Mad World

"Mad World"
Single by Tears for Fears
from the album The Hurting
B-side	"Ideas as Opiates" "Saxophones as Opiates" (12")
Released	20 September 1982
Format	7" 12"
Recorded	1982
Genre	Synthpop[1]
Length	3:32
Label	Phonogram Mercury
Writer(s)	Roland Orzabal
Producer(s)	Chris Hughes Ross Cullum
Tears for Fears singles chronology
"Pale Shelter (You Don't Give Me Love)" (1982) "Mad World" (1982) "Change" (1983)
Music sample "Mad World"

"Mad World" is a song by the British band Tears for Fears, written by Roland Orzabal and sung by bassist Curt Smith.

It was the band's third single release and first chart hit, reaching #3 on the UK Singles Chart in November 1982. Both "Mad World" and its B-side, "Ideas as Opiates", appeared on the band's debut LP The Hurting the following year. In the same time, the song eventually became Tears for Fears' first international hit, reaching the Top 40 in several countries in 1982 and 1983, peaking notably at #2 in South Africa.^[2]

Two decades later, "Mad World" made a popular resurgence when it was covered in a much slower and sombre minimalist style by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules for the soundtrack to the movie Donnie Darko in 2001. This version reached #1 in the UK in December 2003, and also became an international hit. More recently, Jasmine Thompson made a cover version which she released as part of her EP Another Bundle of Tantrums.

Background

"Mad World" was originally written on acoustic guitar when Orzabal was 19, it was a deliberate attempt to write something in the vein of Duran Duran's "Girls on Film". After a few false starts with Orzabal on vocals, Smith took over and "suddenly it sounded fabulous".^[3]

It began life intended to be the B-side for the band's second single "Pale Shelter (You Don't Give Me Love)". At Polygram's insistence, the band instead decided it may be something people would like to hear on the radio and held back its release, waiting to issue the song as a single in its own right after re-recording it with producer Chris Hughes, a former drummer with Adam and the Ants.^[4]

That came when I lived above a pizza restaurant in Bath and I could look out onto the centre of the city. Not that Bath is very mad – I should have called it "Bourgeois World"!^[5]

— Roland Orzabal

"Mad World" was the first single off the finished album. The intention was to gain attention from it and we'd hopefully build up a little following. We had no idea that it would become a hit. Nor did the record company.^[5]

— Curt Smith

Curt Smith's ad lib in the song's final chorus resulted in a mondegreen. Smith clarified the actual lyric in 2010:

With Mad World's again-resurgent popularity, I'm getting asked more frequently about the last line on the album version from The Hurting, a line which I occasionally also sing in concert. The actual line is: "Halargian world." (Not "illogical world", "raunchy young world"(!), "enlarging your world", or a number of other interesting if not amusing guesses.) The real story: Halarge was an imaginary planet invented by either Chris Hughes or Ross Cullum during the recording of The Hurting. I added it as a joke during the lead vocal session, and we kept it. And there you have it.^[6]

— Curt Smith

Meanings

The song was influenced by the theories of Arthur Janov, author of The Primal Scream. The lyric "the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had" suggests that dreams of intense experiences such as death will be the best at releasing tension.^[7]

Song versions

The 7" version of "Mad World" is the same mix of the song found on The Hurting. The song had only one remix on its initial release, the World Remix that was featured on a 7" double-single. This mix is very similar to the album version, with the most notable differences being the additional echo added to the intro and middle sections and the subtraction of a subtle keyboard part from the bridge. A later remix by noted British music producer Afterlife was featured on the 2005 reissue of the Tears for Fears greatest hits collection Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits 82–92).

B-side

"Ideas as Opiates" is a song that originally served as the B-side to the "Mad World" single. It was later re-recorded for inclusion on The Hurting. The song takes its name from a chapter title in Arthur Janov's book Prisoners of Pain and features lyrics related to the concept of primal therapy. The song is musically sparse, featuring just a piano, drum machine, and saxophone. An alternative version of this song titled "Saxophones as Opiates" was included as a B-side on the 12" single and is mostly instrumental.

That's the chapter from Janov, and it's really a reference to people's mindsets, the way that the ego can suppress so much nasty information about oneself – the gentle way that the mind can fool oneself into thinking everything is great.^[5]

— Roland Orzabal

It really was all about that kind of thing – the psychological answer to religion being the opiate of the masses, whereas we thought ideas were, more than anything else.^[5]

— Curt Smith

Music video

Curt Smith in the "Mad World" music video

The promotional clip for "Mad World", filmed in late summer 1982, was Tears for Fears' first music video. It features a gloomy looking Curt Smith staring out of a window while Roland Orzabal performs a bizarre dance outside on a lakeside jetty. A brief party scene in the video features friends and family of the band, including Smith's then-wife Lynn.

According to Curt Smith, "When we made the video in a country estate on the cheap, we bussed all our friends and family up from Bath and had a fun day. The woman who's having the birthday party in the video is my mum."^[3]

The music video was directed by Clive Richardson who was notable for his work at that time with Depeche Mode.

