The first time I heard this song was when Adam Lambert sang it at this year's American Idol competition. Then recently, I saw the movie trailer for 'The Crazies' and I heard this sad song all over again. So it was only now that I found out more about this song. It's time to look for the actual album sometime soon.Apparently, the original version was sang by Tears for Fears but I read somewhere that Gary Jules did a much better and more meaningful version of it with the new music arrangement, which I attach below.
Anyway, the lyrics and interpretation by a netizen at this link http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858635252/ are below.
Mad World
All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to 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
Enlargen your world
Mad world
Interpretation
The first part (lines 1-8) are about a funeral. He is sitting at the funeral, and he sees the familiar faces of friends and relatives. The reference to filling glasses with tears is not talking about drinking glasses, but rather they are crying and getting tears all over their eye glasses. The blank expressions show that it is a solemn event, and the guy is clearly sad by wanting to hide his sorrows. He wants to be strong and hide it, but he feels very strong emotions.
The chorus, about his dreams, reveals the confusion going on in his head. He doesn't know how to feel in his time of despair.
When the song talks about children waiting for the day they're happy, I think he is talking about himself. Either he is a child, or he is comparing himself to a child waiting for his birthday. The "sit and listen" part is , in the child metaphor, about how kids are made to behave. From an older person's perspective, he feels like he's being told how to feel by the people around him, but really he wants to feel his own way.
I think that the lines about going to school once again bring up the child metaphor. Children literally do go to school and talk to teachers, but I think it really means that "going to school" is returning to life after the loss of a loved one. He feels awkward, and unsure of himself, and people always would offer their condolences and pity him, which actually makes him feel alienated. He doesn't want any special treatment.
"Hello teacher, tell me what's my lesson" means that he could be praying to God, or just looking for guidance in his life after he was torn apart by his sorrows. He wants God, or whoever can help him to "look right through him" and understand how he feels, because, as I said before, he feels alienated.
The sing finishes with another chorus. I find it a bit hard to interpret, but, as I said before, it reveals his confusion and mixed emotions. When the lyrics talking about running in circles, I think it could be referring to the "circle of life", but I'm really not sure.They are my thoughts, enjoy!
