#everybody loves a happy ending

[longliverockback]

Tears for Fears Everybody Loves a Happy Ending 2004 Gut ————————————————— Tracks: 01. Everybody Loves a Happy Ending 02. Closest Thing to Heaven 03. Call Me Mellow 04. Size of Sorrow 05. Who Killed Tangerine? 06. Quiet Ones 07. Who Are You 08. The Devil 09. Secret World 10. Killing with Kindness 11. Ladybird 12. Last Days on Earth —————————————————

Roland Orzábal

Curt Smith

* Long Live Rock Archive

[thepermanentrainpress]

CONCERT REVIEW: TEARS FOR FEARS W/ COLD WAR KIDS AT ROGERS ARENA - JULY 24, 2023

Tears for Fears have been wowing audiences with their high-energy new wave for over 40 years. Playing to an almost sold-out crowd at Rogers Arena, Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith put on a show that felt like time traveling back to 1985.

Opening the show was indie rock group Cold War Kids. Their first album was released in 2006 — I was surprised to see them and their style of music opening for a much older band. It took a few songs to win the crowd over, but by the middle of their set everyone was clearly having a good time. Lead singer Nathan Willett greeted us about halfway through and said “Vancouver, this is an oldie, you know this!” before launching into “Hang Me Up to Dry,” one of their first and most popular singles. The whole set was high-energy and a lot of fun. People were dancing, getting into it, and the band commanded the stage and crowd. 

They played for 45 minutes or so, concluding with “First” – the group’s biggest single to date that reached #1 in 2015. Nathan told us that it was an “excellent experience” to be part of this with Tears for Fears. “They are incredible people and this has been a life-changing tour. Thank you guys for being a part of it. We love you, peace and love.”

Between sets, I noticed the pre-show playlist had covers of Tears for Fears songs on it. Examples included “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Lorde, “Shout 2000” by Disturbed, and perhaps the most well-known cover, “Mad World” by Gary Jules. This was a cool feature I’ve never seen a group do before, and was a reminder of their legacy over the years.

Finally came the main event. Although they look a bit older, there’s no mistaking the famous duo on stage.  They opened with “No Small Thing,” the first track from their latest album The Tipping Point – also the namesake of this tour. This was followed by the titular track. Then came the first major hit of the night — the smooth, mellow yet merry “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” Perhaps my personal favourite of their singles, it lit up the arena both literally with phone videos and in the energy as we all sang along. 

Curt in particular spent a lot of time speaking to the audience. Just a couple songs in, he thanked us for coming out “on a Monday… It’s great to be back in Vancouver.” Curt also informed us it was a special night as their touring drummer, Jamie Wollam, hails from Salt Spring Island just outside of the city. “He’s an amazing guy with an amazing heart and a proud Canadian,” Curt added, leading of course to loud applause. Roland took the mic to inform us “it’s fantastic seeing people singing along to our new songs… It means a lot.” He told us to expect a lot of new songs that night (“If you don’t know them, you will”), and that they’d do “perhaps a cover as a sing-along, and a forewarning, some deep cuts.” 

The setlist consisted of a mix of songs from all of their eras, with particular emphasis on their latest album. After a deep cut (2004’s “Secret World”) we heard another hit – the 1989 tune “Sowing the Seeds of Love.” This was followed by no less than four songs in a row from the new album. Although the newer tracks were not as well known as the classics, the attention and style never left the room on stage or in the audience. I heard the entire album before the show, and it’s a timeless, diverse, orchestral release leading to a trippy experience on stage. Psychedelic backdrops and various dark hues added visuals to the melodic, often strange music.

We got back to the familiar songs with the very upbeat but sad “Mad World.” Curt danced around the stage to flashing neon of red and blue, basically turning the arena into a club. Curt and Roland then left the stage for a bit as their backup vocalist, Carina Round, used her beautiful voice to sing “Suffer the Children.”

