Harry Styles is making a habit of covering classic British pop songs from the ‘80s. Six years ago, he and his band gave a widely acclaimed and much-viewed performance of Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer on the Howard Stern Show, and now they’ve turned their hands to another of the era’s banger – Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears For Fears.
The occasion was a session in BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge. Styles performed four tracks from his new album. Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. – Aperture, American Girls, Dance No More and Carla's Song – before turning his attention to Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal’s 1985 masterpiece.
While we don’t think it slaps quite as hard as his Gabriel cover, Styles certainly does the song justice, giving us a cover that sticks pretty faithfully to the original blueprint.
The performance didn’t escape the notice of Tears For Fears themselves – or someone on their social media team, at least. Reposting the clip on Instagram, the band said “Loving this cover by Harry Styles for BBC Radio 1!”
Styles probably didn’t have to worry that some of his younger fans would be unfamiliar with the song, either. Everybody Wants To Rule The World is still racking up big numbers on streaming, and its appearances in films such as Despicable Me 4 and Marty Supreme (over the end credits) have kept it firmly on the pop culture radar.
What’s more, he’s not the first artist of his generation to cover it. Lorde gave it a more somber treatment when she recorded the song for the soundtrack to Hunger Games: Catching Fire in 2013, receiving critical acclaim in the process.
Back to Styles, though, and we have to wonder if, as a keen marathon runner, he missed a trick by not covering the lesser-known, reworked version of Everybody Wants To Rule The World that was released in 1986: Everybody Wants To Run The World.
Re-recorded in partnership with Sport Aid, the athletic spin-off of Band Aid and Live Aid, this adapted the title and lyric to promote the 10km charity fun run that was being held.
In a photoshoot for his recent interview with Runner’s World, Styles was even seen wearing a ‘Run The World’ T-shirt. How hard would it have been for him to join the dots?
