Jake Gyllenhal...Donnie Darko...Mad World...Adam Lambert...American Idol

[YaadPyar]

I can't imagine either that Adam's sexual orientation will matter one bit.  He comes across as pure talent, and that surpasses everything else.

I agree too, Amanda.  The connections are so fun.  I feel like I carry BBM around with me like a talisman in a special corner of a hidden pocket that awakens when it comes close to something it connects to - like a song or another movie or a news article.  Every time I see an actor from BBM in something else I think about how their BBM experience shaped them.

And it's funny especially 'cause I don't give much thought anymore to BBM.  But it's always there anyway.  I played the instrumental parts of the soundtrack the other day, and they were just as pure and perfect as always...

[Aloysius J. Gleek]

Hey John -

So nice to see you too - glad to know you're well.  Great sleuthing.  I had never heard the original, but I'm not a huge fan of Tears for Fears and 80s music generally, so it pretty much meets my expectations.

The Jules arrangement is so outstanding, and I do think Adam Lambert's singing added an impact to the song it didn't have before.

I do love pop culture and all the threads that weave connections throughout the universe.  I'm going to make sure my TiVo runs long for AI from now on in case I miss more gems like this.  I fast forward through most of the show, but this was great.

Now I have to go and re-rent Donnie Darko to remember where it was in the movie.

Thank you! Lovely sentiment (and some comedy) throughout. If you go re-rent DD, make sure you watch the original version (if possible) rather than Richard Kelly's (to me) far inferior "Director's Cut." 'Mad World' is at the end, just before the screen goes to black and then the credits scroll.

The scene is described here:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donnie_Darko

Donnie Darko
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



It is once again October 2. Donnie is in bed, creating a predestination paradox (....) he chooses to prevent the harm he caused to several lives in the tangent universe, including Gretchen, the girlfriend he will never meet (....) the jet engine from the red eye flight on October 30 crashes through the roof, killing him. (....) All the people affected by Donnie's actions awake as if from a nightmare, having some fragments of memories remaining: Frank, Elizabeth's boyfriend, subconsciously touches his right eye. Jim Cunningham, perhaps in guilt and remorse for being a pedophile, a hypocrite and phony, awakens crying. As Donnie's body is taken away, Gretchen, having never met Donnie, rides by the Darkos' house on her bicycle. She learns from a neighbor boy what has happened and waves to Rose (Donnie's mother), who is smoking a cigarette. There is an air of mutual recognition between them.

[Ellemeno]

I've never watched American Idol, except for the excerpt that Paul posted here.  I think Gary Jules is sublime, this fellow didn't grab me much.  Can I still be friends with you all?

[Aloysius J. Gleek]

I've never watched American Idol, except for the excerpt that Paul posted here.  I think Gary Jules is sublime, this fellow didn't grab me much.  Can I still be friends with you all?

Me too!

Look:

"We can all understand complicated stories . . . especially when they’re true."

Read:

http://www.garyjules.com/




headlines

4.08.09 ‘MAD WORLD’: A CLARIFICATION

Hi everyone –

The inclusion of a version of Tears For Fears’ Mad World  on American Idol last night has drawn a lot of attention in the last 24 hours.

As grateful as I am for the interest in the song and for the folks who have said such nice things about me, I feel like I need to clear up again, and hopefully for the last time, a few points about the version of the song that my friend Mike Andrews and I did for Mike’s original ‘Donnie Darko’ score in 2001 — mostly because it makes me very uncomfortable to have people give me credit for stuff I didn’t do.

I don’t know why the story gets changed around, but it does, and it’s not fair for the other folks involved. I’m sure that the mistakes are not intentionally vicious or even purposeful most times, but inaccuracies cause problems for everyone, including me — and they are totally unnecessary. I think we’re all able to understand a slightly more nuanced tale now and again, right?

Basically, the story (again) as I know it is this . . .

