eformusic

Mad world

Mad world

Versions: Original - Tears for Fears “The Hurting” (1982)
Remake by Gary Jules and Michael Andrews “Donnie Darko Soundtrack” (2002)
Alternate mix in “Donnie Darko Soundtrack” (2002)
Chinese Version “瘋了”– 阿桑 “寂寞在唱歌”（2005）

It is really funny to watch the trailer Xbox 360 video game Gears of War which used the 2002 remake version of Mad World. However, after the feeling of little amusement, the ruined war scene is just as desperate as the song. Even it is a video game; thanks to the technology, it is not merely entertainment any more.

I cannot describe how much and why I am so love with the movie Donnie Darko; I cannot even tell anyone what it is about. Just at the most unexpected moment, some random scenes popped out in my mind and struck me so hard that I forgot to breathe at the moment. But what I do know is the music used in the movie is as fantastic choices as that of Quentin Tarantino’s movies.

The 1982 original version of Mad World is so different from the remake one. It was probable considered a dance song at that time with those almost stereotyping 80’s characters in music. The beat is so fast that it alters the sad mood. Or maybe the sad mood is brought out by the Jules version with simple piano chords and cello, which matches perfectly with the lyric.

The alternate mix version is not actually bad. The simple beats go alone with the piano quite well. It is a very comfortable piece to listen to. But still I cannot forget the scene Richard Kelly made in the movie, when all the montages about different characters’ life.

不知道爲什麽，一直我都不是對阿桑很有興趣。也許我不喜歡那種阿杜式的沙啞唱腔吧。連那首《葉子》我也更喜歡原作詞曲者自己唱的版本。也許也是因爲先入爲主的關係，而這首《瘋了》也不是那張《寂寞在唱歌》中我喜歡的一首。雖然其他主打歌像《寂寞在唱歌》、《被動》等我都還認爲不錯，我只是覺得她在演繹《瘋了》中哭腔太重。

瘋了也好，Tears for Fears也好，這首Mad World的精髓還在那裏。就像文章那樣，音樂一樣是有靈魂的，不管改編和改變的怎樣，只要靈魂還在，還是會有歸宿的。


Lyric:

All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places - worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere - going nowhere
And their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression - no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tommorow - no tommorow

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
'Cos I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very 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

posted by Yang @ 21:59