Over the years, though still fond of Tears for Fears music, I gradually forgot about the song as I learned to love REM, Moby, U2, the Police, Steeleye Span, and many other bands in no particular order. I should have heard about and seen Donnie Darko when it was first released, but I did not… and had no idea what I was missing. It is excellent science fiction, though it was not billed as science fiction at all (or I would have seen it). For the film, Gary Jules and Michael Andrews did a slower, acoustic cover of “Mad World” that ended up on the Donnie Darko Soundtrack and became very popular in 2003.

This song is so hauntingly beautiful it makes me cry, regularly. I just thought I’d share….

Here is a live version of the same cover:

Here is what I think is the original Tears for Fears version (or one from 1982 anyway):

Hat tip to Mark Blacknell who posted a alternative video to the Jules/Andrews cover in honor of the end of the Opus comic strip:

Hope you have tissues handy…