365 Days of Song Recommendations: Oct 21

Head Over Heels / Broken — Tears for Fears

I’ve been neglecting my #365Songs duties. Projects happen. Sidetracks and tangents become the main artery. I wasn’t making time to write about songs because every time I’d find an idle minute my brain became the pie fight from The Great Race (1965).

No decisions were made. Without passion fueling the writing and song-selection process I always saved it for later. Nuts to that. Trying too hard to think of interesting picks has a downside. Inaction, my dear Hamlets. In honor of recognizing this obstacle, I’m going to start a series of picks featuring obvious songs that should have found they way onto this playlist by now.

They don’t require deep consideration or backstory. I’m not looking to change anyone’s world — merely reminding you all that these are great fucking songs and just because they’re popular or well-known doesn’t make them lesser.

It’s time to sit down by the fire with a glass of bourbon. Throw on a blanket and an old favorite record. Today’s selection? Tears for Fears’ 1985 masterpiece, Songs from the Big Chair featuring all-timers like “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” “Shout,” and “Mother’s Talk.”

Our pick today, brought to you by the novelty band Caption Obvious and the No Duhs, is “Head Over Heels / Broken” from the B-side of that record.

The instantly recognizable piano jingle that opens the song has been approved by the FDA to lower blood pressure.

This iconic prelude calls you to attention and pushes pause. You will listen to “Head Over Heels” whether you have the time or not — and it doesn’t come with the latent Dennis Miller stink that’s sullied “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.”

Just as the “Head Over Heels” slips into complacency, convincing you it’s just another über-pleasant 1985 pop song, the band breaks it all down and rips up the playbook at the 4-minute mark. Synth and guitar kick in, engaging in a 1-minute jam-session denouement. Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith’s layers of orchestration on these little pop songs, exceeds the modest demands of a radio-friendly ditty produced for mass consumption.

I worked a shit retail job in the ’90s and often closed the store in the evenings. (A perk of being the highest ranking grunt.) The benefits of this was that in the PM hour, customers became scarce and I was allowed to play anything I wanted over the sound system (within reason). One night I spun Tears for Fears. Customers sang along in the aisles. My slightly younger teenage co-worker, the kind of spawn that regularly wore Metallica and Megadeth t-shirts for concerts he didn’t attend, asked me what the hell it was because he wanted to get a copy.

Tears for Fears unites and conquers. And it’s unconscionable that we’ve reached October without them on the #365Songs Playlist.