Tears For Fears — ＂Everybody Wants To Rule The World＂ - ORIGINAL VIDEO

JUL 01 1985 · 12:00

Tears For Fears — ＂Everybody Wants To Rule The World＂ - ORIGINAL VIDEO (1985) Director: Nigel Dick Era: Mid-Decade MTV New Wave (1985) - Peak British Invasion II synth-pop era, coinciding with transatlantic chart dominance and music video as primary promotional vehicle An exceptionally high-value archival artifact representing the convergence of peak MTV influence, British synth-pop dominance, and the road-movie visual tradition. The video's quantitative profile — warm tones, moderate brightness, low motion, moderate editing pace — precisely mirrors its cultural register: accessible, sun-lit, and deceptively breezy over a substrate of geopolitical anxiety. As one of the most-recognized music videos of the decade, with documented production history, confirmed director credits, and a traceable impact on American chart performance, it ranks as a Tier 1 primary source for any research into 1980s music video culture, transatlantic pop marketing, or the MTV era's visual vocabulary. Context: Released in March 1985 as the third single from Songs from the Big Chair, 'Everybody Wants To Rule The World' arrived at the apex of the second British Invasion, when British synth-pop acts dominated American radio and MTV. The video's visual strategy — road-tripping through Southern California's desert landscapes — was a calculated act of American market assimilation, presenting a British band through the lens of US iconography. Its heavy MTV rotation was instrumental in propelling the single to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1985. The song's lyrical meditation on power, control, and Cold War-era anxiety was deliberately cloaked in an upbeat, jangly production, embodying the era's tension between optimistic pop surfaces and geopolitical unease. It went on to win Best Single at the 1986 Brit Awards. Director notes: Directed and produced by Nigel Dick. Filmed in early 1985 across multiple Southern California locations including Los Angeles, Desert Hot Springs, Palm Springs, and Cabazon. The video was the third Tears for Fears clip Dick directed. It features driving sequences on Interstate 10 and at the Wheel Inn diner in Cabazon, intercut with band performance footage shot in a London studio. The shoot was reportedly troubled: Curt Smith later described it to Pitchfork as a 'disaster,' noting that Dick was 'in tears' on the second night of filming. An on-set accident occurred during filming of a dirt bikes and off-road vehicle scene. Edited by Dave Gardner. The video received heavy rotation on MTV and played a significant role in breaking Tears for Fears in the American market. A notable easter egg: the phone number Curt Smith dials in the telephone booth scene spells out 'SHOUT' (74688).