Everybody Wants to Rule the World


"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a song by English pop rock band Tears for Fears. It was written by Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley, and Chris Hughes and produced by Hughes. The song was first released on 18 March 1985 by Phonogram, Mercury, and Vertigo Records as the third single from the band's second album, Songs from the Big Chair. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a new wave song with lyrics that detail the desire humans have for control and power and centre on themes of corruption.
Music critics praised "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" in their retrospective reviews, with some including the song in their respective decade lists. It is regarded as the group's signature song, along with "Shout". It garnered success on charts internationally, peaking at number two in Ireland, Australia, and the United Kingdom and at number one in Canada, New Zealand, and on the Billboard Hot 100. It was certified gold by both Music Canada and the British Phonographic Industry.
Nigel Dick directed the music video, which received promotion from MTV. It shows bassist Curt Smith driving an antique Austin-Healey 3000 sports car around Southern California intercut with shots of the band performing the song in a studio. In 1986, the song won Best Single at the Brit Awards. The group re-recorded the song as a charity single for the Sport Aid campaign. New Zealand singer Lorde recorded a cover of the song, which was included in the for .

Background and release

"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was written by Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley and Chris Hughes, and produced by Hughes. The song was a "last-minute" addition during recording sessions of Songs from the Big Chair. The decision to include the song in the album came after Orzabal played two chords on his acoustic guitar for Hughes. It was recorded in two weeks and added as the final track on the album. According to Orzabal, he initially regarded the song as a lightweight that would not fit with the rest of the album.
In an interview with Mix magazine, Hughes said that "as a piece of recording history, bland as hell." The lyrics of the song were originally "everybody wants to go to war", which Orzabal felt was lackluster. However, Hughes convinced Orzabal to record it, in a calculated effort to gain American chart success. Orzabal acknowledged that the shuffle beat used in the song was "alien" to their way of writing music, stating it was "jolly rather than square and rigid in the manner of 'Shout', but it continued the process of becoming more extrovert." Curt Smith, the lead singer, said the themes were "quite serious – it's about everybody wanting power, about warfare and the misery it causes."
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was first released on 18 March 1985 through Phonogram, Mercury and Vertigo Records as the third single from the band's second studio album, Songs from the Big Chair. The song was released for sale which included its B-side, interviews from the band and different versions of the song. To accommodate the vinyl release, a CD video set was also distributed and included the song's music video along audios of bonus tracks.

Composition and lyrical interpretation

"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a new wave song. The song is set in the key of D major with a time signature and a tempo of 112 beats per minute. The band stated that the driving shuffle rhythm was influenced by Simple Minds' 1983 song "Waterfront". Tal Rosenberg of Pitchfork noted the song's various components, from the "twinkling synth", "spider-like guitar" and "snappy" instrumental near the track's opening, as well as its shuffling dream-like beat, "galvanizing" bridge, moody instrumental passage, shift in melody and two guitar solos as it progressed.
The song's lyrics detail the desire humans have for control and power. In 2017, Tal Rosenberg of Pitchfork stated that its lyrics could be applied in different scenarios such as the environment, short-lived financial success, dictatorial rule, and the Cold War. The group revisited the song and its message in an interview with Yahoo! Music, stating that the song's themes were still "just as poignant" as they were when they first wrote it. They mentioned that they discussed the Cold War with "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and Songs from the Big Chair but that was the "U.S. and Russia then, and now the concern is more with the U.S. and Korea." Marc Ambinder from The Atlantic used the lyrics "Say that you'll never, never, never need it / One headline, why believe it? / Everybody wants to rule the world" in his article about the United States government's use of "original classified authority" and the abuse of power between the branches of government.

