Mad World#Michael Andrews and Gary Jules version

"Mad World" was originally written on acoustic guitar when Orzabal was 19 after being inspired to write a new wave song in the vein of Duran Duran's "Girls on Film". After a few false starts with Orzabal on vocals, he suggested Smith sing it and "suddenly it sounded fabulous".{{cite web|author=Interviews by Dave Simpson |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/dec/10/how-we-made-mad-world-tears-fears |title=Tears For Fears: how we made Mad World |work=The Guardian |date=10 December 2013 |access-date=11 March 2014}}

"Mad World" was intended to be the B-side for the band's second single "Pale Shelter (You Don't Give Me Love)", but their record company stated that "Mad World" could be a single in its own right. The band then opted to re-record "Mad World" with producers Ross Cullum and Chris Hughes, the latter a former drummer with Adam and the Ants.{{cite web |url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=4381 |title=Mad World by Tears for Fears Songfacts |publisher=Songfacts.com |date=29 September 2005 |access-date=11 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130321210709/http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=4381 |archive-date=21 March 2013 }}

{{blockquote|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"!Cranna, Ian (1999). In The Hurting: Remastered & Expanded [CD booklet]. London: Mercury Records.|Roland Orzabal}}

{{blockquote|"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}}

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

{{blockquote|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.Curt Smith. "It's a Mad Halargian World." Curt Smith: The Official Site. October 11, 2010.|Curt Smith|source=}}

The song was influenced by the theories of Arthur Janov, author of The Primal Scream.{{Cite web |date=10 December 2013 |title=Tears For Fears: how we made Mad World |url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/dec/10/how-we-made-mad-world-tears-fears |access-date=2 July 2022 |website=the Guardian}} 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.{{citation |title=1001 Songs |author=Toby Creswell |pages=87–88 |publisher=Hardie Grant Publishing |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-74066-458-5}}

Cash Box said that the song "grows on you, expanding from a soft dance tune to a shy Britisher's confessions of his darkest dreams."{{cite magazine|title=Reviews|magazine=Cash Box|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1983/CB-1983-05-21.pdf|date=May 21, 1983|access-date=2022-07-19|page=10}}

"Ideas as Opiates" is a song that originally served as the B-side to the "Mad World" single. This earlier version was produced by the band themselves, though 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-inch single and is mostly instrumental.

{{blockquote|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}}

{{blockquote|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}}

The promotional video for "Mad World" was filmed in late summer 1982, in the grounds of Knebworth House.{{cite news |last1=Davies |first1=Alan |title=Movie The Breakfast Club's links to Knebworth House |url=https://www.thecomet.net/what-s-on/music/the-breakfast-club-s-links-to-knebworth-house-1-6621653 |access-date=24 April 2020 |newspaper=The Comet |date=23 April 2020 |archive-date=27 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427190307/https://www.thecomet.net/what-s-on/music/the-breakfast-club-s-links-to-knebworth-house-1-6621653 |url-status=dead }} It was Tears for Fears' first music video, and features Curt Smith staring out of a window while Roland Orzabal dances outside on a lakeside jetty. A brief party scene in the video features friends and family of the band, including Smith's mother as well as his then-wife Lynne.

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."{{cite news |last1=Simpson |first1=Dave |title=Tears For Fears: how we made Mad World |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/dec/10/how-we-made-mad-world-tears-fears |access-date=24 April 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=10 December 2013}}

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

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

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

7-inch: 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-inch 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-inch: Mercury / IDEA312 (United Kingdom) / 6400 677 (Europe)

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

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for "Mad World", Tears for Fears version}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Tears for Fears|title=Mad World|award=Gold|relyear=1982|certyear=2024|id=4109-1044-1|access-date=5 January 2024}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Mad World

| cover = Jules Mad World.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules

| album = Donnie Darko {{noitalic|and}} Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets

| B-side = No Poetry

| released = {{start date|2003|12|15|df=y}}

| recorded = 2000

| studio =

| genre = Soft rock

| length = 3:04

| label = Sanctuary

| writer = Roland Orzabal

| producer = Michael Andrews

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title =

| next_year =

}}

"Mad World" achieved a second round of success 20 years after its release, when 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.