In addition to highlighting Vancouver as a hometown show for the drummer, Curt said it’s “a gorgeous city and great if you’re a runner.” He also mentioned he’d spent quite a bit of time in Vancouver filming episodes of the show Psych, in which he played himself. Tagging on to the runner comment, Roland remarked “our songs are more famous than we are. It’s great, because Curt can go running along the seawall without being mobbed. I’ll go on holiday and say I’m a musician in a band called Tears for Fears, and they’re like ‘who?’ Then I say you know ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World?’ and they say oh yes, yes.” He had a great sense of humour about this, and it was clear the group was so happy and grateful to be here performing these well-known songs for us 40 years down the road.

We closed the main set with a long staple hit – “Head Over Heels / Broken” – a song still running through my head a few days later. We all sang along to the “La la la la…” part, leaving the show on a high note.

But it wasn’t quite over yet — they came back for an encore and introduced the band. Keeping the synth beat on the keyboard was Doug Petty. The guitarist was Charlton Pettus, also noted as a co-writer and producer on the new album. They then highlighted local drummer Jamie and backup vocalist Carina, before of course introducing themselves as Curt and Roland.

The previously promised sing-along cover turned out to be “Creep” by Radiohead, of all things. It’s not a song I expected – it certainly isn’t upbeat or cheerful – but it did seem appropriate for the band’s style. It’s also very well known and was a fun one to chant the chorus to.

The final track of the night was perhaps the most upbeat of all of their hits – “Shout.” It was the perfect closer as the entire arena stamped their feet, jumped around, and chanted “Shout! Shout! Let it all out!” once again echoing a club at the height of the 80s. It’s clear Tears for Fears have still got it. A couple generations later, they continue to record, entertain, and draw a crowd of thousands. They may have aged physically, but their music, old and new, is simply timeless.

Written by: Cazzy Lewchuk

[brokethedrawer]

Ran into this while browsing through some older sites--an article/interview from 2004, mostly about Everybody Loves a Happy Ending. I especially love what Charlton says about "Size of Sorrow."

In case the Wayback Machine link ever stops working, here's a copy:

INTERNAL CONFLICTS ARE PRACTICALLY a requisite for every pop duo, the in-fighting associated with Simon & Garfunkel, Oasis and The Everly Brothers almost as well-known as the songs they produced.

Up until recently, Tears for Fears had sustained an impressive impasse of their own, with one half of the pair, Curt Smith, abandoning the synth group for more than a decade. What was thought to be a permanent vacation, however, is snapped on April 6 with the release of Everybody Loves a Happy Ending (Arista), the first CD by the original British duo since 1989’s Top 10 album The Seeds of Love.

The full track list: "Everybody Loves a Happy Ending," "Closest Thing to Heaven" (first single), "Call Me Mellow," "Size of Sorrow," "Who Killed Tangerine?," "Quiet Ones," "Who You Are," "The Devil," "Secret World," "Killing with Kindness," "Ladybird" and "Last Days on Earth."

Smith and partner Roland Orzabal grew up as childhood friends in Bath, England, devoting many years to the cultivation of Tears for Fears (and Graduate, prior to that) before breaking though with The Hurting in 1983.

The band ruled the airwaves in ’85, tallying two singles that topped the charts for a combined five weeks: "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and "Shout." But despite the mega-success of Songs from the Big Chair that year (five-times platinum) and the strong reception garnered by its follow-up, The Seeds of Love, four years later, the union eventually proved ill-fated. Smith exited in 1992.

Orzabal upheld the Tears for Fears moniker despite Smith’s absence throughout the ’90s, but the amount of material he created was minimal: Elemental in 1993 and Raoul and the Kings of Spain two years later. In the meantime, Smith periodically issued obscure solo discs, including 2000’s Aeroplane.

"About two-and-a-half years ago, they started talking again," newly recruited guitarist Charlton Pettus, who also played on Aeroplane, tells ICE. "I think they had both arrived at similar places musically, and whatever personal stuff there was, it was long ago enough that no one cared anymore. Their dynamic partnership is one that they didn’t fully appreciate until they didn’t have it. When they got back into it, they just kept going."

