"Mothers Talk" is a 1984 song by the British 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 wav ...

. Written by

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 ...

and

Ian Stanley Ian Christopher Stanley (born 28 February 1957) is a British musician, songwriter and record producer. He was previously a member of the English band Tears for Fears for most of the 1980s, and played a key role in the making of their multi-plat ...

and sung by Orzabal, it was the band's seventh single release (the first to be taken from their second album ''

Songs from the Big Chair ''Songs from the Big Chair'' is the second studio album by English pop rock band Tears for Fears, released on 25 February 1985 by Phonogram Records. The album peaked at number two in the UK and at number one in the US, becoming a multi-platinum s ...

'' (1985) and fifth

UK Top 40 The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

chart hit. The song was released six months in advance of the album, and enjoyed moderate success internationally. Orzabal notes that while "Mothers Talk" helped move the band in a new creative direction, he does not like the track. Producer

Chris Hughes Chris Hughes (born November 26, 1983) is an American entrepreneur and author who co-founded and served as spokesman for the online social directory and networking site Facebook until 2007. He was the publisher and editor-in-chief of ''The New R ...

considers it important to the band's development, although he and engineer Dave Bascombe agree that the song is not one of Orzabal's best.

Background

"Mothers Talk" was written in 1983 and was first publicly performed during the band's late 1983 tour. Orzabal describes it as an unsuccessful attempt to mimic the sound of

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talkin ...

. In early 1984, the band went into the studio to record the song as their next single, though the recording sessions with their new producer Jeremy Green did not work out as planned and the recording was scrapped. The band's previous producer, Chris Hughes, was then brought back into the fold and the song was re-recorded and finally released as a single in August 1984. Hughes stayed on with the band to record their second album, ''Songs from the Big Chair''. Along with its B-side, "Empire Building", "Mothers Talk" was one of the first Tears for Fears songs to demonstrate a creative use of sampling. The

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

at the beginning of the song were culled from a

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans seven decades. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", " Somewhere Down the Road", " Mandy", "I Write the Songs", " Can ...

record, while the drum sample around which "Empire Building" is built was lifted from the

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United St ...

song "Today I Died Again". This was the second Tears for Fears single for which

Phonogram Records Phonogram Incorporated was started in 1970 as a successor to Philips Phonographic Industries, a unit of the Grammophon-Philips Group (GPG), a joint venture of Philips N.V. of the Netherlands and Siemens A.G. of Germany. Phonogram was the name ...

would use the

picture disc Picture discs are gramophone (phonograph) records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or colored vinyl. Collectors traditionally reserve the term picture disc for records with graphics that extend at lea ...

and coloured vinyl gimmicks as a promotional tool, as well as the first one to feature multiple 12" releases offering different remixes of the track. Limited quantities of the 7" single also came with a free Tears For Fears window sticker of the band's new logo.

Meaning

US release

While America saw "

Everybody Wants to Rule the World "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a song by English pop rock band Tears for Fears. It was written by Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley, and Chris Hughes and produced by Hughes. The song was first released on 22 March 1985 by Phonogram, Mercury, ...

" as the first single release from the ''Songs from the Big Chair'' LP, "Mothers Talk" was eventually released there as the fourth and final single from the album in April 1986, peaking at no. 27 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Although labeled as a "remix", this version of the song is actually a complete re-recording, done by the band after their ''Big Chair'' tour wrapped up. It was mixed by the award-winning producer

Bob Clearmountain Bob Clearmountain (born January 15, 1953) is an American recording engineer, mixer and record producer. He has worked with many major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Toto, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams, with whom he has a very ...

, who would go on to mix the band's

next album ''Next Album'' is an album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, his first to be released on the Milestone Records, Milestone label, featuring performances by Rollins with George Cables, Jack DeJohnette, Bob Cranshaw and Arthur Jenkins (percussionist) ...

with them. In addition to a different picture sleeve, the single featured the band's

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

of Robert Wyatt's "Sea Song" as the B-side (this had been released as the B-side to the single "I Believe" in other countries in 1985). This version was also released in

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and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

at the same time. ''

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 online ...

'' said that the single "features classic TFF synth moorings but a much grittier overall approach."

Music videos

Three separate promotional clips were filmed for the song in total. The original version, directed by photographer Laurie Lewis, was a performance clip set in a blue toned room and interspersed with shots of a young girl being studied by scientists. The band disliked this version and quickly disowned it, although it had already aired on various British television shows by this point. A replacement video (directed by

Nigel Dick Nigel Dick (born 21 March 1953) is a British music video and film director, writer and musician from Catterick, England, now based in Los Angeles, California. He directed the Britney Spears videos " ...Baby One More Time" and " Oops!... I Did I ...

