[6] "Mad World" has since been covered by various artists, including a 2001 version recorded by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules for the soundtrack of the film Donnie Darko; a 2003 single release of the song reached number one in the UK for three consecutive weeks and won Orzabal his second Ivor Novello Award.

The band then opted to re-record "Mad World" with producers Ross Cullum and Chris Hughes, the latter a former drummer with Adam and the Ants.

[13] Cash Box said that the song "grows on you, expanding from a soft dance tune to a shy Britisher's confessions of his darkest dreams.

The song takes its name from a chapter title in Arthur Janov's book Prisoners of Pain and features lyrics related to the concept of primal therapy.

[15] It was Tears for Fears' first music video, and features Curt Smith staring out of a window while Roland Orzabal dances outside on a lakeside jetty.

A brief party scene in the video features friends and family of the band, including Smith's mother as well as his then-wife Lynne.

According to Curt Smith, "When we made the video in a country estate on the cheap, we bussed all our friends and family up from Bath and had a fun day.

"Mad World" achieved a second round of success 20 years after its release, when it was covered by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules for the film Donnie Darko (2001).

Their version was originally released on CD in 2001 on the Gary Jules album Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets and again in 2002 for the film's soundtrack along with an additional alternate or remixed version, but an increasing cult-following spawned by the film's DVD release finally prompted Jules and Andrews to issue the song as a proper single.

[26] Like many of his role models for soundtrack composing (such as John Barry and Ennio Morricone), Andrews wanted to put a song on his otherwise instrumental score.

[27] Despite being critically acclaimed, Donnie Darko was not a commercial success, but it sold very well on DVD and became a cult film, and demand grew for Andrews and Jules' cover of "Mad World" to be released as a proper single.

[29] Jules said that he believed the song was easy for people to relate to: "I think it's a really beautiful example of a person struggling with the fact that life is mad.

[32] The song's success in the UK did not, however, translate to the United States, where it reached number 30 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in the issue dated 27 March 2004.

[35] A performance on the eighth season of American Idol by Adam Lambert also briefly increased its sales and interest in the song.

[42][43] Curt Smith paid tribute to the Jules and Andrews version in April 2020 while staying home under general quarantine orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He and his daughter Diva performed an acoustic guitar rendition of "Mad World" using the style of Jules and Andrews, uploading the video to YouTube.