"Sowing the Seeds of Love" is a 1989 song and single by the British group Tears for Fears

Tears for Fears

Tears for Fears are an English new wave band formed in the early 1980s by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith.Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, they were initially associated with the New Wave synthesiser bands of the early 1980s but later branched out into...

 from their 1989 album The Seeds of Love

The Seeds of Love

-Bonus tracks:Note: A remix of "Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams" was also released as a separate single in the UK and reached #70 on the charts.-Personnel:* Drums - Manu Katché, Chris Hughes, Phil Collins, Simon Phillips* Bass - Pino Palladino, Curt Smith...

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A worldwide hit, it reached the top five in the UK, Canada (where it was #1), Ireland, Italy, New Zealand and the Netherlands. In the US, it peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, while topping the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The single also reached the Top 20 in numerous other countries.

The song is a pastiche

Pastiche

A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...

 of The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

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The music video, directed by Jim Blashfield

Jim Blashfield

Jim Blashfield is an American filmmaker and media artist, best known for his short films such as Suspicious Circumstances and The Mid-Torso of Inez, and his music videos for musicians Talking Heads, Joni Mitchell, Nu Shooz, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Michael Jackson, Tears for Fears, "Weird Al"...

, won two awards at the MTV Music Video Awards: Best Breakthrough Video

MTV Video Music Award - Breakthrough Video

The MTV Video Music Award for Breakthrough Video was first awarded in 1988, replacing the award for Most Experimental Video. Along with Best Direction in a Video, this award was considered to be one of the most important professional categories at the VMAs, as every once in a while it was even...

 and Best Special Effects

MTV Video Music Award for Best Special Effects

The following is a list of MTV Video Music Awards winners for Best Special Effects in a Video....

.

It was also the first song ever played on Atlantic 252

Atlantic 252

Atlantic 252 was a long wave radio station broadcasting to Ireland and the United Kingdom on 252 kHz from its 1988 purpose built transmission site Clarkstown radio transmitter, which provided service to Atlantic 252 from 1989 until 2002. The station's studios were located just 12 km away in...

, an Irish radio station broadcasting across most of the UK, which went live at 7am on 1 September 1989, when Gary King greeted listeners to the new station.

Chart positions

Charts,,,	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...	13
Austrian Singles Chart	17
Canadian RPM RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... Top Singles	1
French Singles Chart	18
German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...	11
Irish Singles Chart	4
Italian Singles Chart	2
Netherlands Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...	3
New Zealand Singles Charts	4
Spanish Singles Chart	8
Sweden Singles Chart	8
Swiss Singles Chart	11
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	5
US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	2
US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...	1