Reception

Consequence of Sound editor Michael Roffman praised the group for being able to produce a "timeless and influential composition" with minimal effort. Roffman also noted that "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was appropriate when it was first time, calling it a "meditative commentary on an era that was so corrupt economically and spiritually." AllMusic's Stanton Swihart expressed in his retrospective review that the group "perfectly captured the zeitgeist of the mid-'80s while impossibly managing to also create a dreamy, timeless pop classic." Pitchfork called it a song with "near-universal appeal", as well as a staple for "classic-rock radio, pharmacies, bars, and parties." In their review for the best albums of the 1980s, Eric Henderson from Slant Magazine stated that the song "seems like one of the great indictments of the materialism and false triumphalism of the decade."
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was voted the 25th best single in The Village Voices Pazz & Jop critics' poll for 1985 with 17 points, sharing the spot with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' "Don't Come Around Here No More" and Sade's "Smooth Operator". Pitchfork placed the song at number 82 on their list for the best songs of the 80s expressing that "underneath the synth-pop sheen, its vague message" and its lesson in how power-driven society could be, the song was able to reach "Reagan and Margaret-era youth fed up with political greed." Kevin Korber from Spectrum Culture ranked the song at 24 on his 80s decade list, calling the song a "testament to how much of a free-for-all the pop landscape was in the 1980s." Korber dismissed the song's vague lyrics but praised its complex melodic structure, saying it was "both the perfect representation of its time and a timeless composition." Treble included the song at number 49 on their decade list.
In 1986, the song won "Best Single" at the Brit Awards. Band member and co-writer Roland Orzabal argued that the song deserved to win the Ivor Novello International Hit of the Year award, claiming that the winner—"19" by Paul Hardcastle—was not an actual song, but only a "dialogue collage". In 2015, 30 years after its release, the song was honoured at the annual BMI Awards in London for achieving 6 million radio airplays. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is regarded as the group's signature song, along with "Shout".
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was banned for broadcast by the BBC during the duration of the first Gulf War due to the song's political themes.

Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" debuted at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart, in the issue dated 24 March 1985. On the week of 14 April 1985, the song peaked at number two, behind the charity single "We Are the World" recorded by the supergroup United Support of Artists for Africa. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" received a gold certification by the British Phonographic Industry on 13 April 2018 for 500,000 sales. The song peaked at number three in Belgium, and at number two in both the Netherlands and Ireland.
In the United States, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" debuted at number 70 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the issue dated 16 March 1985. On the week of 27 April 1985, the song rose to number 18. On the week of 8 June 1985, the song moved 2-1, replacing Wham!'s "Everything She Wants" as the number one on the chart; it would spend a total of two weeks in this position. The song was a commercial success in other American markets, peaking at number two on the Adult Contemporary and Top Rock Tracks and charting at number one on the Hot Dance Club Play, Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, and Cash Box charts. In Canada, the song reached the number one spot, earning a gold certification from Music Canada for 40,000 sales shipments on 1 May 1985.
In Australia, the song reached the number two position. On the report dated 19 May 1985, the song debuted at number four on the New Zealand Top 40 Singles chart; it would later peak at number one. It was certified Gold by the Recorded Music NZ for sales of 10,000.

B-side: "Pharaohs"

"Pharaohs" is the B-side to the "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" single. It samples a recording of BBC Radio 4 announcer Brian Perkins reading the Shipping Forecast for the North Sea region of the United Kingdom. The title of the song has an identical enunciation to the Faroe Islands, one of the places referenced in the forecast. Orzabal, Ian Stanley, Curt Smith and Hughes share writing credits. "Pharaohs" is included on the Groove Armada compilation album . Chris Hughes wrote about the song in the liner notes of Saturnine Martial & Lunatic, saying:
"Pharaohs" shipping forecast read by Brian Perkins:

