"Sowing the Seeds of Love" is a song by English

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, ear ...

band

Tears for Fears Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in Bath, England, in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the new ...

. It was released as the first single from their third studio album, '' The Seeds of Love'' (1989). The song was a worldwide hit, topping the Canadian '' RPM'' Top Singles chart and reaching the top ten in Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and on the

European Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...

. In the United States, it reached 2 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, becoming their fourth and last top 10 hit. It also reached 1 on both the

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart and the ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' Top 100.

Background

The song incorporates a number of musical styles and recording techniques, with a number of reviewers considering it a

pastiche A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking i ...

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

, produced in a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

and style reminiscent of their late 1960s output, even for the use of a brief trumpet line very similar to the one that can be heard in " Penny Lane". It was written in June 1987, during the week of the

UK General Election This is a list of United Kingdom general elections (elections for the UK House of Commons) since the first in 1802. The members of the 1801–1802 Parliament had been elected to the former Parliament of Great Britain and Parliament of Ireland ...

in which

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

and the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

won a third consecutive term in office. The election prompted

Roland Orzabal Roland Orzabal (born Roland Jaime Orzabal de la Quintana; 22 August 1961) is a British musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, and author. He is best known as a co-founder of Tears for Fears, of which he is the main songwriter and joint v ...

to take an interest in politics, with a special interest in

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...

. 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?" Elsewhere, the song takes a dig at fellow musician

Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul mu ...

with the line "Kick out the style, bring back

The Jam The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1 ...

" (Weller was performing with

The Style Council The Style Council were a British band formed in late 1982 by Paul Weller, the former singer, songwriter and guitarist with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam, and keyboardist Mick Talbot, previously a member of Dexys Midnight Ru ...

at the time). The song's title was inspired by a radio programme that Orzabal had heard at the time about folk song collector

Cecil Sharp Cecil James Sharp (22 November 1859 – 23 June 1924) was an English-born collector of folk songs, folk dances and instrumental music, as well as a lecturer, teacher, composer and musician. He was the pre-eminent activist in the development of t ...

. One of the songs was called " The Seeds of Love", which Sharp learned from a gardener called Mr. England (reflected in the lyric "Mr. England sowing the seeds of love"). in 1903. Sharp overheard John England singing the song, and was inspired to look more deeply into English traditional songs. The Seeds of Love was therefore the first song that Sharp collected, and the one that sparked the English folk song revival.

Music video

The music video was directed by

Jim Blashfield Jim Blashfield (born September 4, 1944, Seattle, Washington) is an American filmmaker and media artist, best known for his short films such as ''Suspicious Circumstances'' and ''The Mid-Torso of Inez'', and his music videos for musicians Talking He ...

, who had already made acclaimed videos for

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her st ...

(" Good Friends"),

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

The Boy in the Bubble "The Boy in the Bubble" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the third single from his seventh studio album, ''Graceland'' (1986), released on Warner Bros. Records. Written by Simon and Forere Motloheloa (an accordionist ...

") and

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

(" Leave Me Alone").

Joanna Priestley Joanna Priestley (born November 25, 1950) is an American contemporary film director, producer, animator and teacher. Her films are in the collections of the Academy Film Archive in Los Angeles and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Priestley ...

directed the "

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , , ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan painter, sculptor and ceramicist born in Barcelona. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...

" section of the video for Jim Blashfield and Associates. It was animated with pencil on paper, transferred to punched acetate sheets and painted with Cel Vinyl acrylic paints. The video won two awards at the

MTV Music Video Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

: 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 and cassette single # "Sowing the Seeds of Love" (7-inch version) # " Tears Roll Down" UK 12-inch and European CD single # "Sowing the Seeds of Love (full version) # "Tears Roll Down" # " Shout" (U.S. remix) The B-side track "Tears Roll Down" is an early, mostly instrumental version of "

Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down) "Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down)" is a song by British band Tears for Fears. It was released as a single in 1992 to coincide with the release of the band's greatest hits album '' Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits 82–92)''. As Curt Smith had alrea ...

", which was released as a single in 1992 and included on the band's greatest hits album of the same name.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sowing The Seeds Of Love 1989 singles 1989 songs Fontana Records singles Music videos directed by Jim Blashfield Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by Curt Smith Songs written by Roland Orzabal Tears for Fears songs Songs about Margaret Thatcher