The more low-key nature of your version really allows the beautifully depressing lyrics to sink in deeper. Off-the-record, a friend actually burned me the CD and sent it to me… Gary Jules: Dude, you and almost everybody else! IGN: Well he sent me the CD with a note saying 'Dude, if you haven't seen Donnie Darko yet you gotta listen to the soundtrack and check this new version of Tears For Fears "Mad World." I put it on various mix tapes that I sent out to friends because I think it's amazing. I just laugh because it's more than two years old and I'm one of those cult kids who had the soundtrack when it came out. KFOG back announces the song as being off of your Trading Snake Oil Wolf Tickets, while Live105 back announces it as being from the Donnie Darko soundtrack. Well it's also getting tons of airplay on Live105, which is our big Alternative station. I mean the song is almost more than 2 years old now, but I've just started to hear it regularly on the radio, like on KFOG, which is our big A3 station… Gary Jules: Yeah. IGN: This whole thing has probably been beaten to death on your end, especially from everybody who has interviewed you, but it's kind of funny to me. So it's kind of flip-flopped I would say. Just because "Mad World" was the Christmas #1 in the U.K., which is a huge, huge deal.
It's funny, 'cause like when I started doin' the interviews over there they were sayin' 'So, you're better known in the States than you are here.' And now, definitely I would say that I'm better known over there. I've been in Europe for six weeks, so I'm really glad to be back, you know? IGN: At this juncture of your career aren't you better known overseas than you are here in the States? Gary Jules: Yeah. IGN: How are things going on your end? Gary Jules: They're good, man. Here now is Part 1 of our interview with Gary. We recently caught up with Gary Jules, just after he returned from an overseas tour, and he talked about the song and his career. In fact the subtle ambient tones and Jules plaintively forlorn vocals make it an entirely different song altogether. Granted it's a cover of a long lost '80s classic, but Jules and Andrews take on it is wholly their own. Now he's a bona fide pop star with a #1 hit to his name. Now Jules is no longer the critically acclaimed, but almost unknown singer/songwriter from SoCal. Let's just say that the Brits (and the rest of Europe) take their chart positions really, really, really, really seriously and they take the Christmas slots even more seriously.
The fervor surrounding the song slowly and intently escalated until this past Christmas it reached the #1 slot on the charts in the U.K. The duo's version of the song began to hit a chord with fans of the film and soon took on a life of its own via the wonders of Internet file sharing and downloading.
Jules included the song on his sophomore album, Trading Snake Oil For Wolf Tickets, which he and Andrews produced and released on their own in 2001. Jules and collaborator Michael Andrews recorded a decidedly low-key version of Tears For Fears "forgotten" classic "Mad World." The song ended up as the aural accompaniment to the end credits in Donnie Darko, a film that was not only critically lauded, but that also developed a rabid, underground cult following. And while the album was critically acclaimed, it didn't make Jules a household name. The Southern California based musician more or less quietly released his major label debut, Greetings From The Side on A&M records back in 1998. Singer/songwriter Gary Jules led a somewhat quiet existence until about 4 months ago.
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