Songs From The Big Chair
Tears For Fears (1985)
Before I talk about this album, please indulge me for a few sentences while I unpack some of the baggage in my head. I don't know if there's a name for this or if it's just the particular blend of ADHD herbs and spices that my brain was cooked in, but I have a pretty wide range when it comes to things that I find interesting. This is especially true when it comes to movies, music, and food. The reason I bring this up is because I realize that when I write about an artist or an album, I'm prone to saying things like "one of my all time favorites". I don't think that I'm exaggerating when I say that about something, but when the list of things that you consider your favorites is as long as mine, the things that you absolutely love best tend to get lost in the shuffle.
My definition of an incredible album is one that I could listen to from start to finish without wanting to skip any songs and without ever getting sick of hearing it and needing to take a break from it. The list of contenders for my favorite album of all time is ridiculously long. The ones that come to mind as I write this are The Doors, Sgt. Pepper, The White Album, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Pearl, You Don't Mess Around With Jim, Ziggy Stardust, Dark Side Of The Moon, The Cars, The Wall, Unknown Pleasures, The Hurting, Rio, She's So Unusual, Hunting High and Low, Dead Man's Party, The Joshua Tree, Music For The Masses, Disintegration, Violator, Ten, Core, Siamese Dream, August and Everything After, Purple, Unplugged In New York, Sixteen Stone, The Crow Soundtrack, Jagged Little Pill, Garbage, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Recovering The Satellites, Ok Computer, and Version 2.0. If I include artist compilations, Legend, Once Upon A Time, and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Greatest Hits would also be in the mix, and there are probably dozens other albums of the standard and greatest hits variety that are slipping my mind at the moment, but I'm getting way off track here.
The point that I'm dragging out here is that as much as I love all of these albums, there is one record that stands in my heart above all others. It's the second album from Tears For Fears and it was released forty years ago today. It's called Songs From The Big Chair.
The video above is a playlist of the entire album which flows perfectly from start to finish. Six of the eight songs on the record were released as singles, including two that hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (Everybody Wants To Rule The World and Shout) and another that peaked at #3 (Head Over Heels).
I'd recommend this record to anyone who likes rock, or pop, or new wave, or who just enjoys music in general. Since I'm certain that just about everyone has heard the hit singles that it produced, I want to take this opportunity to highlight a track that didn't get as much attention. It's called The Working Hour and it's the second song on the album. For some reason, this song evokes a very specific visual in my mind. When I listen to it, it makes me think of driving through a city at night after a thunderstorm, with the headlights and street lights reflecting in the puddles on the road.
These things that I've been told
Can rearrange my worldMy doubtIn time, but inside outThis is the working hourWe are paid by those who learn by our mistakesThis is the working hourWe are paid by those who learn by our mistakesThis day and age for allAnd not for oneAll lies and secretsPut on, put on and onThis is the working hourWe are paid by those who learn by our mistakesThis is the working hourWe are paid by those who learn by our mistakesFear is such a vicious thingIt wraps me up in chainsFind out, find outWhat this fear is about