Their version was originally released on CD in 2001 on the Gary Jules album Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets and again in 2002 for the film's soundtrack along with an additional alternate or remixed version, 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. It was released through Sanctuary Records on 15 December 2003, in time for the race for the UK's Christmas number one, beating "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)" by the Darkness to take the title the following week.

This version was used in 2005 as the soundtrack for the opening section of the Season 6 episode "Room Service" of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

For the soundtrack to the film Donnie Darko (2001), director Richard Kelly commissioned Michael Andrews, a San Diego musician and television and film composer who had worked as a member of a range of bands, including the Origin with Gary Jules (whose two solo albums he had produced), and the Greyboy Allstars. Kelly said he was confident that Andrews could do the job: "I met with Michael and I just knew right away that he was really, really talented and that he could come up with a really original score. He would allow me to be in there and be really kind of editorial with how I wanted the score to be."{{cite web|url=http://www.everloving.com/dd-bio.html|title=Donnie Darko Bio|publisher=Ever Loving|access-date=28 November 2016|archive-date=6 December 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121206012140/http://www.everloving.com/dd-bio.html|url-status=dead}} Andrews relocated to Los Angeles to work on the film between October and December 2000. As Andrews states, the low budget for the project encouraged him to play a diverse range of instruments for the soundtrack:

The film was pretty low budget so my portion of the money was pretty thin. I couldn't hire anyone, it was just me. I played everything; piano, mellotron, mini marimba, xylophone, ukulele, organ. I also brought in two female vocalists Sam Shelton and Tori Haberman. But no guitar because Richard said no guitar or drums; he just wasn't into it. I was down with that—I've played guitar my whole life.

Like many of his role models for soundtrack composing (such as John Barry and Ennio Morricone), Andrews wanted to put a song on his otherwise instrumental score. He eventually chose "Mad World", as Tears for Fears were one of his and childhood friend Jules' favourite bands growing up.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3335473.stm|title=Gary Jules tops Christmas charts|date=21 December 2003|work=BBC News|access-date=28 November 2016}} Andrews enlisted Jules to sing the song, while Andrews himself played the piano;{{cite episode|title=One-Hit Wonders at the BBC|series=One-Hit Wonders at the BBC|network=BBC Four|airdate=17 April 2015}} together they recorded the song in an hour and a half.

Despite being critically acclaimed, Donnie Darko was not a commercial success, but it sold very well on DVD and became a cult film, and demand grew for Andrews and Jules' cover of "Mad World" to be released as a proper single. This prompted Andrews to give the song an official release.{{cite news|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/its-a-cover-up-12-cover-versions-that-charted-higher-than-the-originals__6580/|title=12 cover versions that charted higher than the originals|last=Myers|first=Justin|date=1 February 2016|publisher=Official Charts Company|access-date=28 November 2016}}

Jules said that he believed the song was easy for people to relate to: "I think it's a really beautiful example of a person struggling with the fact that life is mad. I honestly think it's one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard and the way it's stripped down now just pins people." He went on to say, "Every so often a song with just vocals, piano and cello creeps up on you and says something about who you are, where you're going which stops you in your tracks."{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3302887.stm |title=Chart victory 'dream' for singer|date=22 December 2003|work=BBC News|access-date=28 November 2016}}

Despite "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)" by the Darkness being the bookmakers' favourite to become the 2003 Christmas number one in the UK,{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3328611.stm|title=The Darkness tipped for festive crown|date=17 December 2003|work=BBC News|access-date=28 November 2016}} "Mad World" upset the odds and took the title on 21 December 2003. It remained at number one on the UK Singles Chart for three consecutive weeks.{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/gary-jules-3-1373002|title=IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD!|date=4 January 2004|work=NME}} 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 27 March 2004. However, it did reach number 1 on the Adult Alternative Airplay chart for the issue dated April 17, 2004.