Music video

The promotional video for "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", filmed in early 1985, was directed by Nigel Dick. It was filmed in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, a desert in Southern California, the Salton Sea and Cabazon as well as a London studio. Curt Smith admitted to Pitchfork that the video shoot was a "disaster"; Dick was "in tears" on the second night of shooting. Smith also mentioned that there was an accident while filming the "dirt bikes and four-wheel off-road vehicles" scene, with one child flying out of a vehicle and smashing his head, leaving him unconscious.
The video begins with Smith driving a vintage Austin-Healey 3000 sports car while a toddler points toy guns in Smith's direction. The car is then seen driving through a desert, this scene is intercut with the band performing the song in a studio. Smith parks the car at the Wheel Inn diner and makes a call from a telephone booth. The camera pans to show a statue of a man riding a horse nearby. Smith leaves the diner in the car while singing the song's lyrics. The following scene shows two black men in suits performing synchronized dance movements in front of two gas pumps. Shots of young people riding three-wheeled ATVs and dirt bikes through desert sand dunes are also shown. Smith is then shown singing in the desert wearing black sunglasses as many of the dirt bike and ATV riders approach from behind him and pass to either side.
The music video promoted the group in America, due to "heavy rotation" on the music video channel MTV. HuffPost editor Daryl Deino ranked the video at number three on their year-end list for best music videos of 1985 stating that the video "represents pure Americana as it was in 1985". Deino also mentioned that the video "proves that at times, artists were able to do so much with so little."

Formats and track listings

  1. A. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"4:11
  2. B. "Pharaohs" 3:42
  1. A. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" 4:11
  2. B. "Pharaohs" 3:42
  3. A. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" 6:06
  4. B. "Roland & Curt Interviewed" 7:30
  1. A. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" 4:11
  2. B. "Pharaohs" 3:42
  1. A. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" 5:43
  2. B1. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" 4:11
  3. B2. "Pharaohs" 3:42
  1. A. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" 6:06
  2. B. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" 4:26
  1. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" 4:10
  2. "The Marauders" 4:13
  3. "When In Love With a Blind Man" 2:22
  4. "Pharaohs" 3:39
  5. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" 4:41
  1. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" 4:10
  2. "The Marauders" 4:13
  3. "When In Love With a Blind Man" 2:22
  4. "Pharaohs" 3:39
  5. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" 4:41

    Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Saturnine Martial & Lunatic.
Tears for Fears
Additional personnel

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications and sales

Covers and re-releases

Everybody Wants to Run the World

"Everybody Wants to Run the World" is a re-recording of the band's song "Everybody Wants to Rule the World". The reworked single was released in 1986 as the theme song for the Sport Aid campaign, a charitable event held to raise money for famine relief in Africa. It was a success in the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's sixth top 5 hit, peaking at number 5 in June 1986. The song also reached number 4 in Ireland.
Chart Peak
position
scope="row"-
scope="row"-

Lorde version

singer Lorde recorded a cover of the song for the of . The cover was produced by Peter Shurkin and Natalie Baartz with arrangement by Michael A. Levine and Lucas Cantor. It was later used in the cinematic trailer of Assassin's Creed Unity at E3 2014, promotional videos for the BBC First network, and the 2015 BBC TV series Banished. It was also used during season 4 of Homeland. Orzabal praised Lorde for reinventing the cover, stating that the group finds it interesting when artists take what they do and reinterpret it. For their Rule the World Tour, the duo uses this version to launch their show.
Critics were positively receptive to the cover, some praised it for its darker atmosphere mood although others criticized it for stripping away the song's original upbeat composition. David Haglund from Slate stated that while the song "doesn't top the great original, it does memorably reinvent it." Sam Lansky from Idolator called the cover "haunting and melodramatic". Conversely, Stereogum editor Nate Patrin criticized the chorus and production but praised the "aloof strangeness" in Lorde's vocals for being able to carry the song "past the usual Dramatic Reenvisionings." Paste included the cover at number 8 on their 2013 year-end list for covers. Her cover appeared on the New Zealand Singles Chart at number 14. It reached number 53 in Australia, number 65 in the United Kingdom, number 93 in France, and number 27 on the US Hot Rock Songs chart.

Weekly charts

Certifications