Chair was released in a special edition to celebrate its 40th anniversary; this edition features the cover of the record that was originally planned but was ultimately not retained. This reissue reached the top 20 in the UK. == Critical reception ==

Contemporary Songs from the Big Chair received generally positive reviews. Comparing it with The Hurting, Johnny Waller of Sounds said that "Tears for Fears have lovingly crafted a new masterpiece with softer, smoky vocals, more tempting melodies and less abrasive rhythms", concluding that "within accepted confines, Tears for Fears are stretching and growing, expanding both their imagination and their horizons." In NME, Danny Kelly praised Songs from the Big Chair as "a calculated and brilliant peak, a quintessence of polished pop putty... perfect at its shimmering surface, worthless to its craven core." He described it as a descendant of 10cc's The Original Soundtrack (1975) and Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)–a "product of obsessional care and attention to (often unnecessary) detail". Eleanor Levy was more ambivalent in Record Mirror, finding Songs from the Big Chair produced too "slickly" at points and stating that Tears for Fears "come up with the occasional classic, but they can't carry this through a whole album. Not yet". The Village Voices Robert Christgau felt that while its music and lyrics showed "substance", the record is "not so much pretentious as portentous, promising a depth and drama English lads have been falling short on since the dawn of progressive rock." Michael Roffman of Consequence credited Tears for Fears for managing to create an album that, although more commercial than their previous work, "actually feels more expansive and sprawling and adventurous". 87th by Pitchfork, and 47th by Paste. It was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. 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, Stanley, Hughes, engineer Dave Bascombe, Oleta Adams, John Grant, and A&R man David Bates. == Track listing ==

Tears for Fears • Roland Orzabal – vocals, keyboards, guitars (all but 5), synth bass (1), LinnDrum programming (1), grand piano (5) • Curt Smith – vocals, bass guitar (2, 4-7), synth bass (3) • Ian Stanley – keyboards, LinnDrum programming, arrangements (8) • Manny Elias – drums (2–7), drum arrangement (2) Additional personnel • "Shout": Chris Hughes – drums, Sandy McLelland – backing vocals • "The Working Hour": Andy Davis – grand piano, Mel Collins – saxophone, Will Gregory – saxophone solos, Jerry Marotta – percussion and saxophone arrangements • "Everybody Wants to Rule the World": Neil Taylor – second guitar solo, Chris Hughes – LinnDrum and MIDI programming • "Mothers Talk": Stevie Lange – backing vocals • "I Believe": Will Gregory – saxophone • "Broken": Neil Taylor – guitar solo • "Head Over Heels": Andy Davis – grand piano, Marilyn Davis – backing vocals, Annie McCaig – backing vocals, Sandy McLelland – backing vocals • "Listen": Marilyn Davis – operatic vocal • "The Big Chair": samples dialogue from the film Sybil (1976) Production and artwork • Chris Hughes – producer • Dave Bascombe – engineer • Tim O'Sullivan – cover photography == Charts ==

Weekly charts Year-end charts == Certifications and sales ==