Mad World.

[MO!]

WOW!



What a song!

Cover of the tears for fears song from the Donnie Darko soundtrack!

A complete stop and listen song! Seen it on TOTP2 the other day, and heard it on the radio in work. My brother said it's been played quite a bit on Radio2, so listen out for it. It'll no doubt be, (christmas?), number 1 soon.....

Quite simple, just the piano and Gary Jules vocal. He's got a bit of Michael Stipe meets Neil Young to his voice me thinks.

 

[voodoo]

You should see the film !

 

[domfjbrown]

Who does this - am I missing something?

My favourite cover I've heard in a film (oh, ok, 2 then):
Juliet Lewis' character, "Faith's" cover of the PJ Harvey track ("Hardly wait"?) in Strange Days

"Dead Souls" in The Crow - not sure who the cover's by, but it's a class Joy Division track.

 

[voodoo]

Originally posted by domfjbrown
"Dead Souls" in The Crow - not sure who the cover's by, but it's a class Joy Division track.

Dom, that'll be Nine Inch Nails .

A great cover but no where as bleak as the original.

The guy from Donnie Darko is relatively unkown on these shores (AFAIK). A great re-working though. It's actually even more powerful when you see it in the film.

"The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I ever had." takes on huge relevance and is edited in very nicely.

In fact the whole soundtrack is very well melded into the film. The use of "Notorious" (yup - the Duran Duran track) is brilliant.

Patrick Swayze (yes - him ) is brilliantly cast as a motivational speaker for school kids.

See this film !

 

[GPC]

I totally agree. The film blew my socks off and i am definately going to get the soundtrack.

If you like films like this, that are a bit jumbled and twisted, then you have to watch anything by David Lynch. Check out Mulholland drive. Mental film ( and the chicks are HOT!!) or The lost highway.

Weird stuff but great.

I heard that cover of mad world again the other day and just stopped what i was doing and totally sank into the tune. Great Great song, singer, musicians ect ect.

Anyway, thats my two penneth worth!!!

Greg

 

[MartinC]

Yeah, Mad World is a great track, and I'd love it to be the Christmas number one. Last night I heard a dance version of Mad World on the radio though, which was absolute shite (IMHO). Obviously done to try and get it played in clubs and on dance radio stations, but I mean, you've got a simple, haunting song, so whoever thought they'd bugger that up by sticking it over the top of a dance beat needs some attention :beat:

 

[MO!]

the DVD and soundtrack are on my xmas list

It really is a *special* song. Truly beautiful!

 

[dunkyboy]

Yup, fantastic song that enhances a fantastic film. And as Voodoo says, the whole soundtrack is great - one of my favourite bits is when 'Head Over Heels' by Tears for Fears comes on, with that great shot of the school bus. Sadly there doesn't seem to be a soundtrack CD with all the cool 80s tracks in the movie, only the score plus 'Mad World'. Though, saying that, the score is brilliant too!

Dunc

 

[HenryT]

Originally posted by MO!
A complete stop and listen song!

Absolutely agree! I liked the Tears For Fears original, but this cover version is stunning (very rare for a cover version), in particular in the way that it gives a competely given slant or twist to the original - sort of like brings out hidden depths that you never realised were there in the original. I guess this has more to do with the fact that I very rarely listen attentively to lyrics in songs, a test of a good track for me is one that can be played as an instrumental and still be interesting. However, with this new version, due to the sparse instrumental backing and slower tempo the starkness and bleakness of the lyrics are really brought to your attention - great stuff.

Haven't heard the soundtrack nor seen the film, but would like to get a copy of this version of the song. So it'll either be the CD single or film soundtrack purchase some time this week I guess - can I hear samples of the soundtrack somewhere?

 

[MO!]

TRY HERE HENRY

only a few short ones though.

Amazon have two versions of it, that one being the MOre expensive. One has (score) in the title, but both seem to have the exact same track listing.

 

[HenryT]

Cheers MO!

Can't seem to get the clips at Amazon to play (server connection problems ), so will try again later...

Film does look interesting though, might even buy the DVD just on spec...

 

[space cadet]

Am I the only one who is bored shitless by this one?

 

[domfjbrown]

I dunno, Space, as I haven't heard it yet...

