Roland Orzabal

“I'm proud of the younger Roland. Very proud of some of the lyrics. They stand up today. I'm cool with it, though some of it is a bit painful.”

“I didn't marry someone timid and conservative.”

“Two decades later, Gary Jules sang 'Mad World' for the film 'Donnie Darko' and got the Christmas No 1 in 2003. That was probably the proudest moment of my career.”

“Mad World' hasn't dated because it's expressive of a period I call the teenage menopause, where your hormones are going crazy as you're leaving childhood. Your fingers are on the cliff and you're about to drop off, but somehow you cling on.”

“A song about post-teenage angst like 'Mad World' seems to be permanently relevant.”

“I can do some vocals in England; I can come across to LA You can do various versions - replace this, replace that. You can use software that almost makes the record for you.”

“When I became a parent I forgot about the part of myself which was very emotional, very dour a little depressed - but very good at writing emotional songs.”

“Tears for Fears was always very personal, but at the same time, it was always big business, a lot of pressure.”

“I'm interested in what makes people tick, how they think, what makes them behave the way they do.”

“Obviously, the big hits like 'Shout,' 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World,' 'Head Over Heels,' we play live, so there's nothing new about them to me.”

“I'm a Leo, with an Aquarian mid-heaven, so I can be mistaken for an Aquarius. My Sun-Uranus conjunction in Leo makes me an honorary Aquarian anyway.”

“I think it's a shame that 'Woman in Chains' wasn't a hit at the time, although it's become one of people's favorite songs.”

“It was brilliant in LA. The kids were young enough for it not to disturb their education and it was an incredibly healthy lifestyle. The weather's so good that you're up every morning, walking in the canyons, playing tennis three times a week.”

“Good, effective pop music isn't just verbal language. It takes a good physical beat to make you feel something.”

“A lot of young people have been raised on our music, or rather had it forced upon them by their parents.”

“All the serious bands, all the punks, came from Bristol.”

“When you write really good lyrics - and sometimes I did! - they are just a joy to sing.”

“My dad had been in the second world war, had electric shock treatment, suffered from anxiety and was abusive to my mum. I kept a lid on my feelings at school but, when I was 18, dropped out of everything and couldn't even be bothered to get out of bed.”

“Raoul' sold a respectable 700,000 copies without a hit single. It didn't take off. If you don't sell 8 million albums or 4 million albums again, everybody deems it a big failure.”

“Better to say something simply instead of giving people a bunch of vague metaphors to mull over.”