Mad World Lyrics
All around me are familiar faces
Worn-out places, worn-out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
And their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head, I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow
[Chorus]
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you, 'cause I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad world
Mad world
Mad world
Mad world
[Verse 2]
Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy birthday, happy birthday
Made to feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello, teacher, tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you, 'cause I find it hard to take
When people run in circles, it's a very very
Mad world
Mad world
Mad world
Mad world
[Interlude]
[Chorus]
And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
'Cause I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad world
Mad world
Halargian world
Mad world
About
“Mad World” is the second song on Tears for Fears' 1983 debut album, The Hurting. The song reached no. 3 on the UK Singles Chart in November 1982, and was the band’s first international hit.
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, “In The Hurting: Remastered & Expanded.”
The song features many synthesizers and percussion instruments, creating an upbeat tone for the bleak lyrics. A minimalist, piano-backed cover by Gary Jules written for the 2001 movie Donnie Darko stirred up further interest in the song. The cover was eventually released as a single, and reached number one on the UK pop charts during Christmas 2003.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
This was the era when you had people like Echo & the Bunnymen and Joy Division…You were allowed to be dark. I wrote Mad World in my flat above a pizza place in Barton Street, Bath. My girlfriend, now my wife, was working in bar jobs, and I was on the dole. You got 14 quid every fortnight. So I guess I used to hang around a lot on my own, with an acoustic guitar, looking out of my window, watching people walk by. The song just came from that. It was that standpoint, which you have at that age, that the world is sick, and it needs healing. Which, over time, you just lose, especially when you start holidaying in the South of France.
–Roland Orzabal (link)
- 1.The Hurting
- 2.Mad World
- 3.Pale Shelter
- 8.Change
- 9.The Prisoner
- 22.Wino
- 23.We Are Broken