# Mad World Mad World is a melancholic 1982 Tears for Fears song whose 2001 Michael Andrews and Gary Jules cover, popularized by Donnie Darko, became internet shorthand for sadposting. The mournful piano version soundtracked years of Squidward slideshows, Pepe edits, and the viral 'All Around Me Are Familiar Faces' Vine remix wave. ## Origin Tears for Fears released 'Mad World' as their third single on September 20th, 1982[5]. The song stayed a new wave staple for two decades before composer Michael Andrews and singer-songwriter Gary Jules stripped it down for the Donnie Darko soundtrack, released with the film on January 19th, 2001[1]. That cover is the one the internet adopted. On January 8th, 2006, a music video for the Andrews and Jules version was uploaded to YouTube, going on to gather more than 96 million views and tens of thousands of comments[2]. The clip's availability on YouTube during the platform's early years is what made the audio easy to lift and reuse in later fan edits. - **Platform:** YouTube (viral spread) / Vine - **Creator:** Michael Andrews and Gary Jules (cover); meme use unattributed - **Date:** 2001 ## Overview Mad World is used online as an audio shorthand for sadness, doom, or exaggerated despair. The version people mean is almost never the 1982 Tears for Fears original but the sparse piano cover recorded by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules for the 2001 film Donnie Darko[1]. That cover's slow tempo and thin vocal make it easy to drop under any melancholy image, which is exactly how it spread[2]. The format is loose. Sometimes it is a straight slideshow of a sad-looking character with the Jules vocal playing underneath, and sometimes it is a distorted 'ear rape' edit that flips the mood into absurdity[3]. A separate strand grew out of Vine, where amateur singer JohnsEdge's warbling cover of the opening line 'All around me are familiar faces' got layered onto skateboard falls, wipeouts, and other misfortune clips for comedic effect[4]. ## How It Spread The meme use built slowly across the 2010s. On October 17th, 2012, YouTuber james cameron posted a slideshow of sad Squidward illustrations set to the Andrews and Jules cover, one of the first widely shared 'sad character plus Mad World' edits[3]. On November 13th, 2014, YouTuber Hoocham uploaded a distorted 'Ear Rape Edition' over a picture of Gordon Hurd, and on April 23rd, 2015, YouTuber Fran zi paired the song with Pepe the Frog and Feels Guy illustrations[2]. The Vine track ran in parallel. On December 17th, 2013, Viner JohnsEdge posted '1st attempt to singing Mad World by Gary Jules,' which racked up more than 2.4 million loops, 48,000 likes, and 22,000 revines within three years[2]. On October 29th, 2015, Viner stop it, joe overlaid the JohnsEdge vocal onto a skateboard fall clip, kicking off the 'All Around Me Are Familiar Faces' remix format[2]. On November 19th, YouTuber Tom Davies reuploaded the JohnsEdge attempt to YouTube, where it pulled upwards of 1.15 million views and 1,100 comments[6]. Over the next month, other 'Familiar Faces' remixes started spreading on Vine and YouTube[7]. On December 8th, JohnsEdge posted a compilation of the Vines to YouTube that pulled over 1.7 million views and 1,700 comments in ten months[2]. ## How to Use Two common conventions. For the sad slideshow style, people typically drop the Andrews and Jules audio under a still image or slow pan of a downcast character (Squidward, Pepe, Feels Guy) and let the piano do the work[3]. For the 'Familiar Faces' style, creators often sync JohnsEdge's amateur vocal to a misfortune clip so the singing hits right as someone eats pavement[4]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Mad World? Mad World is a 1982 Tears for Fears song whose 2001 Michael Andrews and Gary Jules piano cover from Donnie Darko became a stock sad soundtrack in online video edits[1][2]. ### Where did Mad World come from? The original single dropped on September 20th, 1982, and the internet-famous cover was released with the Donnie Darko film on January 19th, 2001[1][5]. ### What does Mad World mean? Online it is used as an audio cue for melancholy or doom, most often via the sparse Andrews and Jules cover rather than the Tears for Fears original[1][3]. ### How do you use Mad World? Creators typically pair the Andrews and Jules audio with a sad character slideshow, or sync JohnsEdge's off-key Vine cover of 'All around me are familiar faces' to a wipeout clip[3][4]. ### Is Mad World still popular? The Gary Jules music video kept collecting views past 96 million, and the JohnsEdge 'Familiar Faces' compilation pulled 1.7 million views on its own, keeping both formats in circulation for years[2][6]. ## References 1. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_World_(song)]() 2. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/mad-world]() 3. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQKJ-5nHB90]() 4. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMrUMxQ3eXQ]() 5. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFsHSHE-iJQ]() 6. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGHUPVJtr2s]() 7. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NmUcdptXsE]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/mad-world Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library