Sowing the Seeds of Love

The song's title was inspired by a radio programme that Roland Orzabal had heard at the time about the folk song collector Cecil Sharp. One of the songs that Sharp collected was called "The Seeds of Love", which he learned from a gardener called Mr. England, which was reflected in the lyric "Mr. England sowing the seeds of love".{{cite book|title=Tears for Fears – The Seeds of Love|last=Thrills|first=Adrian|year=1990|publisher=Virgin Books|location= London, UK|isbn=0-86369-329-6}} Sharp overheard John England singing the song, and was inspired to look more deeply into English traditional songs. "The Seeds of Love" was therefore the first song that Sharp collected, and the one that sparked the English folk song revival.{{Cite web |title=How Cecil Sharp sowed the seeds of love. |url=https://bibleofbritishtaste.com/cecil-2 |access-date=7 June 2022 |website=Bible of British Taste |date=16 February 2013 |language=en-GB}}

Orzabal wrote the song in June 1987 during the week of the UK General Election in which Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Party won a third consecutive term in office. The election prompted him to take an interest in politics, with a special interest in socialism due to Thatcher's attitudes towards the working class. At the time of its release in 1989, Orzabal considered this to be the most overtly political song that Tears for Fears had ever recorded. The lyrics refer to Thatcher specifically with the line "Politician granny with your high ideals, have you no idea how the majority feels?"{{Cite web |date=1 October 2021 |title=Pop Classics #54: Tears For Fears - Sowing The Seeds Of Love - God Is In The TV |url=https://www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk/2021/10/01/pop-classics-54-tears-for-fears-sowing-the-seeds-of-love/ |access-date=5 December 2023 |language=en-US}}{{efn|group=lower-alpha|That year, Mrs Thatcher that year having had her first grandchild born.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/after-the-iron-ladys-granddaughter-amanda-opens-funeral-service-at-st-pauls-cathedral-we-introduce-8577022.html|work=The Independent|location=London|title=After the Iron Lady's granddaughter Amanda opens funeral service at St Paul's Cathedral – we introduce you to the rest of the Thatcher family|date=17 April 2013|author=Charlie Cooper}}}}

Elsewhere, the song takes a dig at fellow musician Paul Weller with the line "Kick out the style, bring back the jam" as Orzabal felt Weller had lost touch with his working class political outlook after the dissolution of his previous band The Jam in lieu of the less political material he was writing with his current band The Style Council. In the third verse, the lyrics mention a sunflower, which references a piece of graffiti that Orzabal found on a wall near his house in London.{{Cite book |last=Spicer |first=Mark |title=The Beatles and Humour |date=10 August 2023 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-1053-7937-6 |location=New York, NY |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BRPFEAAAQBAJ|pages=239–241}}

Orzabal recorded the "Sowing the Seeds of Love" demo with a Fairlight CMI with vocals.{{Cite web |last=Sinclair |first=Paul|date=21 August 2019 |title=SDE Exclusive: Tears For Fears on the making of Sowing The Seeds of Love – SuperDeluxeEdition |url=https://superdeluxeedition.com/interview/sde-exclusive-tears-for-fears-on-the-making-of-sowing-the-seeds-of-love/ |access-date=24 October 2024 |language=en-US}} It was then tracked at Townhouse Studios with Orzabal on electric piano and vocals, Curt Smith on bass guitar, Chris Hughes on drums, and Ian Stanley on Hammond organ.{{Cite web |title=Tears for Fears: The Seeds of Love (Super Deluxe Edition) |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/tears-for-fears-the-seeds-of-love-super-deluxe-edition/ |access-date=5 December 2023|website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}} David Bascombe, who served as the engineer and producer for these sessions, said that he tried to coax Stanley into overdubbing another take on Hammond organ, but he expressed no interest in doing so. He called Stanley's organ part "fantastic", but said that he did not "rate himself as a keyboard player at all, so it was always a bit like pulling teeth."

"Sowing the Seeds of Love" incorporates a number of musical styles and recording techniques, with a number of reviewers considering it a pastiche of the Beatles, produced in a tempo and style reminiscent of their late 1960s output, even for the use of a brief trumpet line very similar to the one that can be heard in "Penny Lane".{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE4DB113FF932A15751C0A966958260|title=Disciples of the Beatles|access-date=31 July 2008|author=Stephen Holden|date=21 February 1990|work=The New York Times}} Orzabal took further inspiration from "I Am the Walrus" when developing the song, including the tempo changes. Bascombe, recalled that the band derived the tempo from a parody of "I Am the Walrus" titled "Piggy in the Middle", which was created by The Rutles.{{Cite book |last=Womack |first=Kenneth |title=The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2014 |isbn=9798216052005 |location=USA|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2xjOEAAAQBAJ&dq=the+rutles+piggy+in+the+middle&pg=PT558}}

