Head Over Heels

“Head over Heels” is the tenth sinle release of Tears for Fears in the UK. It was the band’s tenth single release in the United Kingdom. It reached #8 spot in the UK Top 40 hit, in July 1985 it went down to #12 and was at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. A limited edition four-leaf clover shaped picture disc was issued for the single’s release in the UK.

“Head over Heels” had been done almost two years prior as a piece of a said segue with the song “Broken”, which was beforehand a stand alone B-side to the “Pale Shelter” single in 1983. Both of the songs share the same piano/synth motif; and “Head over Heels” ultimately came to be in the middle of two bookend parts of “Broken” in live performances. This placement carried over to the final track listing of the Big Chair LP, with a studio recording of “Broken” ahead of “Head Over Heels” and it followed a live reprise of “Broken”.

Roland Orzabal performed this song as the lead vocals.

It is basically a love song and one of the most simple tracks that Tears for Fears have ever recorded. It is a love song that goes a bit perverse at the end.

—Roland Orzabal

Since the release of “Head over Heels” only two official remixes were brought out.

“Preacher Mix” is the title given to the 12” version and it was an extended remix of the whole “Broken/Head Over Heels/Broken” medley. Producer Chris Hughes created the mix and an unusual spoken word was featured in the intro in which Roland Orzabal recites lyrics from the song “I Believe” in the style of a preacher. This mix is outstanding as it contains the only released studio recording of the reprised version of”Broken”.

David Bascombe on the other hand created the 7” version mix, but it ended in a cold stop after they used “time flies” lyric as a segue, instead of the using the reprised version of “Broken”.

“When in Love with a Blind Man” is a short song, which became the b-side to the “Head over Heels” single. Bassist Curt Smith performed the vocals.

This song predates a track called ‘The Working Hour’ from the Big Chair album. The motif is identical; it’s something Ian (Stanley) came up with which I later put melody and lyrics to. It was recorded in The Wool Hall and was the b-side to ‘Head over Heels’.

—Roland Orzabal

In June 1985 the promotional clip for “Head over Heels” was filmed. It was the fourth Tears for Fears video directed by the famous music video producer Nigel Dick. It is centered on Roland Orzabal’s attempts to get a librarians attention (played by a Canadian model), while a mixture of characters (which were mostly the rest of the band) takes part in shenanigans in the library. The last scene shows Orzabal and the librarian as an older married couple. The video took place at the Emmanuel College Library in Toronto, Canada.

A 2008 literal music video highlighted the irrationality of the music video. The new video replaced the original lyrics with lyrics that improved the video’s contents, such as “What’s happening with that monkey?/What is with this gas mask?/This is a strange library.

“Head over Heels” was prominently featured in the 2001 cult classic Donnie Darko. Director Richard Kelly stated on the DVD commentary, the scene in which the song was used was choreographed and written specially with the song in mind.

The following artist covered “Head over Heels”:

• Relient K covered this song on their summer tour in 2007 as an opening to their song “In Love With the 80s,” which mentions the band in the line “And my favorite band will always be Tears for Fears.”
• Kissy Sell Out as Head Over Heels (Kissy Klub Version)
• Kids in the Way an American Christian rock band, featured this song in their 2005 album Apparitions of Melody.
• P. Diddy sampled the song on the Press Play album track “Testimonial (Intro)” in 2006.
• Samamidon an American experimental folk singer also had the song on his 2007 album But This Chicken Proved False.
• Johnny Goudie and Joseph King have covered the song at their combined concerts, and Goudie has also performed a solo acoustic version of the song.
• Latterly, freeform Bargain Music of southern California has covered the song. This version finds vocalist Josh accompanied with an acoustic guitar playing the entire song solo. It is also on their new album American Born at #7 track.
• In late October 2008, Katy Perry an American pop singer covered this song.
• Rogue Traders an Australian electro pop band featured some of the songs parts on their 2006 single In Love Again. Some of these pieces were also used in an advertisement in an Australian television on Channel 10 for the Australian drama Neighbors during the mid 2007, serving to restore the show.
• The X-ecutioners with DJ Cash Money and Marvelous Marvin use the songs intro in the song Ugly people be quiet on their album Scratchology in 2003.
• New Found Glory an American Pop punk band also had this song on their second “Movie Song” cover album From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II.