Once the reunion became official, the band devoted winter 2002-’03 to writing and laying down demos. The bulk of the recording took place in Los Angeles starting in February, and lasted through the summer.

"We took about four trips between Roland’s house in England and [L.A.] before we really started recording," says Pettus, who co-produced the album with the band. "So it was a gradual, get-back-into-the-water thing at first."

Whereas Orzabal traditionally performs guitar and keyboards and Smith the bass, the members occasionally swapped duties during this recording. Pettus filled all three roles when needed, and Orzabal even stepped behind the drum kit for "Closest Thing to Heaven." The album is also infused with B3 organ, Wurlitzer, acoustic piano, Mellotron, clarinet and other instruments.

While Pettus claims the recording was slow-moving, "Ladybird," the first song the duo attempted, "went fairly quickly and naturally," he says. "There was no conscious effort to sound like Tears for Fears… they just do."

Despite the long gap of time between recordings, the group only looked to the past for one Everybody selection, "Size of Sorrow"; the rest were all written specifically for the new album.

The Orzabal-penned "Size of Sorrow," at least seven years old, was casually recalled during the recording sessions, eventually winding up on the album. "It was from the period right after they broke up, so hearing Curt sing it was kind of an epiphany," Pettus states. "When we were going through songs midway through the process, there was a song of Roland’s that he’d never recorded a version of which he liked. Me and Curt thought it was a beautiful song… we messed around with it for awhile and loved it."

Pettus says that the majority of initial tracks were preserved for the final versions of the songs.

"More than half the tracks on there are first-take quickies," he says. "A lot of the guitar solos are first-take noodles that we got attached to. It’s a demo/record hybrid — nothing was erased."

He points to the title track specifically: "The middle part of that song is Roland singing and playing acoustic guitar together on one mike. He did just one take as a reference, so we could lay out the song structure. We thought there was something magical about the take, so that was it."

The studio residency resulted in roughly 12 leftover tracks, some of which will surface as B-sides and others that will not be finished. Pettus hints at one track in particular, "Out of Control," as being an especially beloved remainder.

Once the recordings were finished, the pair inked a deal with Arista — the first time they had ever been involved with the label. "[Arista president] L.A. Reid has always been a big fan," VP of Marketing Adam Lowenberg tells ICE. "Everyone at Arista is so excited about this… there’s nothing else like it on our roster."

–Kurt Orzeck © 2004 Howard Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

[iloveasunflower]

Roland's Tour Diary: 7th May

via

text version:

Saturday, May 7, 2005

Well, another intense period is finally over for TFF, I can stop obsessing about my voice and leave the calorific honey and lemon to one side for a while. I feel we left London on a high, even if some of the reviews have made out otherwise. The mind boggles as to how people read body language – Curt and I are getting on famously – if we weren’t, you’d soon hear about it and I could indulge in some fantastic bitching during this tour diary – but no – live, we are a band and have no desire to ‘Wham’ it up with fake buddiness.

I’ve read some of the comments posted and can’t say I disagree with even the more negative ones. We were caught slightly off-guard by the lack of awareness of ELAHE in the UK, and I think Glasgow was the peak of a mutual ignorance, with us clumsily dividing the set into old and new. It wasn’t until Newcastle that we remedied the situation – and boy, what an audience! Shades of New York!

I also think we have too much of the new album in the set. Admittedly, the touring was designed to get the point across, but I do think we could make a better show, if we increased the repertoire and started to replace some of the newer songs – more upbeat tunes would work in our favor, and as we are hitting the US in the summer, it might well be time for a change. (Points taken about RATKOS – however, bear it in mind, we do three songs from ‘Big Chair’ – ‘Listen’ would be impossible and ‘The Working Hour’ requires a saxophone – any offers? ‘I Believe’ – maybe. )

Cardiff was as close to a home gig as we could get, with a couple of busloads crossing the Severn Bridge from Bath and Bristol. The atmosphere was very casual and relaxed, and the gathering in the green room, after the show, did resemble a wedding. One great thing about being a ‘seasoned professional’ is you learn to take things like playing in front of friends, family and neighbors in your stride – you just imagine you’re throwing a big party!

