Sowing the Seeds of Love


"Sowing the Seeds of Love" is a song by the British group Tears for Fears.
It was released as the first single from their 1989 album The Seeds of Love, and was a worldwide hit, reaching the top five in the UK, Canada, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the US where it peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, while topping the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The single also entered the Top 20 in numerous other countries. Due to reaching number one on the US Cash Box chart, this was technically the band's third US pop chart-topper.

Background

The song incorporates a number of musical styles and recording techniques, with a number of reviewers considering it a pastiche of the Beatles, produced in a style reminiscent of their late 1960s output. It was written in June 1987, during the week of the UK General Election in which Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Party won a third consecutive term in office. The election prompted Roland Orzabal to take an interest in politics and socialism. At the time of its release, he considered this to be the most overtly political song that Tears for Fears had ever recorded. The lyrics refer to Thatcher's election win with "Politician granny with your high ideals, have you no idea how the majority feels?"
The song's lyrics and feel may also have been influenced by the 20th anniversary and first compact disc issue of The Beatles Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on 1 June 1987, re-entering and reaching number 3 in the UK album chart. British television and radio was awash with "Sergeant Pepper" and Summer of Love related items to mark it's "It was twenty years ago today" anniversary.
The song's title was inspired by a radio programme that Orzabal had heard at the time about a man who was putting together a collection of traditional English folk songs. One of the more obscure songs was called "The Seeds of Love" which he had learned about from a gardener called Mr. England.

Music video

The music video was directed by Jim Blashfield, who had already made acclaimed videos for Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon and Michael Jackson. The video won two awards at the MTV Music Video Awards: Best Breakthrough Video and Best Special Effects. It was also nominated in the "Best Group Video" and "Best Postmodern Video" categories.

Release

The single was released on multiple formats, including a 7-inch single, a 12-inch single, a 12-inch picture disc, a cassette single, and a CD single.

Track listings

7-inch single
  1. Sowing the Seeds of Love
  2. Tears Roll Down
12-inch/CD single
  1. Sowing the Seeds of Love
  2. Tears Roll Down
  3. Shout
CD single
  1. Sowing the Seeds of Love
  2. Sowing the Seeds of Love
The B-side track "Tears Roll Down" is an early, mostly instrumental version of "Laid So Low " which was released as a single in 1992 and included on the band's Greatest Hits album of the same name.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts