Chances are you’ve heard a version of this song, either the percussive, synthesized ‘80s original by British band Tears for Fears, or the melancholic acoustic version with piano by Gary Jules that appeared in the 2001 film, Donnie Darko. This hauntingly beautiful song has proven to be a classic, resurfacing time and again through the decades. Most recently it was used in a popular video game, Gears of War.
Why does this song speak to us so? Gary Jules reasoned that, “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 further explained, “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.”
From a music analysis perspective, “Mad World” pulls us in so mysteriously in part because it is written in the dorian mode. There are several modes in music (developed by the ancient Greeks), the major and minor modes being the two that we are most familiar with in western music. The dorian mode has a minor quality in nature, but with the sixth tone of its scale raised a half step, giving it a lifted quality and creating a unique mood and color. “Scarborough Fair” covered by Simon and Garfunkel is another well-known example of a song structured in the dorian mode.
The raised dorian quality gives “Mad World” moments of hopeful optimism, which is a beautiful contrast to the otherwise somber, gloomy mood it embodies. The mode lifts us above the lyrics, “Hide my head, I wanna drown my sorrow, No tomorrow, no tomorrow” and into a suspended state of curious observation, “And I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad, The dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had.”