Mad World
| "Mad World" | ||||||||
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| Single by Tears for Fears | ||||||||
| from the album The Hurting | ||||||||
| B-side |
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| Released | 20 September 1982 | |||||||
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| Recorded | 1982 | |||||||
| Genre | New wave,synthpop | |||||||
| Length | 3:32 | |||||||
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| Writer(s) | Roland Orzabal | |||||||
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| Tears for Fears singles chronology | ||||||||
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| "Mad World" | |
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| 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 |
| Recorded | 2000 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 3:06 |
| Label | Sanctuary |
| Writer(s) | Roland Orzabal |
| Producer(s) | Michael Andrews |
"Mad World" is a 1982 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 number 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 (1983).
"Mad World" has since been covered by various artists, most notably by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules for the soundtrack of the film Donnie Darko in 2001. This version was a UK number one hit and won Orzabal his second Ivor Novello Award in 2003.
"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".
"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, a former drummer with Adam and the Ants.
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"!
"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.
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Wikipedia