Released 6 November 1989 Recorded 1988–89 Length 6:30 | Format 7″, 12″, CDS Genre Soft rock, pop rock | |
B-side "Always in the Past"
"My Life In The Suicide Ranks"
"Ghost Papa" (1992 rerelease) | ||
"Woman in Chains" is a song by the English band Tears for Fears, released as the second single from their 1989 album The Seeds of Love.
Contents
The single reached the Top 40 in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Belgium, Ireland, Italy and New Zealand, and was a Top 20 hit in Canada (just missing the Top 10, at n°11), France, the Netherlands and in Poland (where it was particularly successful, reaching number 5 in the charts). The studio cut features Phil Collins on drums, Pino Palladino on fretless bass, and is also notable for guest vocals from female singer Oleta Adams, who would later go on to achieve a successful solo career.
The song was re-released in 1992 (with a different B-side and now credited to "Tears For Fears featuring Oleta Adams") in order to capitalise on the recent solo success of Oleta Adams and to promote the Tears for Fears Greatest Hits compilation Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits 82–92), this time reaching number 57 in the UK charts.
Content
"Woman in Chains" was recorded as a duet and Orzabal explained the impetus for the lyric to Melody Maker: "I was reading some feminist literature at the time and I discovered that there are societies in the world still in existence today that are non-patriarchal. They don't have the man at the top and the women at the bottom. They're matricentric — they have the woman at the centre and these societies are a lot less violent, a lot less greedy and there's generally less animosity... but the song is also about how men traditionally play down the feminine side of their characters and how both men and women suffer for it.... I think men in a patriarchal society are sold down the river a bit — okay, maybe we're told that we're in control but there are also a hell of a lot of things that we miss out on, which women are allowed to be".
The song was later sampled in the S.A.S. single "So Free" featuring Cam'ron and on Uneasy Listening Vol. 1 by DJ Z-Trip and DJ P. It also appears on the soundtrack of the 1993 film Boxing Helena.
Music video
The video, directed by Andy Morahan, was filmed in black and white and focuses on the abusive relationship between a man (a boxer) and a woman (a pole-dancer, played by Angela Alvarado); interspersed with shots of the band and guest vocalist Oleta Adams performing the song.