Everybody Wants to Rule the World



"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a song by the English band Tears for Fears. Originally released in the UK on 22 March 1985 it was the band's ninth single release in the United Kingdom and the third from their second LP Songs from the Big Chair. It was their seventh UK Top 30 chart hit, peaking at number two in April 1985. In the US, it was the lead single from the album and gave the band their first Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit on 8 June 1985, remaining there for two weeks. It also reached number one on both the Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales charts in the US. The song has since become the pinnacle of Tears for Fears' chart success.

In 1986, the song won "Best Single" at the Brit Awards.

Background and composition
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was somewhat of an afterthought during the recording of Songs from the Big Chair. According to Roland Orzabal, he initially regarded the song as a lightweight that would not fit with the rest of the album. Originally, the lyrics of the song were "everybody wants to go to war", which Orzabal felt was lacklustre. It was producer Chris Hughes who convinced him to try recording it, in a calculated effort to gain American chart success.

"It was written and recorded in two weeks and was the final track to be added to the Songs from the Big Chair album. The shuffle beat was alien to our normal way of doing things. It was jolly rather than square and rigid in the manner of 'Shout', but it continued the process of becoming more extrovert."

- Roland Orzabal

"The concept is quite serious – it's about everybody wanting power, about warfare and the misery it causes."

- Curt Smith

"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a new wave song set in the key of D major with a  time signature and a tempo of 112 beats per minute.

As was the case with the three hit singles from Tears for Fears' debut LP The Hurting, the song featured bassist Curt Smith on lead vocals.

Awards and accolades
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.

B-side: Pharaohs
"Pharaohs" is the B-side to the "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" single. It is a slower, largely instrumental variation of "Everybody Wants To Rule The World", featuring a recording of BBC Radio 4 announcer Brian Perkins reading the Shipping Forecast for the sea lanes around the United Kingdom (see below). The title of the song is a play on the name of the Faroe Islands ("Faroes"), one of the places referenced in the forecast. This is one of the few songs in the Tears for Fears catalogue on which founding member Curt Smith shares a writing credit. The song has since been included in the band's 1996 B-sides and rarities collection Saturnine Martial & Lunatic, as well as the remastered and deluxe edition reissues of Songs from the Big Chair. "Pharaohs" is also included on the Groove Armada compilation album Back to Mine.

"No matter how horrifying the conditions may really be, the voice reading the shipping forecast is deliberately calm and relaxed. Recorded at the Wool Hall for the B-side of 'Everybody' in a calm and relaxed way."

- Chris Hughes

"Pharaohs" shipping forecast read by Brian Perkins (BBC Radio 4, c. 1984):

"There are warnings of gales in Viking, Forties, Cromarty, Forth, Fisher, Dover, Wight, Portland, Plymouth, Finisterre, Sole, Lundy, Fastnet, Shannon, Rockall, Malin, Hebrides, Bailey, Fair Isle, Faroes and Southeast Iceland. The general synopsis at one eight double-O: low just north of Viking, nine double-seven, moving steadily east-northeast. Low 300 miles south of Iceland. Atlantic low forming, moving steadily northeast. A ridge of high pressure has swayed between North and South Utsire. The area forecast for the next twenty-four hours. Viking, Forties, Cromarty, Forth."

Music video
The promotional clip for "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", filmed in early 1985, was the third Tears for Fears clip directed by famed music video producer Nigel Dick. It features Curt Smith driving an antique Austin-Healey 3000 sports car around numerous Southern California locales, including Salton Sea and Cabazon. Interspersed with these clips are shots of the full band performing the song in a London studio. Along with the clip for "Shout", the "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" video had a big hand in helping establish Tears for Fears in America, due to its heavy amount of play on the music video channel MTV.

Track listings
The single was released on a wide variety of formats in the United Kingdom, including a standard 7", a 7" double pack, two separate 12" versions, and a 10" single.


 * Seven-inch single
 * 1) "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (4:11)
 * 2) "Pharaohs" (3:42)


 * Double seven-inch pack
 * Disc one
 * 1) "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (4:11)
 * 2) "Pharaohs" (3:42)
 * Disc two
 * 1) "Everybody Wants to Rule the World [Urban Mix]" (6:06)
 * 2) "Interview Excerpt" (7:30)


 * Ten-inch single
 * 1) "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (4:11)
 * 2) "Pharaohs" (3:42)


 * Twelve-inch single
 * 1) "Everybody Wants to Rule the World [Extended Version]" (5:43)
 * 2) "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (4:11)
 * 3) "Pharaohs" (3:42)


 * Twelve-inch single, Urban Mix
 * 1) "Everybody Wants to Rule the World [Urban Mix]" (6:06)
 * 2) "Everybody Wants to Rule the World [Instrumental]" (4:26)

Tears for Fears

 * Roland Orzabal – guitar, keyboards, vocals
 * Curt Smith – bass guitar, lead vocals
 * Ian Stanley – keyboards, LinnDrum programming
 * Manny Elias – drums

Additional personnel

 * Neil Taylor – second guitar solo
 * Chris Hughes – producer, drums, MIDI programming
 * Dave Bascombe – engineer

Everybody Wants to Run the World
"Everybody Wants to Run the World" is a re-recording of the "Everybody Wants to Rule the World". The re-jigged single was released in 1986 to promote 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.

Remixes
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" has seen relatively few remixes. Extended, instrumental, and "urban mix" versions were done by producer Chris Hughes for inclusion on the single's various 7" and 12" releases. The only other remix of note was one done by electronica act The Chosen Few, included on the 2004 reissue of the greatest hits compilation Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits 82–92). A version labelled as the 7" version is included on the 2006 remaster of Songs from the Big Chair, but is actually the album version.

Lorde version
New Zealand singer Lorde recorded a cover of the song for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack in addition to the Epix promo for the premiere of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. 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, the "Rule the World" trailer celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of the Creative Assembly's Total War video game series, promotional videos for the new network BBC First and 2015 BBC TV series Banished, the 2014 ABC show How to Get Away with Murder, season 4 of Homeland, season 1 finale of The Royals, in Sky Sports F1's coverage of the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and in the trailer for the 2014 film Dracula Untold. Her cover appeared on the New Zealand Singles Chart at number 14. It reached number 53 in Australia, number 65 in the UK, number 93 in France, and number 27 on the US Hot Rock Songs.

Other cover versions

 * In 2013 Miley Cyrus covered portions of the song for an unreleased remix of the Kanye West song "Black Skinhead" that was eventually leaked in January 2016.
 * In 2013 indie band Lucius released a cover version of this song, which was included on the delux version of their album 2013 Wildewoman.
 * In 2014 Mike Viola released a cover version of the song on the multi-artist compilation album Here Comes The Reign Again: The Second British Invasion.
 * The 2015 movie Pixels shows Josh Gad performing the song.
 * In 2015 Lower Than Atlantis released a cover of the song on the 2015 reissue of their self-titled album.
 * In 2016 Heather Rankin covered the song for her debut solo album A Fine Line. The track also featured a rap by Quake Matthews.
 * In 2016 Indiana resident Ted Yoder performed a hammered dulcimer rendition of the song with Tears for Fears members on Facebook live, garnering over 56 million views.
 * In 2016 the American band Ninja Sex Party recorded a cover of the song for the album Under the Covers.