Song: Everybody Wants to Rule the World
Year: 1985
Artist: Tears for Fears
Album: Songs from the Big Chair
Language Focus: Figurative Language
Episode Description
There’s an important election coming up in the United States, and Heather and Ece are on their way to their polling place to cast their votes. On the way there, they discuss the 1985 Tears for Fears song, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” The song has useful vocabulary and interesting figurative language, and it also includes a discussion about power and people who “want to rule the world.” Join us for a timeless 1980’s song that is just as relevant now as it was then.
Episode Transcript
<intro>
H: Hi! I’m Heather!
E: And I’m Ece! Welcome to Season 3, Episode 5 of our podcast,
H + E: “English as a Singing Language!”
E: And we’ve got a great song for you in this episode.
H: Please tell me it’s another disco song! “Take a Chance on Me!”
E: Unfortunately, if you’re in the mood for disco, you need to go back to Episode 3 from this season for ABBA’s 1977 disco hit, “Take a Chance on Me.”
H: That was a great episode that focused on fluency. So, the song isn’t from the 1970’s.
E: No, this song is from the 1980s.
H: Ah! The music of my youth!
E: Uh-huh! And this song has a lot of really useful vocabulary and figurative language.
H: Oh! I love it when we talk about words and how to use them effectively.
E: Me too!
H: I can’t wait to talk about this song!
E: Me neither. Let’s get started!!
<end intro>
H: <humming “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” Oh! Hi Ece! Fancy meeting you here!
E: Yes! My daughter just got on the school bus.
H: Oh! I just saw the bus drive by! Does she still like school? How’s it going?
E: Yes! She especially likes library class.
H: That’s wonderful. So, where are you going now?
E: Actually, I’m on my way to my polling place right now.
H: Ece, don’t you have class today? How do you have time for a game of bowling right now?
E: Not “bowling,” I said I was on my way to my polling place. It’s election day today. I’m on my way to vote before I go to work.
H: Ah, I see. “Bowling” and “polling” sound pretty similar.
E: They do. If our listeners would like practice with the difference between [b] and [p] in English, they can listen to Season 2, Episode 8. Joni Mitchell’s song, “Big Yellow Taxi” has lots of examples of [b] and [p] for practice.
H: Good idea! And I’m going to vote, too! Is your polling place in the city building across from the park?
E: Yes. Is that your polling place, too?
H: It sure is. Do you want to go together?
E: Of course! Let’s go!
H: You know that song I was humming just now?
E: It sounded like the 1985 Tears for Fears song, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.”
H: That’s right. It seemed like a good song for today when we are voting in an election.
E: Hmmmm…I guess I’ve never listened that carefully to the words.
H: Well, the band was started in Bath, England, in 1981 by Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal.
E: They were popular in the 80s, and they are still popular now. They’re still giving concerts.
H: That’s true! And Curt Smith has said that this song is very important. He said that the theme of the song is, “quite serious – it's about everybody wanting power, about warfare and the misery it causes."
E: For a song that was written almost 40 years ago, it seems like the themes are still relevant today.
H: Sadly, I think so too, but maybe that’s why I was thinking of it on my way to vote.
E: Looking at the lyrics, it seems like this song is almost more like a poem. The words are creating ideas and images, but the listeners have to interpret a lot of the lyrics for themselves.
H: I agree.
E: So, let’s take a look at the lyrics. The song starts out, “Welcome to your life. There’s no turning back.”
H: That’s interesting. “Welcome to your life,” like maybe you haven’t been paying attention to what is going on around you.
E: And “to turn back” is a great phrasal verb.
H: It is! The verb “turn” plus the preposition, “back.” When you put them together, it means that you turn around – oh my gosh! Another “turn” phrasal verb! Ok – you turn around and face the opposite direction.
E: Yes. Sometimes, a person might turn back if a situation becomes too difficult.
H: Like when we first started the podcast, and I thought it was really challenging. I wasn’t sure that we would be able to do it.
E: And then when we successfully released our first episode, I said to you,
H: “Heather, we did it! There’s no turning back now!”
E: That’s right. And we haven’t given up or turned back yet!
H: No, we haven’t. Ok so the next line is, “Even while we sleep, we will find you acting on your best behavior. Turn your back on mother nature.”
E: Hmmmm… so we just talked about the phrasal verb, “to turn back,” and now we have “to turn your back on,” someone or something.
H: Even though they sound similar, they aren’t the same. If you turn your back on someone, it has the figurative meaning of ignoring them, not paying attention to them, not helping them if they need it.
