Tears for Fears : I Believe

Okay, here's a secret. With all the crazy, wild and fun music I listen to, one of my top ten favorite albums of all time, coming in just under Paul Simon's Graceland which I think at this point takes top honors, is Tears for Fears' Songs from the Big Chair. You've already heard the two most popular songs from the album, "Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World". "Shout" used to get on my nerves something awful, but I loved, loved, loved "Everybody". That's what prompted me to get the LP in the first place, I think.

I remember being 15 and driving at night in our Subaru through the back country of ... Montana? Colorado? Utah? One of those western states, through desert and down canyon roads with my mom in the car and this cassette playing over and over. Bless her heart, it must have cycled around five or six times before she finally asked me to take it out. She doesn't really like music at all, especially anything like this, but she put up with it. I love ya, mom.

There were a couple of tunes I could have chosen. I thought about going with the Discipline-inspired "Broken" or the moody electronic Yaz-ish art rock of "Listen". Instead I went for the simple, still beauty of "I Believe".

"I Believe" is 'blue-eyed soul'. That is, sweet soul sung by white boys. That sounds perversely derogatory, but it's actually complimentary, applied to Robert Palmer (pre-"Addicted to Love") and Daryl Hall ("Sara Smile" anybody?) back in their heyday. Nowadays people throw it at Michael Bolton and Joss Stone, both of whom make me shudder.

The song is simply orchestrated. A jazzy kit, some piano and a lone sax, plus the vocals.  It plays like a light jazz combo in a hotel lounge. The vocal line is superb, soft but strong, with a subtly complex melody, on top of which they throw in some tricky little touches. At one point a sax solo steps in & takes over, purposefully derailing the rest of the band. At another, there's a sudden burst of light applause, a phantom audience suddenly expressing their approval at an incongruous announcement from the singer.

It's a gorgeous song and I hope you enjoy it. "I Believe" is from Tears for Fears' excellent 1985 release, Songs from the Big Chair.

[You can listen to Tears for Fears' "I Believe" by navigating to the post "Song068" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]

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