Points also taken about the dance remixes that are accompanying the UK single releases, although I would say I have a fondness for the ‘Call Me Mellow’ ones. I guess like Tony Blair it’s time to listen to the electorate and start working on some obscure beauty in the form of B-sides, that would titillate the fans, and keep us interested. I’m also touched by some of your comments about RATKOS – I believe that album must have sold by word of mouth, as it didn’t receive much attention at the time. Over 700,000 copies now sold (unless I’ve been misinformed – can’t be that many hardcore fans) – not bad considering.

It’s off to Paris on Sunday for more delightful press and promotion – things, however, have gone our way there with the CTTH video getting a nice bit of airtime. As you are probably aware, we are playing a show in the French capital on June 18 (with Moby and Garbage), and the record company has certainly filled up our days over the coming week. I can’t wait for the late, late night chat shows with some poor sod trying to translate our perverse asides!

Anyways, thanks for all the interesting posts and glad that at least some of you enjoyed our UK adventure. Now is the time to put in your requests for live songs as Big Brother will be watching very intently over the next week ;)

Roland

[piratefalls]

i can't squeeze out words for a proper episode coda but in a world where i could i'd write a fix-it where tommy gets his romcom happy ending. where it's days after the breakup and he's at home on a rainy night, miserable because he misses buck even though he's convinced he did the right thing. he's watching whatever it is that's currently playing on the hallmark channel, curled up under his softest blanket, when there's a knock on the door. thinking it's maybe eddie come to ask him what the hell's going on, he opens it to find a soaking wet buck on the other side. buck, whose hand is still in the air from where he was poised to knock again, a resolute look in his eye, and it's unfair that even sopping wet he's still the most beautiful thing tommy's ever seen. he's about to ask why he's here, but buck beats him to the punch.

"i reject your breakup," he says through chattering teeth. "now let me in so i can dry off and i can read you my extensive list of reasons why you're wrong. there are multiple categories."

they argue about it right there on the front step until they're both totally soaked through, and finally buck asks him to just stay and to trust that buck will too. and tommy does.

[rystiel]

i feel like a fish swimming against the current in a river of angst enjoyers as someone who wants to make those characters happy for once

[calicobunnyrabbit]

whoa! it's, like, symbolic.

[starflungwaddledee]

offering three cookies 🍪🍪🍪

(<< part 1)

[fear-no-mort]

i cant get over the whole time in the real world rick just sat there watching over morty and when he woke up finally rick sounded SO happy the way he just yelled his name excitedly the second he woke up,,,

[lastofthe20thcenturygirls]

suddenly looking like a fool was completely worth it for this woman he met just three days ago

[porter-pumpkim]

yet another spitball mephone theory!

OK I've already stated I'm really hoping mephone being the shimmer egg from 3gs is cannon even before we knew there was only 1 egg,

But like

Mephone generated at least parts of the island, we know this, we've seen the island itself change over the course of the seasons

there's giant random structures that look like shimmer eggs! I've been wondering what the heck those things were, and it could be a coincidence, but if mephone4 is the missing shimmer, maybe the giant shimmer patterned structures were a subconscious memory or something that snuck in when mephone was generating the setting!

Another thing, I forget which but in a past stream it was mentioned the shimmer could potentially mess with the contestants for things like inverting their personalities, where fan could potentially become a critic and call out generation errors, hence the joke made of pointing out layering glitches in the background, and although this was scrapped, this could at least explain why the shimmer specifically made fan glitch! Cause they have the same power that allowed mephone to generate the contestants!

True we do know mephone still needs his contestant data and melife support in order to generate anything, hence how cobs is causing perminant deletions, but he's still the only phone who can generate items! No other meeple product could generate real items from nowhere.