Henry - how the hell can you NOT listen to the lyrics on even the Tears for fears version? The reason I've always liked that track is BECAUSE of the bleakness of it - pure class. That cheesy 80s synth is so spooky as well...

I'm going to have to check out Johnny Darko though - that's about the n'th recommendation for it I've had!

 

[dunkyboy]

I have a tendency to ignore lyrics as well.. At least until I've heard a given song a lot and gotten to know it musically. Often takes me six months or more of owning a new album before it even occurs to me that there might be lyrics that I might want to pay attention to.

Dunc

 

[MO!]

Originally posted by dunkyboy
I have a tendency to ignore lyrics as well.. At least until I've heard a given song a lot and gotten to know it musically. Often takes me six months or more of owning a new album before it even occurs to me that there might be lyrics that I might want to pay attention to.

Dunc

LOL!

Also, I can't remember the last time I was able to remember the track names off an album! Tends to be "track1/2/3/4...."

 

[michaelab]

Have to say that I too rarely listen to the lyrics of a song and the number of songs of which I've actually ever remembered any lyrics is about...hmm...five?

As with HenryT, when the lyrics are very clear to hear (as in this case) I pay more attention to them. Usually though, even if I can understand the lyrics (which is often very difficult) they tend to go in one ear and out the other.

Michael.

 

[HenryT]

Originally posted by domfjbrown
Henry - how the hell can you NOT listen to the lyrics on even the Tears for fears version? The reason I've always liked that track is BECAUSE of the bleakness of it - pure class.

Maybe because "music" and "tunes" ALWAYS comes first with me. I'm not a words or literature oriented person, in fact I'm an out and out philistine when it comes to the art of the written or spoken word - it's a necessary evil as a means for communication unfortunately - and only fit for communication of intellectual ideas - "reading for pleasure" is an oxy moron and anathma for me. Erm, but basically, I always "hear" the human voice as an instrumental line first and foremost in piece of music. I really have to concentrate to make the sense out of the words and don't bother half the time, depending on how dense the rest of the musical background is - all too much of a chore. Listening to tunes is so much easier for my little brain to comprehend.

 

[MO!]

Originally posted by HenryT
Maybe because "music" and "tunes" ALWAYS comes first with me. I'm not a words or literature oriented person, in fact I'm an out and out philistine when it comes to the art of the written or spoken word - it's a necessary evil as a means for communication unfortunately - and only fit for communication of intellectual ideas - "reading for pleasure" is an oxy moron and anathma for me. Erm, but basically, I always "hear" the human voice as an instrumental line first and foremost in piece of music. I really have to concentrate to make the sense out of the words and don't bother half the time, depending on how dense the rest of the musical background is - all too much of a chore. Listening to tunes is so much easier for my little brain to comprehend.

Interesting.

I'm with you in some ways and not in others. I agree with what you say about the voice being an instrument. But lyrics can be the best thing about a tune sometimes IMO Take Arab Strap. Infact, take a lot of Hip hop also! If lyrics are heartfelt and genuine this can come across, and you can relate to them. If they're witty and clever, then that also has it's obvious appeal.

A lot of the time it's music first with me. Some times lyrics/voices can ruin a song IMO.

You should give arab strap a go Henry!

You'd hate them

 

[domfjbrown]

I've got to be honest - I don't understand how people can focus on the voice as an instrument; I've never heard it like that, which is why I hate choral and operatic (in the main) works. Eeeeuk!

If someone's singing something, I'm compelled to listen to what they're singing, which, in the case of a lot of the punk stuff I have, can be a real nightmare. As for Panterra, forget it!

Reading does indeed suck - but only if you've lost your reading glasses! Mine were 1987 vintage though so it's probably time I bit the bullet and got some new ones

 

[domfjbrown]

Originally posted by MO!
Also, I can't remember the last time I was able to remember the track names off an album! Tends to be "track1/2/3/4...."

Now that's one thing I CAN relate to - moreso with psy-trance albums though, and of course these ridiculously long ones like the last QOTSA one (or my Doctor and the Crippins/Electro Hippies ones - something like 28 tracks on the Dr & the C one even though it's only 30 minutes long!!!). There's a great one on there about killing slugs in various nasty ways though - now that's the time you DO want to hear the lyrics