♫ Everybody Wants To Rule The World ♫ (Redux)

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

I last played this one almost three years ago and, struggling for an idea tonight at nearly 3:00 a.m., I thought it a good one to redux because … because … well, the one I thought about doing just would not have worked out at all, which left me flailing in a black void as I was about 3 years ago and …

03 October 2019

Oddly, I had no song in my head tonight.  I always have a song in my head, for Pete’s sake, even if it’s nothing more than the theme to the Rugrats cartoon show!  But tonight, I think possibly because of extreme angst brought on by reading the news for several hours today, I had no song … all the music had been chased away by the bad guys.  Well, I just won’t do a music post, then.  I’ll go take a shower and work on tomorrow’s p.m. post.

SHAZAM!!!!!

The shower is where inspiration hits me, where … well, one must sing in the shower, right?  And I found myself singing …

Welcome to my life … Won’t you scratch my back … It is mine to keep … Where’s my old shoe … 

Well, okay … y’all know I’m near deaf, and I am always amazed to find what the lyrics really are, so it should come as no surprise that I had the lyrics all wrong, but … no matter … I now have a song in my head!  I was so inspired that when I hopped out of the shower, I cut my hair!  My friend Maha usually cuts it, but she’s been very ill of late, and I didn’t want to ask her.  So … whack, whack, snip, snip … hey!  I can see again!  And, I think I’m 2 pounds lighter, shed of that mane!

This song is so apropos for the times!  The song is about the quest for power, and how it can have unfortunate consequences.  Quest for power … oh yeah … speaks volumes in our world today, doesn’t it?  And that line … “Turning your back on Mother Nature” … ring any bells?

“Everybody Wants To Rule The World” is a line from the 1980 Clash song Charlie Don’t Surf. Did Tears for Fears lift it? Joe Strummer of The Clash thought so. He recounted a story to Musician magazine about confronting Roland Orzabal in a restaurant, informing Orzabal that “you owe me a fiver.” Strummer said that Roland reached in his pocket and produced a five pound note, ostensibly as compensation for poaching the line for his hit title.

Although musically this is quite an upbeat song, its lyrical theme is actually pretty dark. “The concept is quite serious – it’s about everybody wanting power, about warfare and the misery it causes,” Curt Smith explains on the band’s website.

This was the first US #1 hit for Tears for Fears. “Shout” went to #1 two months later. It garnered success on charts internationally, peaking at number two in Ireland and the United Kingdom and at number one in Canada, New Zealand, and of course the U.S.

Everybody Wants to Rule the World
Tears for Fears

Welcome to your life
There’s no turning back
Even while we sleep
We will find You acting on your best behavior
Turn your back on mother nature
Everybody wants to rule the world

It’s my own desire
It’s my own remorse
Help me to decide
Help me make the most Of freedom and of pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world

There’s a room where the light won’t find you
Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down
When they do, I’ll be right behind you
So glad we’ve almost made it
So sad they had to fade it
Everybody wants to rule the world

I can’t stand this indecision
Married with a lack of vision
Everybody wants to rule the world

Say that you’ll never, never, never, need it
One headline, why believe it?
Everybody wants to rule the world

All for freedom and for pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world

Songwriters: Chris Hughes / Ian Stanley / Roland Orzabal
Everybody Wants to Rule the World lyrics © BMG Rights Management

24 thoughts on “♫ Everybody Wants To Rule The World ♫ (Redux)”

  1. Hello Jill. Outstanding. You did it again. I love this. I looked over all the songs I have added to our iTunes account in the last two years, and it seems they are all ones you have featured. Well done for expanding my library and song happiness. How did I grow up without hearing any of these. Thank you. Hugs

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    • Awesome! Now you’ve really boosted my ego, knowing that most of the songs you’ve added are ones I played! I am by no means an expert or even familiar with a broad spectrum of music, so I don’t know how you grew up without hearing these! This one was always played at the skating rink we used to take our kids to back in the 80s, so it rather grew on me, I think! Hugs

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    • I’m glad you liked it! When my kids were … oh, just before they were teenagers, we used to take them to the skating rink occasionally and this song was ALWAYS played as part of the skating music! xx

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  4. I don’t want to rule the world, but if someone offered me the job I would take it. I couldn’t do any worse than any of the other Toms, Dicks, or Harriettes who have tried, and could probably do it better than most of them. I have a lot of friends I am sure would be there to help. Hint. Hint.

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    • You’re so right … you couldn’t do any worse, and would likely do better because you care. You care about the planet, you care about the people and their right to such things as food, shelter, air to breathe and water to drink. You care about something other than making the filthy rich even richer. And yeah, I’ll be there to help in whatever capacity I’m needed!

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  8. Never really a fan. They were ok but a bit too pop-py for my taste. I did like the Michael Andrews/Gary Jules cover of Mad World though – I thought it a huge improvement on the original. Just a shame that millions have since jumped on the bandwagon of doing slowed down covers since they did it. They weren’t the first, but it really took off after them.

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