Track listings

7": Mercury / IDEA3 (United Kingdom) / 812 213-7 (United States)

1. "Mad World" – 3:32
2. "Ideas as Opiates" – 3:54

7": Mercury / IDEA3 (Ireland) / 6059 568 (Australia, Europe) / TOS 1411 (South Africa)

1. "Mad World" (World Remix) – 3:42
2. "Ideas as Opiates" – 3:54

7" double pack: Mercury / IDEA33 (United Kingdom)

1. "Mad World" – 3:32
2. "Mad World" (World Remix) – 3:42
3. "Suffer the Children" (Remix) – 4:15
4. "Ideas as Opiates" – 3:54

12": Mercury / IDEA312 (United Kingdom) / 6400 677 (Europe)

1. "Mad World" – 3:32
2. "Ideas as Opiates" – 3:54
3. "Saxophones as Opiates" – 3:54

Chart positions

Michael Andrews and Gary Jules version

"Mad World"
Single by Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules
from the album Donnie Darko (Original Soundtrack) and Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets
B-side	"No Poetry"
Released	15 December 2003
Format	CD
Genre	Alternative rock, soft rock
Length	3:06
Label	Sanctuary

"Mad World" achieved a second round of success almost 20 years later after it was covered by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules for the film Donnie Darko (2001). While the Tears for Fears version featured synthesisers and heavy percussion, the Andrews/Jules version was stripped down; instead of a full musical backing, it used only a set of piano chords, a mellotron imitating a cello, very light touches of electric piano, and modest use of a vocoder on the chorus. The collaboration came about after Andrews asked Jules, a childhood friend, to add lyrics.^[13] Their version was originally released on CD in 2002 on the film's soundtrack, but an increasing cult-following spawned by the film's DVD release finally prompted Jules and Andrews to issue the song as a proper single. The release was a success in late 2003, becoming the Christmas number one in the UK.

The song's success in the UK did not, however, translate to the United States, where it reached number 30 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in the issue dated March 27, 2004. Jules performed "Mad World" with Mylène Farmer on her Timeless 2013 Tour.^[14] Later in 2006, the song was included in the commercial to the videogame Gears of War,^[15] which helped move it up the charts.^[16] A performance on the eighth season of American Idol by Adam Lambert also briefly increased its sales and interest in the song.^[17][18] The song reached No. 11 on the Rock Digital Songs chart.

Music video

The music video was directed by Michel Gondry. It begins with an aerial shot of a school; the bell rings and children go out onto the pavement. The rest of the video sees the children forming different shapes whilst Jules stands on the roof and watches from above. On two occasions the camera pans towards Jules looking down at the children, whilst a third pan away sees him playing a piano as the song ends.^[19]

Track listings

CD1: Sanctuary / SANXD250 (United Kingdom)

1. "Mad World" – 3:06
2. "No Poetry" – 3:59
3. "Mad World" (alternate version) – 3:37

CD2: Sanctuary / SANXD250X (United Kingdom)

1. "Mad World" (Grayed Out Mix) – 6:45
2. "The Artifact & Living" – 2:26
3. "Mad World" (video) – 3:20

Charts and certifications

Popular culture

• In 2011, the song was covered in the TV reality show The Glee Project.
• In late 2006, a condensed version of the Andrews/Jules cover of "Mad World" was featured in the award-winning commercial for the video game Gears of War. A instrumental version appeared in Gears of War 3.^[16]
• The Andrews/Jules cover has also become a popular choice for background music in television dramas, having appeared in the following series among others: Being Human (U.S.), Brothers & Sisters, Cold Case, CSI, Dead Like Me, Smallville, The Cleveland Show, The OC, Jericho, The Mentalist, The Vampire Diaries and Helix. The Lambert version has appeared in ER, FlashForward and General Hospital. Curt Smith sang this song on the television show Psych.
• It is used on Broadway as the closing number in Butley starring Nathan Lane (2006).
• Cleveland from the animated Fox television program The Cleveland Show sang the Andrews/Jules version of "Mad World" for the first 2 minutes of the show that aired 1 April 2012.
• It was used for the true crime TV series Stolen Voices, Buried Secrets.^[44]
• The song was featured in the theatrical trailer for the 2010 film The Crazies.

Other versions and covers

In addition to the Andrews/Jules version, "Mad World" has been a successful cover for following artists:

• Adam Lambert (as a contestant) during American Idol in 2009 and an acoustic rendition on his Acoustic Live! EP. A recording of this performance was subsequently released as a digital single and reached the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 in 2009. Billboard listed it at number 97 in "Top 100 'American Idol' Hits of All Time" list.^[45]
• Twenty One Pilots recorded a cover of the song, released to their YouTube channel in 2014.
• Halsey's cover of the Andrews/Jules version was used by Taco Bell in their "Bacon Mall" advertisement to promote the Bacon Club Chalupa.
• Swedish death metal band Zonaria released a cover of the song on their 2008 album The Cancer Empire.
• Mylène Farmer performed the song with Gary Jules live on her Timeless 2013 Tour. This rendition was subsequently officially released on the tour's live album.
• Taylor John Williams during the seventh season of The Voice in 2014. His version reached the top 20 of the Billboard Hot Rock Songs and the top 6 of the Billboard Rock Digital Songs.^[46]
• Scott Bradlee & Postmodern Jukebox recorded a vintage cover of the song with Haley Reinhart and Puddles Pity Party as vocalists. The song was released to their YouTube channel and on their album Top Hat on Fleek.
• Immediate Music released a version that was included in the New York City Comic Con trailer for The Man in the High Castle.^[47]

Chart positions for Adam Lambert's version

References

External links

• Boston Globe article on the Andrews/Jules cover
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics