I’ve had that line from “Mad World” by Tears for Fears stuck in my head all day today.

Actually, I’ve had the entire arrangement as done by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules stuck in my head. It sounds more… haunting?

You might recognize this version of the song from the movie “Donnie Darko”, or commercials for the video game “Gears of War”, or the person-who-didn’t-win-“American-Idol” sang it and received a standing ovation from the-evil-host-man, and several dozen other things.

It doesn’t hurt that Gary Jules is easy on the eyes. Maybe that’s why it’s been stuck in my head?

There are more pictures of him on his website.

There’s a great video of Gary singing it live here:

I’m not really sure why the song has been lingering in the back of my mind. Don’t you hate when that happens? I thought maybe blogging about it would get it out of my mind, but no such luck. Now I’ve spent the last few hours looking at all sorts of different versions of the song.

Oh well….

Here are the complete lyrics, if you’re interested:

All around me are familiar faces,
Worn out places,
Worn out faces,
Bright and early for the daily races,
Going nowhere,
Going nowhere,
Their tears are filling up their glasses,
No expression,
No expression,
Hide my head I wanna drown my sorrow,
No tomorrow,
No tomorrow,
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,
I find it hard to take,
When people run in circles it’s a very very,
Mad world,
Mad world,
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,
I find it hard to take,
When people run in circles it’s a very very,
Mad world,
Mad world,
Enlarging your world,
Mad world…