Pale Shelter

“Pale Shelter” is Tears For Fears second single released in 1982. It was sung by bassist Curt Smith and written by Roland Orzabal– at that time it was called “Pale Shelter (You Don’t Give Me Love)” – it didn’t have any luck in chart success until the reissue, which had a different mix the following year. It finally became the third hit taken from their debut LP The Hurting (1983) and third UK Top 5 chart hit, peaking at number 5. The song later on reached the top 40 in different countries.

“Pale Shelter” was recorded originally in 1981 for Tears For Fears original demo tape. The songs title is a reference to “Pale Shelter Scene”, a 1941 drawing by British sculptor Henry Moore.

Sometimes I can’t finish a song but I’ve learned to leave it alone for a couple of weeks in such cases. For instance, for our second single ‘Pale Shelter’ I kept playing two chords for weeks and weeks, and then one morning I woke up and sang the tune and the words, just like that. Then another day I was flicking through an art book and came across ‘Pale Shelter’ by Henry Moore, so that wrapped up everything nicely.

—Roland Orzabal

It’s a kind of a love song, though more referring to one’s parents than to a girl.

—Roland Orzabal

There are two distinct recordings of “Pale Shelter”: the original single version produced by Mike Howlett (subtitled “You Don’t Give Me Love”), and the album re-recording produced by Ross Cullum and Chris Hughes, which itself was released later as a single. Both of the versions open with a sample, which was played in reverse; on the original, it has an additional spoken lyric by Orzabal, while on the album cut, it is a short piano lick. Likewise, there are two distinct 12″ extended mixes of the song.

After signing a contract with Mercury Records, a Mike Howlett produced version of the song became the band’s second single release. While it gained some club play, the single was eventually a disappointment in the UK charts. In 1983, after the success of singles “Mad World” and “Change”, “Pale Shelter” was given another shot as a single to endorse the recently released LP The Hurting. To give a chart push the second time around, Mercury took full advantage of the picture disc and colored vinyl strategies that were popular throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. In total, eleven different variations of the reissued single were available in the music industry. Aided by this and the duo’s coinciding British concerts (at many of which the song was played twice), the single at last became a chart success

The  ‘Canadian Single Version’ was later released in 1983 to advertise The Hurting in Canada. As an alternative of making use of the Cullum/Hughes recording located on the album itself, the record company released instead a unique edit of the original extended version produced by Mike Howlett.

“Pale Shelter” promotional music video was filmed in Los Angeles, California, USA in early 1983. The video is prominent for a scene in which Smith and Orzabal walk on the landing strip of an airport towards an image of a giant iron burn, with steam coming off the image as they walk over it. It was also notable for a scene in which they walk headfirst into a sea of flying paper airplanes, with one of them hitting Orzabal straight in the eye. Music video pioneer Steve Barron directed the video.

Chart Position:

1982

#193 in the UK Singles Chart

1983

#5     in the UK Singles Chart

#5     in the Irish Singles Chart

#15   in the Canadian Singles Chart

#25   in the German Singles Chart

1985

#73   in the UK Singles Chart

Tears For Fears – Pale Shelter