Jules performed "Mad World" with Mylène Farmer on her Timeless 2013 Tour.{{cite web|author1=Julien AUTIER |author2=Philippe LEZE |author3=Guillaume DATEZ |author4=Sarah HOFER |url=http://www.mylene.net/modules/index.php?r=4&z=3972#setlist |title=Mylène Farmer - Infos sur le premier concert Timeless 2013 à Bercy |publisher=Mylene.Net |access-date=11 March 2014}} In 2006, the song was included in the commercial to the video game Gears of War,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tu_c4Ls9JkcC&pg=PA56 |title=Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter - Tom Bissell - Google Boeken |isbn=9780307474315 |access-date=11 March 2014|last1=Bissell |first1=Tom |year=2011 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing }} which helped move it up the charts.{{cite web|last=Miller |first=Ross |url=http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/27/mad-world-gears-ad-propels-song-to-1-on-itunes/ |title=Mad World: Gears ad propels song to #1 on iTunes |publisher=Joystiq |date=27 November 2006 |access-date=11 March 2014}} A performance on the eighth season of American Idol by Adam Lambert also briefly increased its sales and interest in the song.{{cite web|url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/idolchatter/post/2009/05/67411297/1 |title=More American Idol-related sales numbers! |publisher=Content.usatoday.com |date=29 May 2009 |access-date=11 March 2014}}{{cite web|last=Kaufman |first=Gil |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1608790/adam-lamberts-mad-world-cover-explained.jhtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110109043552/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1608790/adam-lamberts-mad-world-cover-explained.jhtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 January 2011 |title=Adam Lambert's "Mad World": The Story Behind the Cover |publisher=MTV.com |date=8 April 2009 |access-date=11 March 2014}} The song reached No. 11 on the Rock Digital Songs chart.

The music video was directed by Michel Gondry{{Cite web |title=Jägermeister's Cliff Rigano on #SAVETHENIGHT and How Brands Should Operate in Culture |last=MacAulay |first=Jessica |date=22 February 2022 |url=https://musebycl.io/liner-notes/jagermeisters-cliff-rigano-savethenight-and-how-brands-should-operate-culture |access-date=6 January 2023 |website=Muse by Clio |language=en}} and was filmed at Hoboken Middle School (formally AJ Demarest School){{Cite web|url=https://pixels.com/featured/demarest-high-school-thomas-f-yezerski.html?srsltid=AfmBOoo-KQJEiX5Tbp1AQWekhK1GxR9O-KFyPPKAQW0-wVfLHTbhkcMO|title=Demarest High School by Thomas F Yezerski|website=Pixels}} in Hoboken, New Jersey in 2004.{{Cite web |last=Affatigato |first=Carlo |date=17 May 2018 |title=Donnie Darko's Mad World: the story of the theme song |url=https://auralcrave.com/en/2018/05/17/donnie-darkos-mad-world-when-limits-trigger-creativity/ |access-date=6 January 2023 |website=Auralcrave |language=en-gb}}{{cite web|date=14 November 2014|title=Mad World Gary Jules Hoboken, NJ - Michael Gondry|url=https://hoboken411.com/archives/40200|access-date=25 August 2020|website=Hoboken411.com|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416163540/https://hoboken411.com/archives/40200|archive-date=16 April 2021}} It begins with an aerial shot of the 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 Andrews playing a piano as the song ends.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N3N1MlvVc4|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/4N3N1MlvVc4|archive-date=12 December 2021|url-status=dead|title=Mad World - Gary Jules|date=8 January 2006|via=YouTube|access-date=8 February 2016}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etSbOs3aUqI|title="Mad World" (feat. Gary Jules) - Official Music Video|date=22 November 2023|via=YouTube}}

