Mad World- Gary Jules

All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for the daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere

Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I wanna drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow

And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you,
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles its a very, very
Mad world, mad world

Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy birthday, happy birthday
And I feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen

Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me, what's my lesson?
Look right through me, look right through me

And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you,
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles its a very, very
Mad world, mad world, mad world
Mad world mad world

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N3N1MlvVc4


This song strongly depicts transcendentalist ideals. Jules reflects on the monotony of the world. To him, the world is just a repeated cycle, repeated until we die. This analogy is especially reflected when he sings "When People run in circles its a very very Mad World.... Mad world..." and "Children waiting for the day they feel good. Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday". The way Jules says "Happy Birthday... Happy Birthday" he makes it sound like it's repetitive. He reflects on how it happens every year, acting like nothing changes between the years. He thinks that people run in the same circles, going through the same motions day in, and day out. To him, the world is just one giant cycle that he himself had to adapt to.
This song is very reflective of transcendentalist ideals. Emerson says several quotes that relate to this song, such as "We are always getting ready to live, but never living". This quote relates to the song, as according to Emerson, many people go through life preparing for the next day without truly taking in what their current day has for them. In the end, we'll eventually wonder where all the time went, regretting how we lived our lives. To life life to its fullest, we have to absorb everything our current day has to offer for us. Thoreau also spoke a relevant mesage: "It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?" This songs highly reflect this thought, as in Jules' song it seems that everyone is living their own world, preparing for the next day, keeping busy as they see fit. We all say we're busy, but are these causes really causes we should be busy about? This paradox creates such a world as jules depicts in "Mad World", where everyone is too busy with their own things to truly appreciate what life has to offer for us.