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Cover of Songs From the Big Chair by Tears for Fears
Cover: Songs From the Big Chair

Song · Tears for Fears

“Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears

From the album Songs From the Big Chair (1985)

“Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears appears on 90 radio countdowns from 28 stations between 1985 and 2026. It was first released in 1985 on the album Songs From the Big Chair. Its best result is #1 on the WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '80s. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #12 alternative song of 1985, #123 alternative song of all time and #69 of the '80s.

90countdowns
28stations
#1best position
1#1 finishes
4top 10 finishes
1985–2026years charted

Watch

Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule The World (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (TearsForFearsVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

Tears for Fears cut "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" for Songs from the Big Chair, their second studio album, and it went out as the record's third single in 1985. Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley and Chris Hughes wrote it and Hughes produced it, and it rolls along on a loping shuffle of glassy synths and glinting guitar while the words chew on humanity's hunger for power and control, and the corruption that trails behind it.

Philosophy you can hum turned out to travel well. It went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and in Canada and New Zealand, stopped at number two in the UK, Ireland and Australia, and went gold in both Canada and Britain. MTV got behind the video, and in 1986 it won Best Single at the Brit Awards; that same year the band re-recorded it as a charity single for Sport Aid.

Alongside "Shout", it has become one of the band's signature songs. Critics have since ranked it among the decade's best, and it has been covered again and again, most famously by Lorde for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire in 2013.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1985 9 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1985 107
1985 23 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1985 91

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
– 124 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 200 Songs of the 1980s 200
1988 147 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988) 496
1988 262 Live 105 Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) 501
1989 62 91X 91X Top 191 Songs of the 1980s (1989) 191
1989 81 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) 495
1989 95 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) 500
1990 200 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1990) 299
1991 234 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) 500
1991 853 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) 1002
1992 63 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) 500
1992 159 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992) 299
1994 118 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1994 151 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1994 86 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994) 500
1995 279 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) 500
1996 52 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) 500
1996 160 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1996 79 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996) 498
1998 128 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) 488
1999 38 Channel 104.9 Channel 104.9 Top 101 Songs of the '80s (February 1999) 104
1999 451 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 126 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 124 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 300
1999 323 WFNX WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999) 500
1999 485 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 90 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999) 500
1999 169 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 70 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
2000 307 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000) 500
2000 169 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 308 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001) 498
2001 169 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 1821 WFPK WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time 2000
2001 146 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 500
2001 241 WBRU WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) 500
2002 398 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002) 500
2002 169 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 562 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 169 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 355 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 169 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2004 192 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 500
2004 875 WXPN WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) 885
2005 368 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) 500
2005 171 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 157 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 500
2006 355 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) 499
2006 246 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2006) 500
2007 496 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2007 609 WTMD WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time 897
2008 498 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 518 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2009 495 WXPN WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) 885
2010 527 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2010 292 WXPN WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) 885
2011 544 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2012 614 WXPN WXPN 885 Greatest Rock Songs (2012) 885
2013 557 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 573 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 651 Big 100 BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014) 1000
2014 365 WXPN WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014) 885
2016 530 WYEP WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 913
2018 202 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs 892
2019 383 WYEP WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 1099
2019 88 102.5 KZOK KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 1025
2019 383 WYEP WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 1017
2020 224 WXPN WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time 2020
2020 215 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020) 1025
2021 13 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2021 471 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) 1043
2022 201 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) 500
2022 25 KEXP KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022) 491
2022 536 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2022) 1043
2022 86 X96 X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time 500
2022 792 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) 1025
2023 3 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2023 10 91X 91X Top 91 Songs of The Last 40 Years 91
2023 38 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 1229
2023 525 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909
2023 193 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023) 1043
2024 163 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2024) 1043
2024 30 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years 1049
2025 481 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2025) 500
2025 93 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) 1043
2025 60 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs 800
2026 1 WFPK WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '80s 498
2026 37 WYEP WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time 1180
2026 190 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2026) 500

Also listed as: Everbody Wants To Rule The World; Everybody Wants To Rule The World.

Charting alongside it in 1985

Best songs of 1985 →
  1. 1Alive and KickingSimple Minds
  2. 2The Perfect KissNew Order
  3. 3In Between DaysThe Cure
  4. 4Take On Mea-ha
  5. 5Road to NowhereTalking Heads
  6. 6Shake the DiseaseDepeche Mode

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