Tears For Fears - "The Working Hour"

i have always loved this song way more than i figured it deserved, and never, ever mentioned it or played it on the radio or put it on a mix for anyone else.

it just builds really swell, doesn't it? that "find out, find out, what this fear is about" bit made me [aged 14] think of a bunch of disinterested and disaffected socialist psycho-sociologists [who had a rock band] wondering what makes americans susceptible to fear of the soviets. so, i put it on a mix tape bleeding into sting's children's crusade. talk about guilty pleasure.

I've been going back and forth for a while on the issue, because I'm making a Big Mix, one of those C700-this-is-the-best-music-I-can-think-of-ever-ever mixes, and I don't want to seem frivolous, but I think this has to be the first track. I've tried putting it in other places, but it's just not grand enough if it's not first.

(Track 2, "West End Girls"? Still mulling that one over.)

Also, a hearty congratulations to the thread starter for making extra sure that even though he loves this song, no one would ever mistake him for the kind of person who loves this song. Covering your ass is soooo important.

AHHHH! THIS IS THE BEST SONG ON THIS WHOLE ALBUM INNIT?

Favorite track on the record! Spot-on thread, yo.

Holy Fucking Shit

Wow, I really screwed that one up. Let's try again.

That's why I'm in musical heaven, that's why Jesus was born etc.

Also I'm an atheist, so I'm just kidding about Jesus. LOL.

best song ever

Yes.

we need more threads for individual songs, imo

my first time hearing this song (and Songs from the Big Chair itself, for that matter), and my god, that saxophone, the lush synths, the ponderous, anxious dreamy nature of the track.

all album deep cuts should be this fucking good.

the vocals on the "find out what this fear is about" part, incredible.

Killer song. My fave on this album followed closely by “Head Over Heels” and possibly my favorite of theirs, period.

Amazing song, SftBC is great but I wish they could have made a whole record that had the same kinda resonance as that tune.

"The Working Hour" has that leisurely intro. The sound they got for those pianos and keyboards!

I love the Bo Diddley riff too.

I have a strange perspective on this band: I'm always expecting them to reveal some sort of "big secret" behind the songs, as if there's a decoder or backstory that will unlock them. I get this feeling even from the songs that I enjoy without reservations, like "I Believe" or "Pale Shelter". This song and "Listen" are prime examples.
It could be Orzabal's vague, inflated lyrics, but that never got in the way of appreciating early Simple Minds, for instance.

there kind of is a decoder ring behind all their stuff: arthur janov (the primal scream guy) and his philosophy

I think that's it - 38 years ago, I read somewhere that this was a Serious Album dealing with Heavy Ideas taken from an Actual Book, and that's still the frame in which I see the band. Yet it doesn't explain why a talented songwriter who makes bold compositional choices and plays with good musicians leaves me scratching my head more often than getting into the music.