Suffer the Children

When Tears for Fears took their first steps as a band, one of the first ideas they translated into sound was *Suffer the Children*. This song marked a milestone, as it was their first official release, recorded shortly after Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith left behind their previous project, Graduate. The original version, produced by David Lord at his Crescent Studios in Bath, England, was an early exploration of sequencers and drum machines. The idea behind the lyrics, according to Orzabal, revolved around the belief that children are born with an innate purity, a notion that the experience of parenthood can nuance. The recording of this piece, along with *Pale Shelter*, was instrumental in the band securing their first record deal in 1981.

Subsequently, to include it on their debut album, The Hurting, released in 1983, the song was re-recorded. This new version featured production by Chris Hughes and Ross Cullum, and differed from the original by the absence of an additional vocal part by Curt Smith at the beginning. In both versions, the original and the re-recorded one, the voice of Caroline, Orzabal's wife, can be heard, providing a "childlike vocal" in the bridge. *Suffer the Children* was initially released as a single in the UK in 7 and 12-inch formats. Despite receiving support from influential DJs like John Peel, the single did not manage to enter the charts. However, in 1985, following the success of their second album, Songs from the Big Chair, the Phonogram label decided to re-release the single, which this time had a moderate reception, narrowly missing the British top 50. The different versions of *Suffer the Children*, along with its B-side *Wino*, were not available on CD until the reissue of The Hurting in 2013.