An interview with musician Roland Orzabal from the band Tears for Fears, discussing his new autobiography, Welcome to Your Life, where he tells his life story through the lens of astrology.
In the late 1980s, Roland experienced a profound shift in his worldview, moving from the psychological belief that we are all born as “blank slates” to discovering the stunning accuracy of the natal chart. We discuss his deep dive into the subject and how understanding his Leo Sun and Capricorn stellium helped him navigate the intense pressures of global fame, the complex creative dynamics within Tears for Fears, and his challenging family history.
What makes Welcome to Your Life so unique is that it serves as both a deeply personal, unfiltered memoir and an accessible introduction to astrology. During the episode, we pull up Roland’s birth chart to track the major transits of his life, from the Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions that aligned with some of his biggest career milestones, to the heavy Pluto and Neptune transits that correlated with periods of profound personal loss, addiction, and eventual healing.
Ultimately, this is a conversation about fate, free will, and how astrology provides a hidden language to make sense of our most difficult and triumphant moments. It was an honor to speak with a legendary musician who is also a dedicated, lifelong student of the astrological tradition.
This is episode 545 of The Astrology Podcast.
Get the Book
The book came out on August 4, and it is available now in bookstores everywhere:
Welcome to Your Life: Love, Death & Tears For Fears
Timestamps
00:00:00 Introduction and Roland’s new astrological memoir
00:03:16 Discovering astrology and primal therapy in the 1980s
00:10:55 Interpersonal astrology and synastry with bandmates
00:16:36 Perspectives on fate, free will, and major Pluto transits
00:20:57 Looking at Roland’s birth chart and key placements
00:25:26 The non-linear, Mercury retrograde style of the book
00:28:13 The loss of his first wife and the astrology of meeting Emily
00:33:02 Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions and signing the first record deal
00:35:41 The first Saturn return and the split with Curt Smith
00:46:24 Weaving astrological teachings into a mainstream memoir
00:50:18 The astrology behind Songs from the Big Chair and The Seeds of Love
00:53:40 Progressed Sun in Libra and experiencing a major life shift
00:56:09 Thoughts on the Gary Jules cover of “Mad World”
00:59:50 Childhood, his parents, and fourth house Uranian themes
01:08:16 Neptune squaring the Ascendant and recovering from addiction
01:17:31 How birth charts correlate with personal belief systems
01:24:41 Major astrological influences: Liz Greene and Richard Tarnas
01:28:55 Releasing an album on 9/11 during the Saturn-Pluto opposition
01:32:34 Closing remarks
01:32:42 End cards
Watch the Video Version of This Episode
–
Listen to the Audio Version of This Episode
Listen to the audio version of this episode or download it as an MP3:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:34:56 — 87.6MB)