Mad World
| "Mad World" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "Ideas As Opiates" |
"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", would turn up on the band's debut LP The Hurting the following year. "Mad World" is also Tears for Fears' first international hit, reaching the Top 40 in several countries in 1982/1983.
Two decades later, the song made a popular resurgence when it was covered by composers Michael Andrews and Gary Jules for the soundtrack to the movie Donnie Darko.
Background
"Mad World" began life as the intended b-side for Tears for Fears' second single "Pale Shelter (You Don't Give Me Love)". The band decided, however, that it may be something people would like to hear on the radio and held back its release, instead waiting to issue the song as a single in its own right after re-recording it with Chris Hughes.
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"!
— Roland Orzabal [citation needed]
"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.
— Curt Smith [citation needed]
Meanings
Lyrically the song is pretty loose. It throws together a lot of different images to paint a picture without saying anything specific about the world.
— Roland Orzabal [citation needed]
It's very much a voyeur's song. It's looking out at a mad world from the eyes of a teenager.[1]
— Curt Smith
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 the 7" double-single. This mix is very similar to the album version, with the most notable difference being the additional echo added to the intro and middle sections. More recently, a 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 would later be 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.
— Roland Orzabal [citation needed]
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.
— Curt Smith [citation needed]
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 a window, while Roland Orzabal performs a bizarre dance outside on a lakeside jetty. The clip was directed by Clive Richardson.
Track listings
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Chart positions
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | UK Singles Chart | #3 |
| 1982 | Australian Singles Chart | #12 |
| 1982 | Irish Singles Chart | #6 |
| 1983 | German Singles Chart | #21 |
| 1983 | South African Singles Chart | #2 |
Michael Andrews and Gary Jules version
| "Mad World" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "No Poetry" |
"Mad World" would achieve a second round of success beginning almost twenty 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 various synthesizers and percussion, the Andrews/Jules version was stripped down. Instead of a full musical backing, it used only a set of piano chords, a cello, and modest use of a vocoder on the chorus. Their version was originally released on CD in 2002 on the film's soundtrack, but an increasing cult following spawned by the movie's DVD release finally prompted Jules and Andrews to issue the song as a proper single. The release was a runaway success in late 2003, becoming the Number One single over the Christmas holiday in the UK, a feat Tears for Fears themselves never accomplished.
Official versions
- "Mad World" (Album Version) - 3:07
- "Mad World" (Alternate Version) - 3:37
Charts
| Chart (2003/2004/2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks | 30 |
| Canadian Digital Singles Chart | 1 |
| U.K. Singles Chart | 1 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 2 |
| Australian Singles Chart | 28 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 53 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 13 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 4 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 10 |
| Belgium Flanders Singles Chart | 23 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 4 |
| Danish Singles Chart | 6 |
| German Singles Chart | 3 |
Popular culture
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. The advertisement has been credited with helping propel the song to #1 on the iTunes sales chart. In addition to its usage in numerous fan-made YouTube videos, the Andrews/Jules cover has also become a popular choice for background music in television dramas, having appeared in the following series:
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It is also used as the background music for commercials of the A&E TV series The Cleaner, and also appeared on Broadway in 2006 as the closing number in Butley starring Nathan Lane. Snippets were featured in an Integris Medical Centers television commercial focusing on mental health.
Other versions
In addition to the Andrews/Jules version, "Mad World" has been recorded over the years by the following artists:
- French artist Nicola Sirkis, frontman of the new wave band Indochine, on his solo album Dans La Lune... (1992).
- American industrial rock band Kill Switch...Klick, on the Cleopatra Records compilation New Wave Goes To Hell (1998).
- American Post-Hardcore band Finch released an acoustic cover VIA myspace.
- American alternative rock band Finch, on their EP Rolling Stone Acoustic Session (2002).
- British singer-songwriter Alex Parks, on her debut album, Introduction (2003).
- American industrial act Brainclaw, downloadable on their website (2004).
- American metalcore band Evergreen Terrace, on their album Writer's Block (2004).
- German punk rock band Die Toten Hosen, on their live DVD Rock am Ring 2004 (2004).
- Australian art rock band The Red Paintings, on their EP Walls (2005). This cover features an acoustic cello and guitar arrangement. While they modified the lyrics from the original version, in live performances they are known to enunciate words in different fashion giving it an altogether unique sound.
- German DJ Jan Wayne, on his single Mad World (2005).
- German metal band Blackmail (2008)
- American singer-songwriter Sara Hickman, on her double album Motherlode (2006).
- Canadian rock bassist Ken Tizzard, on his album Quiet Storey House... An Introduction (2006).
- German a cappella group Wise Guys, on their album Radio (2006).
- American dark cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls, on their live DVD Live at the Roundhouse (2007). The performance features Trash McSweeney of Australian art rock band The Red Paintings.
- Canadian folk-singer Tara MacLean, on her EP Signs of Life (2007).
- German vocal band Gregorian, on their album Masters of Chant Chapter VI (2007).
- Osymyso Sampled it in Johns Not Mad
- Prozak (rapper) samples the song in the song "American Princess" in compilation released under Strange Music record label
Samples and quotations
- British dubstep artist The Bug, with vocalist Warrior Queen, included the song "Insane" on the album London Zoo (2008). The song ends with a quote from Mad World.