Mad World (3:06)

“Mad World” was covered by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules for the film Donnie Darko (2001), achieving a second round of success almost twenty years after the original. While the Tears for Fears version featured various synthesizers and percussion, the Andrews/Jules version was stripped down; instead of a full musical backing, it used only a set of piano chords, a cello, and modest use of a vocoder on the chorus. Their version was originally released on CD in 2002 on the film’s soundtrack, but an increasing cult following spawned by the movie’s DVD release finally prompted Jules and Andrews to issue the song as a proper single. The release was a runaway success in late 2003.