E: Oh! I would never do that to my friends! I’ll never turn my back on you!
H: And I’ll never turn my back on you, Ece. But in the song, people have turned their back on Mother Nature, in other words, the Earth.
E: They are ignoring what the planet needs.
H: I can see why this is a serious song.
E: How about the next lines, “It's my own design. It's my own remorse.”
H: “Remorse” is a useful word. If you feel remorse, it means that you regret something.
E: Oooooh! Those two words, “regret” and “remorse” seem very similar in meaning. Is there a difference between them?
H: There is. “Regret” focuses on a missed opportunity.
E: Ok. So, I could say, “I regret not taking that trip to New York City last year when I had the chance.”
H: Exactly. And “remorse” focuses more on acknowledging that you did or said something that hurt someone else.
E: That’s an important difference.
H: I might say, “I felt remorse after I scolded my son for not taking out the trash.”
E: We all say and do things that cause us to feel remorse sometimes.
H: That’s very true. Later in the lyrics, they sing, “Help me make the most of freedom and of pleasure.” To “help someone make the most of something,” is a useful phrase.
E: If you “make the most of something,” you get the maximum benefit from it.
H: Like we created this podcast so that teachers and students could make the most out of each song and learn as much as possible from it.
E: Yes!
H: And the next lines go, “There's a room where the light won't find you.”
E: “Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down.”
H: “When they do, I'll be right behind you.”
E: Wow! There’s some great figurative language in those lines. The first line is interesting, “There’s a room where the light won’t find you.” Usually, we think of light as being positive.
H: That’s true. But here it makes me think that the person is hiding in the dark, and someone is looking for them with a flashlight or something, trying to find them.
E: Ok, so they’re in a safe place, away from the person who is searching for them. And they are “holding hands while the walls come tumbling down.”
H: Oh! I remember “tumble” from Dolly Parton’s song, 9 to 5 from Season 2, Episode 15 when she tumbled out of bed!
E: Right. That’s a great song. So here, the walls are breaking into pieces and falling over each other. They’re tumbling down.
H: Uh-huh. And this is great figurative language. The walls aren’t actually tumbling down, it is just describing how it feels like nothing is going well.
E: It does feel like that sometimes, doesn’t it?
H: Yes, but the line, “I’ll be right behind you,” is comforting.
E: Meaning, I’ll support you. I am here for you.
H: So, it’s interesting, there are some negative lines, but also some hope, too.
E: How about the next lines, “I can't stand this indecision, married with a lack of vision.”
H: Wow! That’s a lot to think about. I feel that way right now! I can’t stand the indecision of this election! Not knowing what the result will be.
E: And using the verb “to marry” here is not for people but showing the close relationship between two things – the indecision and the lack of vision.
H: It does feel like sometimes there is a lack of vision or plan for the future.
E: And the line. “One headline, why believe it?” It’s hard to believe this song is from 40 years ago.
H: Right? People say that now. “It’s only one news story, why should I believe it?” It’s hard to know what you can trust.
E: I guess we have to remember, “Nothing lasts forever.”
H: And also, “Everybody wants to rule the world.”
E: That’s the theme of the song. Everybody wants power. Well, I think on that note, it’s time for us to sing!
H: I agree! Don’t forget to sing out loud and focus on the interesting vocabulary and useful phrases.
E: “Nothing ever lasts forever.”
E + H: “Everybody wants to rule the world.”
<outro>
H: What an interesting song!
E: There’s lots of interesting vocabulary.
H: And figurative language.
E: And ideas to think about.
H: It really is a great song for us to listen to on this day filled with indecision.
E: Well, I hope not for long. We should find out later today who won the election.
H: Who is going to rule the world, or at least this country.
E: Yep. Well, before we head into the polling place, let’s remind everyone to follow us on Instagram, @singinglanguages.
H: And check out our website!
E: And our YouTube channel!
H: All great ideas! So, until next time, have fun and…
E + H: …just keep singing!
Official YouTube Video
Complete Lyrics
Welcome to your life
There's no turning back
Even while we sleep
We will find you
Acting on your best behavior
Turn your back on mother nature
Everybody wants to rule the world
It's my own design
It's my own remorse
Help me to decide
Help me make the most
Of freedom and of pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world
There's a room where the light won't find you
Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down
When they do, I'll be right behind you
So glad we've almost made it
So sad they had to fade it
Everybody wants to rule the world
I can't stand this indecision
Married with a lack of vision
Everybody wants to rule the world
Say that you'll never never never never need it
One headline, why believe it?
Everybody wants to rule the world
All for freedom and for pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world
Comments