Woman in Chains
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| “Woman in Chains” | |||||
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| Single by Tears for Fears from the album The Seeds of Love |
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| B-side | "Always in the Past" | ||||
| Released | 1989 | ||||
| Format | 7", 12", CDS | ||||
| Genre | Psychedelic Rock | ||||
| Length | 6:30 | ||||
| Label | Fontana Records/Mercury Records | ||||
| Writer(s) | Roland Orzabal | ||||
| Producer | Tears for Fears & Dave Bascombe | ||||
| Tears for Fears singles chronology | |||||
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| Oleta Adams singles chronology | |||||
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"Woman in Chains" is a song by the British band Tears for Fears, released as the second single from their 1989 album The Seeds of Love. Though not as successful as their previous single, "Sowing the Seeds of Love", it reached the Top 40 in the UK, US, Australia, Ireland and Italy and was a Top 20 hit in France and in the Netherlands. The studio cut features Phil Collins on drums, 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 promote the Tears for Fears Greatest Hits compilation Tears Roll Down, this time reaching #57 in the UK.
"Woman in Chains" was recorded a duet with Oleta Adams 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".
"Woman in Chains" can be heard in the movie Boxing Helena.
[edit] Music video
The video, directed by Andy Morahan, is filmed in black and white and focuses on the abusive relationship between a man (a boxer) and a woman (a pole-dancer) and is interspersed with shots of the band and guest vocalist Oleta Adams performing the song.
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