) was then filmed on a shoestring budget, featuring the duo in a rural location (some of which was filmed in Curt Smith's back garden) and interspersed with news and sports footage from a TV set. Both clips were released to UK and European markets in mid-1984. The third and final video, again directed by Nigel Dick, was made for the "US Remix" of the song in early 1986 and portrayed a family preparing a bomb shelter for

nuclear fallout Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...

, in keeping with the theme of

Raymond Briggs Raymond Redvers Briggs (18 January 1934 – 9 August 2022) was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist and author. Achieving critical and popular success among adults and children, he is best known in Britain for his 1978 story ...

' graphic novel '' When the Wind Blows''. An extended mix of the song, featuring an extra verse at the beginning, was exclusive to this video until it was issued as a bonus track on the 2015 deluxe reissue of ''Songs from the Big Chair''.

Track listings

;7": Mercury / IDEA7 (

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

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) / 818 838-7 (

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Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

) / 7PP-155 (

) # "Mothers Talk" (3:53) # "Empire Building" (2:49) ;7": Mercury / 884 638-7 (United States, Australia, Europe) / SOV 2366 (

) / 7PP-200 (Japan) # "Mothers Talk (US Remix)" (4:14) # "Sea Song" (3:52) ;12": Mercury / IDEA712 (United Kingdom) / 818 838-1 (Europe) # "Mothers Talk (Extended Version)" (6:15) # "Empire Building" (2:49) ;12": Mercury / IDEAR712 (United Kingdom) / 880 248-1 (Australia) / 880 258-1 (Europe) # "Mothers Talk (Beat of the Drum Mix)" (8:54) # "Empire Building" (2:49) ;12": Vertigo / TFF1 (Canada) # "Mothers Talk (Short Version)" (3:53) # "The Way You Are (Extended Version)" (7:33) # "Mothers Talk (Beat of the Drum Mix)" (8:54) # "The Marauders" (4:14) # "Mothers Talk" (Extended Version) (6:15) CS: Vertigo / TFF 4 1 (Canada) # "Mothers Talk (Beat of the Drum Mix)" (8:54) # "The Marauders" (4:14) # "Mothers Talk (Extended Version)" (6:15) # "Mothers Talk" (3:53) # "The Way You Are (Extended Version)" (7:33) ;12": Mercury / 884 638-1 (United States, Europe) # "Mothers Talk (Beat of the Drum Mix)" (8:54) # "Mothers Talk (Extended Version)" (6:15) # "Mothers Talk (US Remix)" (4:14) ;12": Vertigo / SOVX 2366 (Canada) # "Mothers Talk (Beat of the Drum Mix)" (8:54) # "Mothers Talk (US Remix)" (4:14) # "Sea Song" (3:52)

Personnel

Tears for Fears *

– lead and background vocals, guitar, keyboard *

Curt Smith Curt Smith (born 24 June 1961) is a British singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and co-founding member of the pop rock band Tears for Fears along with childhood friend Roland Orzabal. Smith plays bass guitar, has co-written several ...

– bass guitar, background vocals *

– keyboards *

Manny Elias Manny Elias (born 21 February 1953) is an Indian drummer and record producer of British descent. He is notable for being the original drummer with Tears for Fears during the 1980s. Originally a member of the rock band Interview from Bathford, ...

– drums Additional Personnel *

Stevie Lange Stevie Vann (born Stevie van Kerken), also known as Stevie Lange, is a Zambian singer and vocal coach. She is best known for her work as a backing vocalist and studio singer for many groups and solo performers in the 1970s and 1980s. As lead vocal ...

, Ruby James,

Nicky Holland Nicky Holland (born 20 February 1959) is an English musician and singer-songwriter, notable for being a previous backing pianist/keyboardist, vocalist and co-songwriter for the band Tears for Fears during the 1980s. Early life Nicky Holland ...

Katie Kissoon Mac and Katie Kissoon are a pop soul duo, consisting of brother and sister Mac Kissoon (born Gerald Farthing, November 11, 1943, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) and Katie Kissoon (born Katherine Farthing, March 11, 1951, Port of Spain). Ea ...

, Bernita Turner (US remix) – background vocals *

Mel Collins Melvyn Desmond Collins (born 5 September 1947, Isle of Man) is a British saxophonist, flautist and session musician. Collins has played in several progressive rock groups, having been a member of King Crimson on two occasions (the first from ...

– saxophone (US remix)

Chart positions

References

{{authority control Songs about mothers Songs about language 1984 songs 1984 singles 1986 singles Mercury Records singles Music videos directed by Nigel Dick Phonogram Records singles Songs written by Roland Orzabal Songs written by Ian Stanley Tears for Fears songs Song recordings produced by Chris Hughes (record producer)