Mad World

Mad World written and recorded by Tears for Fears was released in 1982 and was originally in the synth-pop genre category. What makes this song stand out is the cynical lyrical demeanor, especially for the time it was released, Christmas time. Originally written on guitar to a tune from Duran Duran's Girl on Film, Roland Orzabal was looking out his window and watching people unhappily walk by and explains that he, “believed the world needed changing" and he thought to himself: ‘If only we could just get it right’.” His "anti-establishment, anti-authority" way of thinking helped express the songs late adolescent anguish. Later, Orzabal and Tears for Fears' other member Curt Smith met Ian Stanley who became their keyboard player for the song, he also had a drum machine available to the group. The chorus of the song was inspired by a psychology book by Arthur Janov, The Primal Scream. The line, "The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had" came from the idea that nightmares are good because they release tension... Which sounds crazy and may not be an entirely supported statement. Mad World's percussion sounds were recorded using a Roland CR-78 drum machine and was originally platformed for twice the speed but the track slowed down had more appeal. The platinum selling album The Hurting reached No. 1 on UK charts and Mad World has been renditioned multiple times, but the most popular cover was from Gary Jules and pianist Michael Andrews.

Gary Jules and Michael Andrew's cover of Mad World is a personal favorite of mine and is a direct inspiration for its renditioning. The song was released in 2001 for the movie Donnie Darko and featured in the video game Gears of War 3. More favorites of mine. This song was done on a slower template and stripped down with only a piano, mellotron cello, and slight use of electronic piano and a vocoder. It created a more somber experience for the listener and gained quite a bit of notability upon its debut. Recorded in roughly an hours time, Jules and Andrews version of this song peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard: Modern Rock Tracks chart in 2004.

Resources:

Newstatesman, (2004, January) Official! It really is a mad,mad,mad, mad world Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.oclc.fullsail.edu:81/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=c89eb12a-ef9a-46ea-a187-4c59013b265e%40sessionmgr106&vid=4&hid=101

Simpson, D. (2013, December) Tears for Fears: How we made Mad World Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/dec/10/how-we-made-mad-world-tears-fears