“Mad World” by Tears for Fears

"Mad World" was the song that got Tears for Fears through the door. Roland Orzabal wrote it, but it's bassist Curt Smith who sings it, and it went on to sit on the band's debut album, The Hurting, in 1983, along with its B-side, "Ideas as Opiates". It was their third single and their first hit, climbing to 3 on the UK singles chart in November 1982 and finishing as the 12th best-selling single in Britain that year, before carrying them into the top 40 in several other countries.

Chris Hughes and Ross Cullum produced it, Hughes adding percussion to Manny Elias's drums, while Orzabal, Smith and Ian Stanley stack up the keyboards. What they built is new wave at its most gloomily danceable: a skittering, twitchy rhythm under a cold synth haze, and Smith's voice sounding detached, as if the whole world were happening behind glass. It's a dark song you can move to.

Even the sleeve had a sense of place: the cover photo was shot at the Round Pond in Kensington Gardens, London.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.