Song · Tears for Fears
“Mothers Talk” by Tears for Fears
From the album Songs From the Big Chair (1985)
“Mothers Talk” by Tears for Fears appears on 7 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 1986 and 2003. It was first released in 1985 on the album Songs From the Big Chair. Its best result is #80 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1986. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #159 alternative song of 1986 and #3,214 alternative song of all time.
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"Mothers Talk" was Tears for Fears' opening shot from Songs from the Big Chair, released in 1984, six months before the album. Roland Orzabal wrote it with Ian Stanley and sings it over a clanking, restless new wave groove that sounds like a band reaching for something bigger and harder.
It was their seventh single and fifth UK Top 40 hit, and it did respectable business overseas. Yet nobody involved is quite sentimental about it. Orzabal says it pushed the band somewhere new but admits he doesn't like it; producer Chris Hughes calls it a key step in their growth, though he and engineer Dave Bascombe agree it isn't one of Orzabal's best songs. "Shout" came next.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 80 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1986 | 107 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 336 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988) | 496 |
| 1988 | 488 | Live 105 | Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) | 501 |
| 1989 | 135 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) | 495 |
| 1996 | 495 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) | 500 |
| 2002 | 1355 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 1086 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
Also listed as: Mother's Talk.
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