"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a song by English pop rock band Tears for Fears from their second studio album Songs from the Big Chair (1985). It was written by Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley, and Chris Hughes and produced by Hughes. It was released on 22 March 1985 by Phonogram, Mercury, and Vertigo Records as the third single from the album. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a new wave and synth-pop song with lyrics that detail the desire humans have for control and power and centre on themes of corruption.
Music critics praised "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" in their retrospective reviews, with some ranking the song among the decade's best. Along with "Shout" (1984), it is one of the band's signature songs. An international success, the song peaked at number two in Ireland, Australia, and the United Kingdom and at number one in Canada, New Zealand, and on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and Cashbox. It was certified gold by both Music Canada (MC) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
Nigel Dick directed the music video, which received promotion from MTV. It shows bassist Curt Smith (who sings lead vocal) driving an antique Austin-Healey 3000 sports car around Southern California intercut with shots of the band performing the song in a studio. In 1986, the song won Best Single at the Brit Awards. The group re-recorded the song as a charity single for the Sport Aid campaign. The song has been covered extensively since its release, most notably by New Zealand singer Lorde for the soundtrack to the movie adaptation of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
Background and release
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was written by Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley and Chris Hughes, and produced by Hughes. The song was a "last-minute" addition during recording sessions of Songs from the Big Chair (1985). The decision to include the song in the album came after Orzabal played two chords on his acoustic guitar for Hughes. It was recorded in two weeks and added as the final track on the album. According to Orzabal, the final line in the song's chorus, originally written as "Everybody wants to go to war", contributed to his indifference towards the track.
In an interview with Mix magazine, Hughes said that "as a piece of recording history, [the song is] bland as hell". Orzabal's unimpressed reaction to the track during their songwriting sessions prompted Hughes to convince him to record it, in a calculated effort to garner American chart success. After completing their sessions at 6 p.m., they would spend an hour reviewing each recording many times; this helped Orzabal to create the song's guitar figure and change its title. Orzabal acknowledged that the shuffle beat used in the song was "alien" to their way of writing music, stating it was "jolly rather than square and rigid in the manner of "Shout", but it continued the process of becoming more extrovert." Curt Smith, the song's lead singer, said the themes were "quite serious – it's about everybody wanting power, about warfare and the misery it causes."
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was first released on 22 March 1985 through Phonogram, Mercury and Vertigo Records as the third single from Songs from the Big Chair. The song was released for sale (as a 7-inch, 10-inch and 12-inch vinyl set) which included its B-side, interviews from the band and different versions of the song. To accommodate the vinyl release, a CD video set was also distributed and included the song's music video along audios of bonus tracks.
Composition and lyrical interpretation
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a new wave and synth-pop song. The song is set in the key of D major with a time signature and a tempo of 116 beats per minute. The band stated that the driving shuffle rhythm was influenced by Simple Minds' 1983 song "Waterfront", and Linx's 1981 song "Throw Away the Key". "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" incorporates synthesizers, guitar, a shuffle groove, two guitar solos, and keyboards.