Realistically I'm probably just spewing nonsense but ey, we won't know until the final episode, plus I just absolutely love imagining how meohone would react to figuring out he's technically a kidnapped child forced into a body that wasn't his and made to be a disposable product, now in a weird spot where he can't fully fit in with the shimmer, but also can't fit in with other objects, he's stuck in a weird middle ground crisis of not properly fitting anywhere and not even fully sure what or who he is

Also ngl I also love the idea that the shimmer actually are a genuinly loving and supportive family that would gladly welcome mephone back with open arms even if he's been turned into something he shouldn't have been, trying to help him recover from all the conditioning and bad coping mechanisms he gained from his time with cobs and on the show,

You know for a fact mephone would genuinly be surprised and confused about having a father figure whos genuinly proud of him and doesn't hit or berrate him for his failures, and is actually supportive of his interests, dudes just not used to that

[ay-miphae]

Ayreontasiatober days 1-2: Favorite Avantasia Album

Happy Inktober to all who celebrate (me) aka the only time of the year I consistently post art. My fandom friends and I have been COOKING so be prepared :))

I’m working off two prompt lists this year - one put together by @starsirrah a few years back (that I’m doing in full) and one that several of us put together! 

Today’s prompt is favorite Avantasia album which would have to be Ghostlights my beloved. For a story album it’s pretty vague, though I find it pretty amazing how the lyrics can not only follow the story of a distressed Victorian man and a mind control cult but ALSO hit really close to home about what’s real and not and about rationality vs. spirituality. Plus it’s banger after banger. Anyway this was a lot of fun so enjoy ^^

(My dad, knowing nothing about TMOT/Ghostlights, saw this one and said it looked Victorian so mission accomplished I guess?!)

[iloveasunflower]

Roland's Tour Diary: 30th November

via

text version:

Tuesday, November 30, 2004 Let's see if I can answer some questions while reporting back about the tour. A live DVD? - you know, it has been discussed. There are plenty of companies willing - I guess the longer we leave it, the more the set will develop, creating a better show to film. As I mentioned, the UK release of ELAHE will contain extra tracks. Also, Gut Records have done a couple of dance remixes for CTTH - they are......................... interesting (?) and very hooky! I like the way Gut are aggressively pursuing every option. I can see a few of you dancing around in your underwear to them (that one for the ladies!). .........and.......( drumroll! ).............we're making a video (shock horror!). We film the mainly animated clip in LA on Dec 6 - director is Mike Palmieri. Award for most patient audience goes to Tucson - I could see the relief on their faces when we only played one encore. No one told me it was an outdoor venue - needless to say the jacket did not come off - it was freezing and a real struggle for the ailing vocal chords. Big Brother is no longer in Vegas (great show) but did enjoy an incredible Thanksgiving with Perry Rogers and his family. (He manages Andre Agassi, Shaquille O'Neal and many others.) It's fascinating to see the other side of that town where people lead wholesome, honest lives. We talked about next year's Agassi CF show - it's the ten year anniversary! hopefully, we'll be invited back ;) Well KMK has safely returned home. It was great to hang and I'm waiting for her side of the story with baited breath - hopefully, she won't spill too many beans!!!!!! I would say, however, that her view of the shows may well be affected by her choice of footwear???????!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here in LA, I'm looking forward to some time off. I watched my first English soccer match, this morning, for some time, and tonight, I can't wait for 'Desperate Housewives'. All the best Roland

[lorillee]

like ultimately i guess this idea stems from the conception that ur romantic partner is the person that completes u or whatever so it doesnt matter what life circumstances u guys are dealing with as a result of being together because u wont ever be complete without them and its like Ok do we hear ourselves….is this not like absurd and completely ridiculous to anybody else or is it just me

[bakedbakermom]

Making Love While the World Collapses (read on ao3)

M // 330 words // a vignette at the end of the world tagging @today-in-fic @ao3feed-msr

They want the last thing they'll ever feel to be each other.

[dailykeiji]

today's keiji is: happy birthday 2 the most important specialest boy ever