Gary Jules - Mad World

Serious question; when did video game trailers become superior to movie trailers?

I cannot be the only person who has noticed the vast improvement in video game trailers over the past few decades. There was a time when a video game even having a trailer was a novelty, now I am discovering an interest not only in a tonne of games I will never have time to play but also, I am discovering fun new songs all the time in those said video game trailers.

Just to be clear, I am not talking about the best video game trailer, that is often considered to be “Dead Island” which shows a family overrun by zombies with interchanging scenes working chronologically forward and backward until the two narrative meet in the middle over lain with an extremely moody piano piece.

I am also, not talking about the first good video game trailer, which is probably “Final Fantasy VII,” primitive by today’s standards but back when “Final Fantasy VII’s” trailer was first released, even people who did not care about Final Fantasy were excited, even people who did not care about video games were excited.

“The story of a love that can never be, and a hate that always was.”

The above quote from the Final Fantasy trailer was an excellent way to advertise the game.

The hyper specific topic I hope to explore today is the first video game trailer that surpassed the quality and feel of a good movie trailer. Surely there is a high number of potential trailers to nominate, but my vote goes to the original Gear of War trailer.

Gears of War Trailer:

I never even played Gears of War, but I have forever been curious about it since that trailer is so dark and haunting. Things look hopeless, but I am confident that refrigerator of a man can handle it. Like an action horror movie, I love those. I believe this was the moment when video games at last had a trailer as good or better than movies.

Clearly, the Gears of War trailer is very good, but the significance of music cannot be overlooked, or understated.

This is a musicblog, and I try to stay on topic.

Gary Jules “Mad World” perfectly captures the gloom of depression. It has become a time piece of brooding nature of an entire generation, when goth and emo infiltrated the musical art scene. Youth of the nineties were cynical, but the attitude of young people shifted in the 2000s into something similar but much sadder, a submission to depression.

While I cannot recall the exact setting when I first heard Gary Jules “Mad World,” but it was not through the Gears of War trailer. I remember distinctly hearing this song in the movie “Donnie Darko.” “Donnie Darko” is something a time piece of the youth of the time. Time travel being an active element in the show, allows for lots of subtle hints and reveals scattered throughout the film enriching the experience of re-watching it. However, I am somewhat curious to watch it again now, because I suspect it will serve as a reminder about the disposition of young people at that time, and with the passage of time, I now possess a greater understanding of what we were witnessing.

When I first heard Gary Jules “Mad World” I did not care for it. At first it struck me as too much. There is being depressed, and even suicidal, and then there is being emo, and this song came out at the peak of emo, and since I go to the gym, eat red meat and occasionally get into fist fights, I hate emo. Thus, my initial reaction to a song like “Mad World” in a movie like “Donnie Darko” was negative. But time makes fools of us all.

There is a fine distinction between goth and emo, and an even more important distinction between either of those two things and earnest misery. Gary Jules “Mad World” is a brutal song, about brutal depression. It is not glamourizing or romanticism anything about unhappiness. After years now of listening to “Mad World” and hearing it for what it really is, my appreciation for the song has only grown.

When juxtaposed onto the Gears of War trailer where the principal character is a hyper exaggeration of masculinity dealing with horrifying alien monstrosities, the song supports the overwhelming struggle of trying to stay alive, interestingly the same spirit of reflecting upon the utter madness that is human existence is interestingly kept in tact.

I cannot imagine any other possible emotional take away from a song like “Mad World” then a brutal but honest reflection of human depression and the insanity that is the unbearable consequence of being.

So, imagine my surprise to learn that is it a cover.

As a man who spends a good amount of his free time listening to, and learning about music, I am not sure how I managed to not know that “Mad World” was originally written by Tears for Fears.

Original Version by Tears for Fears:

This is a very different song.

I wonder how annoyed Tears for Fears fans are with people like me, who did not even know “Mad World” by Gary Jules was a cover? The original was a hit song back in 1982, it was the first Tears for Fears song to chart. Seems like something more people should know about… I guess I am trying to help with that.

Often times on this blog I have said I really like upbeat with sad lyrics, and that is very much what Tears for Fears are up to with “Mad World.” This version of the song is really catchy, an appropriate song to dance to. It is good. I like it. But I strongly prefer Gary Jules’s version. It might be because I heard Gary Jules version first, the very alternative style of the original does not satisfy me as much. Maybe the style of grippingly sad appeals to me more then the playful mix of joyous sadness. Maybe, Gary Jules’s version is just great.

Got to admit, the Tears for Fears version is pretty enjoyable; glad I discovered it.

These are the kind of weird adventures my brain goes on.

• When did video games trailers get so good?
• Gears of War had an awesome trailer.
• I did not used to like “Mad World” by Gary Jules, but now I think it’s great.
• Donnie Darko was a pretty good movie.
• “Mad World” is off of the album “Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets.” 
• Is Nick Diaz a fan of Gary Jules? 
• Is wolftickets an actual expression?
• What “Mad World” is a Tears for Fears cover?

And here we are.  So many questions, and only so much time to looks up things on the Internet.  

I hope you enjoyed this adventure with me.

- King of Braves