David Giles from Music Week wrote, "They've pulled out all the stops here. There seems to be three or four different songs all competing for prominence, but it's the full-blown rousing chorus that wins through, and don't be surprised to see it hurtling number one-wards."{{cite magazine|first=David|last=Giles|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1989/MW-1989-09-02.pdf|title=Singles|magazine=Music Week|date=2 September 1989|page=23|access-date=13 March 2023}}

Stephen Holden of The New York Times thought that the song evoked the "treadmill rhythms, trumpet-laced textures and exhortatory mood of 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'" by The Beatles. David Marsh of The Guardian also noted several musical references that evoked the work of The Beatles, including "I Am the Walrus", Penny Lane", and "A Day in the Life". He also highlighted some of the production choices, including the "random shouts, screams and whoops in the background."{{Cite news |last=Marsh |first=David |date=27 September 2012 |title=Old music: Tears for Fears – The Seeds of Love |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2012/sep/27/old-music-tears-fears-seeds-love |access-date=19 October 2024|work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

The accompanying music video for "Sowing the Seeds of Love" was directed by Jim Blashfield, who had already made acclaimed videos for Joni Mitchell ("Good Friends"), Paul Simon ("The Boy in the Bubble") and Michael Jackson ("Leave Me Alone"). Joanna Priestley directed the "Joan Miró" section of the video for Jim Blashfield and Associates. It was animated with pencil on paper, transferred to punched acetate sheets and painted with Cel Vinyl acrylic paints.{{Cite web|url = https://hiroanim.org/en2014/e03compe/3-03e.html|title = Hiroshima 2014 International Jury|access-date = August 21, 2014|website = hiroanim.org}} The video won two awards at the MTV Music Video Awards: Best Breakthrough Video and Best Special Effects. It was also nominated in the "Best Group Video" and "Best Postmodern Video" categories.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080828184243/http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/1990/ MTV - Video Awards (1990)]

The single was released in August 1989 on multiple formats, including a 7-inch single, a 12-inch single, a 12-inch picture disc, a cassette single, and a CD single. An abridged version of "Sowing the Seeds of Love" was included on the 7-inch single, which was trimmed to 5 minutes and 43 seconds in duration. The 12-inch single included the album version of "Sowing the Seeds of Love" with "Tears Roll Down", a largely instrumental non-album track as the B-side. Orzabal reworked "Tears Roll Down" into "Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down)" for the release of the band's Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits 82–92) compilation album.

In the United States, "Sowing the Seeds of Love" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 53 on the week dated 2 September 1989. During its ninth week on the chart, it peaked at No. 2. As such, the song became the band's highest-charting single in the United States since "Shout". It spent 15 weeks in the top 100; all but three of those weeks were spent in the top 40.{{Cite book |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |title=The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits |date=2010 |publisher=Billboard Books |isbn=978-0-8230-8554-5 |edition=9th |location=New York |pages=647}} Orzabal commented that the song's failure to reach number one "gave the American record company an excuse to take their foot off the gas."

"Sowing the Seeds of Love" debuted at No. 9 on the UK singles chart on the week dated 2 September 1989. Two weeks later, it peaked at number five. The song spent a total of nine weeks in the top 75.

• 7-inch and cassette single{{cite AV media notes|title=Sowing the Seeds of Love|others=Tears for Fears|year=1989|type=UK 7-inch single sleeve|publisher=Fontana Records|id=IDEAG 12, 874 996-7}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Sowing the Seeds of Love|others=Tears for Fears|year=1989|type=UK cassette single sleeve|publisher=Fontana Records|id=IDMC 12, 874 710-4}}

1. "Sowing the Seeds of Love" (7-inch version)
2. "Tears Roll Down"

• UK 12-inch and European CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Sowing the Seeds of Love|others=Tears for Fears|year=1989|type=UK 12-inch single sleeve|publisher=Fontana Records|id=IDEAT 12, 874 711-1}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Sowing the Seeds of Love|others=Tears for Fears|year=1989|type=UK CD single liner notes|publisher=Fontana Records|id=IDCD 12, 874 711-2}}

1. "Sowing the Seeds of Love" (full version)
2. "Tears Roll Down"
3. "Shout" (U.S. remix)

Note: The B-side track "Tears Roll Down" is an early, mostly instrumental version of "Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down)", which was released as a single in 1992 and included on the band's greatest hits album of the same name.

• Roland Orzabal – lead and backing vocals, guitars, Fairlight CMI
• Curt Smith – co-lead vocals, bass guitar
• Ian Stanley – Hammond organ
• Chris Hughes – drums
• Richard Niles – orchestral arrangement

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• List of RPM number-one singles of 1989
• List of Billboard number-one alternative singles of the 1980s

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{{Reflist}}

{{Tears for Fears}}

{{MTV Video Music Award – Breakthrough Video}}

{{MTV Video Music Award for Best Visual Effects}}

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Category:1989 singles

Category:1989 songs

Category:Fontana Records singles

Category:Music videos directed by Jim Blashfield

Category:Cashbox number-one singles

Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles

Category:Songs written by Curt Smith

Category:Songs written by Roland Orzabal

Category:Tears for Fears songs

Category:Songs about Margaret Thatcher