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Getting to Know a Piece of Music (Liner Notes: MAD WORLD (Who (Songwriter:…
Getting to Know a Piece of Music
Liner Notes: MAD WORLD
Who
Songwriter:
Roland Orzabal
Producer, novelist,
Producer(s):
Chris Hughes &
Ross Cullum
Hughes - Tears for Fears album, Everybody Wants to Rule the World
Cullum - Assistant at AIR Studios, live mixer
Engineer
Ross Cullum
See above
Performer(s):
Sung by the band's bassist, Curt Smith. Band - Tears for Fears
"Shout"
"Everyone Wants to Rule the World"
"Break it Down Again"
"Sowing the Seeds of Love"
What
Specifics about the song:
original version used synthesizers and heavy percussion. The well-known cover by Andrews and Jules uses piano.
Chord charts:
Em, A, G and D
Lyrics:
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/tearsforfears/madworld.html
When
Year of writing:
Orzabal wrote the original song when he was 19 (1980).
Year of release:
1982
What was going on during that time
Current events
1980:
John Lennon shot
Mount St. Helen erupted
Start of Iran–Iraq war
Terrorist attack in Italy kills 70
The Killer Clown ( John Wayne Gacy Jr ) sentenced to death for the murder of 33 boys and young men.
Winter Olympics in Lake Placcid
US fails to free hostages in Iran
Popular musicians and artists
Michael Jackson -
Thriller
ABBA
AC/DC
Queen -
Another One Bites the Dust
Diana Ross -
Upside Down
David Bowie
The Police
Black Sabbath
Blondie -
Call Me
Major trends or feelings
Rubik's cube goes on sale
Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back
PacMan released
First images of Saturn
Post-its were invented
Why
Out of artists desire to express something?
"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"
"The song was influenced by the theories of Arthur Janov, author of The Primal Scream, and 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."
Just a song on an album?
NO.
For a movie or something else?
Most well-known cover:
Micheal Andrews and Gary Jules were commissioned to remake the song for the movie Donnie Darko (2001)
Who talked or wrote about it?
Media Interviews
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/dec/10/how-we-made-mad-world-tears-fears
https://www.axs.com/5-things-you-didn-t-know-about-tears-for-fears-117455
https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/65jvzr/how-we-wrote-our-first-record-tears-for-fears-revisit-the-hurting
Criticism
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/the-hurting-105943/
https://www.popmatters.com/175979-tears-for-fears-the-hurting-30th-anniversary-edition-2495714687.html
Awards
3rd on UK Charts 1982-1983
2nd on Irish Charts 1982-1983
Certified Silver UK single
Popular culture
Covered by Gary Jules and Michael Andrews for the movie "Donnie Darko" when it received much success in the UK.
Who would have listened to this?
Popular in the UK
Associated with the Second British Invasion