Curt Smith paid tribute to the Jules and Andrews version in April 2020 while staying home under general quarantine orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He and his daughter Diva performed an acoustic guitar rendition of "Mad World" using the style of Jules and Andrews, uploading the video to YouTube.{{Cite web|url=https://nerdist.com/article/tears-for-fears-curt-smith-mad-world/|title=Watch Tears For Fears' Curt Smith Perform "Mad World" With His Daughter|last=Diaz|first=Eric|date=8 April 2020|website=Nerdist}}{{Cite web|url=https://consequence.net/2020/04/tears-for-fears-curt-smith-daughter-mad-world-cover-donnie-darko/|title=Tears for Fears' Curt Smith and daughter perform "Mad World" from quarantine: Watch|last=Schatz|first=Lake|date=6 April 2020|work=Consequence}} Their version went viral, picking up more than a million views in one week, and four million views in the first month.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSf5-TelBuw |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/pSf5-TelBuw |archive-date=12 December 2021 |url-status=live |title=Singer Curt Smith and daughter Diva on their "Mad World" duet that went viral |date=15 April 2020 |author=KTLA 5 |via=YouTube |access-date=19 May 2021}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web |url=https://www.apost.com/en/blog/tears-for-fears-singer-performs-rendition-of-mad-world-from-home-with-his-daughter-and-its-just-beautiful/29374/ |title=Tears For Fears Singer Performs 'Mad World' From Home With His Daughter And It's Just Lovely |author=Staff |date=15 April 2020 |website=apost.com |access-date=19 May 2021}}{{cite web |url=https://medium.com/@rand.rodriguez.mail/mad-world-8599f0c2ca5 |title=Mad World |last=Rodriguez |first=Randy |date=21 June 2020 |website=medium.com |access-date=19 May 2021}}

CD1: Sanctuary / SANXD250 (United Kingdom)

1. "Mad World" – 3:04
2. "No Poetry" – 3:56
3. "Mad World" (alternate version) – 3:39

CD2: Sanctuary / SANXD250X (United Kingdom)

1. "Mad World" (Grayed Out Mix) – 6:45
2. "The Artifact & Living" – 2:30
3. "Mad World" (enhanced video)

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications and sales for "Mad World", Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules version}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Denmark|award=Gold|type=single|relyear=2003|certyear=2019|title=Mad World|artist=Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules|access-date=16 January 2019}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|award=Gold|number=3|type=single|relyear=2003|certyear=2023|title=Mad World|artist=Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules|access-date=23 November 2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Italy|award=Platinum|type=single|relyear=2010|certyear=2014|title=Mad World|artist=Michael Andrews feat. Gary Jules}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Spain|award=Gold|type=single|relyear=2010|certyear=2024|title=Mad World|artist=Michael Andrews / Gary Jules}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|award=Platinum|type=single|relyear=2003|certyear=2004|title=Mad World|artist=Michael Andrews ft Gary Jules|id=4109-1708-1|salesamount=699,000|salesref={{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-150-biggest-selling-singles-of-the-21st-century-revea__2085/|title=The Official Top 150 Biggest Selling Singles of the 21st Century revealed|last=Myers|first=Justin|date=8 May 2012|publisher=Official Charts Company|access-date=3 January 2016}}

• {{cite web|url=http://www.buzzjack.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=141954|title=Top 150 Best Selling singles of the 21st Century, Complete! Full list first post|author=Gezza7T6|date=7 May 2012|work=Music Week|publisher=BuzzJack.com|access-date=3 January 2016}}}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2004/03/21/out_of_the_realm_of_imagination/ Boston Globe article on the Andrews/Jules cover]

{{Tears for Fears}}

{{UK Christmas No. 1s in the 2000s|songs}}

{{authority control}}

Category:1982 songs

Category:1982 singles

Category:2003 debut singles

Category:Tears for Fears songs

Category:Christmas number-one singles in the United Kingdom

Category:Mercury Records singles

Category:Music videos directed by Michel Gondry

Category:Number-one singles in Scotland

Category:Phonogram Records singles

Category:Sanctuary Records singles

Category:Song recordings produced by Ross Cullum

Category:Song recordings produced by Chris Hughes (record producer)

Category:Songs written by Roland Orzabal

Category:UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles

Category:UK singles chart number-one singles

Category:Songs about depression