EP-iphanies: Tears For Fears’ “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” [U.S. 12″]

As you probably know by now, The Analog Kid lives for b-sides and non-album cuts. In this continuing series, I will share some of my favorite EPs and 12″ singles from over the years in their entirety. And since it’s digital, you don’t have to worry about correctly setting the turntable speed to 33⅓ or 45!

Last spring, my band Diamondbag took on the task of learning an entire set of classic ’80s material for a special benefit show. One of the first songs we picked was Tears For Fears’ “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” a song that just about everybody seems to know and love. We did throw in a little surprise, though– rather than basing our cover on the album version, we instead opted to emulate the fantastic extended version found on the U.S. 12″ single. This particular mix rocks a little more than the original thanks to some extra guitar, and I absolutely love the pulsating intro and the huge drums.

For years, my only copy of this classic remix was a lo-fi 128 kbps download that a friend found on the internet. I actually own the original 12″ single, but a shoddy mastering job made it impossible to create a good rip from the vinyl– it was just too damn loud and distorted for my tastes. Late last year, Tears For Fears finally released the extended version on a deluxe edition of Songs From The Big Chair. To my ears, this is the definitive version of “Everybody Wants To Rule The World.” I’ve also included an instrumental version of the song as a bonus track, and a simple search of this site’s index will uncover at least two more mixes of the song. They’re all great, but I don’t need your help to decide that the extended version is the best one!

Tears For Fears: Everybody Wants To Rule The World [U.S. 12″]

Mercury Records, 1985

1. “Everybody Wants To Rule The World [Extended Version]” (Orzabal/Stanley/Hughes)

Everybody Wants To Rule The World [Extended Version]

2. “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” (Orzabal/Stanley/Hughes)

Everybody Wants To Rule The World

3. “Pharaohs” (Hughes/Stanley/Orzabal/Smith)

Pharaohs

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Bonus Tracks!

The first rule of The Analog Kid blog is that if you write about a song on the Analog Kid blog, you share the song on the Analog Kid blog.

Tears For Fears: “Everybody Wants To Rule The World [Instrumental]” (Orzabal/Stanley/Hughes)

From the U.K. 12″ Everybody Wants To Rule The World [Urban Mix]

Mercury Records, 1985

Everybody Wants To Rule The World [Instrumental]