Synopsis

Curt Smith drives a vintage Austin-Healey 3000 through the Southern California desert, moving between empty highways, roadside attractions, and dusty expanses. The journey is intercut with footage of Tears for Fears performing in a studio. After stopping at the Wheel Inn diner to make a phone call, Smith continues into the desert, where an approaching group of dirt-bike and all-terrain-vehicle riders creates a tense, dreamlike finale. The video turns the song into an open-road portrait of mid-1980s America.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was built around the idea of an American driving song. Curt Smith described the concept simply as getting an Austin-Healey 3000, going to Los Angeles and the desert, and driving.

• Filming took place across Southern California, including Los Angeles, Desert Hot Springs, Palm Springs, and Cabazon. The roadside Wheel Inn diner and the nearby prospector-and-donkey statue are among the recognizable locations.

• Smith later recalled that the production was extremely difficult. He said he slept in a camper bus in the desert, had to be ready around 4 a.m. for a sunrise shot, and even helped clean the Austin-Healey when no one else was available to do it.

• The off-road sequence involved a serious on-set accident. A child was thrown from one of the vehicles and was knocked unconscious, forcing the crew to search urgently for medical assistance.

• The clip became an important part of the band's breakthrough in the United States. Along with "Shout," it received heavy MTV exposure while "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" became Tears for Fears' first US No. 1 single in 1985.

• The song had originally been developed under the title "Everybody Wants to Go to War." The more universal final title helped the video support a broader, less literal reading of the song's themes of power, freedom, and control.