The moment a song is born, the world is different. It’s now a part of our lives. We sing it in the shower. We dance to it at our wedding. We get pumped with it. We break up to it. We memorize it. We try to forget it. We rediscover it. This month, I’m joining Arron Wright’s Twitter music challenge: ##Popiversary2. Because why the hell not. Songs deserve their own anniversaries, too.
Year: 1982
Like many young kids in America during the eighties, my first exposure to Tears For Fears was Songs From The Big Chair, not The Hurting. Songs like “Shout”, “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”, “Head Over Heels” and “Mother’s Talk” were unavoidable if you had MTV. Each song had its own unique flavor, but all the flavors unmistakably came from the same chefs. Hearing Songs From The Big Chair first made the discovery of The Hurting that much more of a delight. It possesses an incredibly mature sound for a debut album, and “Change”, “Mad World” and “Pale Shelter” are still some of my favorite songs to this day.
“Pale Shelter” was one of two songs that Tears For Fears recorded as a demo that eventually got them a record deal. It was the song that got them noticed, and one of a handful of tracks that has earned them enormous respect among fans over the years. “Pale Shelter” is timeless. It doesn’t sound a day old, even 40 years later. TFF did it with the dual vocal attack from Smith and Orzabal, where backing vocals carry just as much weight as the lead parts. From the guitar strums to the keyboard swirls, every instrumental element glides and glistens on the song. “Pale Shelter” is produced to perfection.
“HOW CAN I BE SURE WHEN YOUR INTRUSION'S MY ILLUSION?”