Mad World (Tears for Fears cover)

The themes in this song are going to be subjective/relative depending on the individual reading the lyrics and their reaction to the words in addition to the connotation given off by the music itself. Since I don’t think it is necessary to attempt an objective interpretation of this song, it is probably pertinent, before reading my opinion, to address the perception that ultimately molds my understanding of ‘Mad World’ by Gary Jules. I have always felt a degree of disdain for the 9-5 lifestyle to which many have grown accustomed in our modern society: finding it unnatural and sometimes numbing to the artistic senses. I believe Gary Jules is describing the deadening of the spirit wrought from the obligation to routine. He begins by referencing “familiar faces”, implying that he has not left the environment in which he grew up or possibly has been in for a while, so he knows everyone he sees. This could be construed as a positive thing, especially if you are one who finds comfort in routine both in surroundings and people, but Jules remarks that they are “worn out places…[and] faces”, which has a negative connotation. He first mentions routine in the next line: “Bright and early for their daily races” and elaborates by stating that they are “going nowhere, going nowhere”. If you consider the commute to and from work and home on a daily basis, or school in the case of youth who are mentioned later, the person is not geographically going anywhere by the end of the day–they have simply come back to where they started. Metaphorically this could represent a stunted growth, perhaps of the spirit, from not experiencing new things or people, which can expand one’s worldview (the second last line of the song tells the audience to ‘enlarge [their] world’). Next comes possibly my favorite part of the song: “Their tears are filling up their glasses/ No expression, no expression”. The cup refers to sustenance, as water sustains all life, and these people have actually become sustained by the sadness or numbness they feel in this lifestyle. Some feel obligated to society, some to family, and some to themselves to continue making money or maintain employment despite how happy they actually may be. The fact that these people have no expression indicates that they are unaware of this sadness and therefore are unlikely to change their lives. The speaker then says he wants to “Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow/ No tomorrow, no tomorrow” because he is despondent as he realizes this about those he knows so well. His view of there being no tomorrow refers to the impossibility of changing this in people because they are, once again, unaware that they are becoming numb to the beauty of their lives. Coming into the bridge to the chorus (I apologize if my musical terms are incorrect, I lack education in that field!!) he says “I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad/ The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had”. He wants to be rid of the world of which he does not approve, and he knows this a defeatist approach to the problem, which is why he finds it sad. He also finds this funny because typically dreams about dying are horrific but they are something he relishes because it allows him to pretend that he is released from something he apparently cannot fix. Subsequently Jules admits “I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take/ When people run in circles it's a very very/ mad world mad world”. He finds it hard to tell you, the audience in addition to or as a part of the group of people this song is about, because he thinks it would be a moot effort but is still hard for him to take because he finds the lifestyle flawed. He mentions people running in circles, which relates back to those going nowhere, and reasons that this creates a mad world. Now one must decide is mad is defined as angry or crazy, and I have personally chosen the latter (If the people are not aware of it how can they be angry?). I believe Jules is asserting that it is “mad” to run in circles and essentially go nowhere. Next Jules mentions “Children waiting for the day they feel good/ Happy birthday, happy birthday”, because the world has become so invested in the material world, created from continuous pursuit of the monetary means to survive, that even their children look forward only to the day when they are acknowledged and given presents simply for surviving another year of life. They are also “Made to feel the way that every child should/ Sit and listen, sit and listen”. This describes the indoctrination of the next generation into this mentality, which relates back to the potentially moot effort of making others aware of the alternative lives they could lead. The fact that “every child should” feel this way highlights the uniformity of their lives because there is no difference in what one child should feel versus another. The next four lines must be cited and explained together: “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”. The use of “me” in these lines not only refers to the perhaps personal experiences of Gary Jules, but also gives the audience the chance to understand the magnitude of these first-person pronouns. This child is nervous going to school, apparently because no one knows him. Maybe this is because he is new to the school, but to maintain the literary analysis I have created up to this point, a much more relevant interpretation would suggest that no one truly knows the student because he is unable to convey himself to others. The result of this uniform society has prevented the individual from rising to the surface. For this reason also, the teacher look right through him because he/she is too preoccupied giving the lesson for the benefit of the masses to ever notice the individual. The only purpose of their relationship is for one to convey knowledge and the other to receive it, nothing more. We are then brought back to the chorus, which emphasizes the same sentiments it did before. However, as mentioned earlier, Jules also asks the audience to “Enlarge your world” which ties the entire piece together.