"Sowing the Seeds of Love" was a worldwide smash hit for Tears for Fears, second only to "Shout" and "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" for chart success. The song also charted in nine other countries besides the US and UK - most of those in the Top 10. The song is a throwback to '60s nostalgia (big in the late '80s) with a nod to The Beatles and a kind of Flower Power philosophy to it, including political lyrics starting with "High time we made a stand and shook up the views of the common man" and ending with "An end to need and the politics of greed."
Written by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, the lyrics in this song are a byproduct of Orzabal's interest in psychology and philosophy - he cites Sartre's Les Mains Sales and Arthur Janov's Primal Scream as literary influences. The song is a call to action, asking us to reject the status quo: "High time we made a stand and shook up the views of the common man."
The title was inspired by the English folk song "The Seeds Of Love," which Orzabal heard about on a radio program about folk tunes. As the story goes, Cecil Sharp (1859 - 1924), a noted scholar and collector of folk songs, overheard a gardener named John England humming the obscure tune as he mowed the lawn and persuaded him to recall the lyrics. The tale inspired Orzabal's own lyric, "Mr. England sowing the seeds of love."
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