I am the SINGER of the ‘Donnie Darko’ version of Mad World, and that is all. I didn’t write it — it was written by Roland Orzabal and originally sung by Curt Smith, who are collectively known as Tears For Fears. Mike Andrews and I first heard the song on the brilliant Tears For Fears album “The Hurting”, one of our favorites in highschool and since.

Further, it wasn’t my idea to do the song. It isn’t my recording or my arrangement. It was NOT recorded for my album “Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets”. Our version was originally recorded as an end-piece to Mikes’ score for the movie ‘Donnie Darko’ (though in the theatrical edit it ended up playing in the film itself). I was allowed to put it on ‘Snakeoil’ because at the time we had no idea if the movie was ever really going to get released, and we thought it was cool — another song that Mike and I did together that we thought was cool.

To be perfectly clear: The sound of our Mad World,  like the rest of the original music in ‘Darko’, was born in Mike’s brain alone. The arrangement — the simple, plodding, muted piano, the cellos, the tone, the emptiness, the beauty of it. Even the effect on my voice when it says Mad World. All of those decisions were his. The world that my voice lives in on that recording was created solely by Mike.

Some details, again for the sake of clarity:

Mike is one of my oldest and closest friends. We’ve been making music together since we were kids. So while I was mixing tracks from my album “Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets” (which Mike and I also made together) at another friends’ house, Mike was working all day every day on the score for ‘Donnie Darko’. I would come by his house and play him the mixes I was working on, he would play me new pieces from the ‘Darko’ score.

For the end of the project Mike decided that he wanted to do an 80’s cover (since ‘Donnie Darko’ was set in the 80’s) but in the very spooky and identifiable style of his score music from the film — to marry a piece of the 80’s to the modern score.

Listen to Mad World  and then listen to the rest of my music — super different. Listen to Mad World  and Mike’s own records — not quite as different, but still different. Listen to Mad World  and the rest of Mike’s ‘Donnie Darko’ score — EXACTLY THE SAME!!

Point is, Mike chose Mad World  for the end of ‘Donnie Darko’ . . . and on what turned out to be one of the most fateful days of my life, he called and asked me to come and sing it. I don’t know why, but he did.

So I’m the singer, and because of that I get a lot of credit — some warranted, some not. In reality, if it weren’t for Mike, that version wouldn’t exist, period. There would not have been a Mad World  in ‘Donnie Darko’, on the “Gears of War” ads, or on “American Idol”.

And it’s not just Mike, the song has become popular for a lot of different reasons:

– The folks at Everloving Records (Andy Factor and Wayne Greene specifically) have worked very hard at tremendous expense to get the score album out into the world and to try and protect those of us who are intimately involved with it — and have dealt with an immense, nearly criminal, amount of bullshit for their trouble.

– Richard Kelly’s ‘Donnie Darko’ was released in the UK and very well received, and it became a cult phenomenon here in the US, which drove the song further and further into the public consciousness.

– I myself have been all over the world singing and talking about the song on the radio, TV, and the internet.

But mostly, I think people just reacted to the song, and the way that it’s perfectly framed so that the essential and undeniable truth of the song arrives unencumbered by the music that supports it. It makes people FEEL something. That has something to do with Roland’s words and melody, it has to do with my voice and delivery, and it also has equally if not more to do with the choices that Mike made for how to present whole thing. That fact was tested and proven again last night when Adam Lambert sang the song his own way with Mike’s arrangement (basically), and 30 million people loved it.

OK, winding up: we have tried very hard and been through a lot in the last 8 or 9 years to have people understand the truth of where our version came from because it’s very much who we are as friends and as individuals. It’s important. Important to us personally, and important for anyone who wants to be able to live in a creative community where you can work with people you love, make a living, and not have to worry about inadvertently fucking your friends over to make the story easier to swallow.

We can all understand complicated stories . . . especially when they’re true.

Thanks for reading this far, and thanks for listening.

GJ

[southendmd]

That was way cool, John.  Thanks.

Clarissa, I don't watch Idol either, just youtube!  Friends!

[YaadPyar]

Wow, John!  You are such an excellent research librarian.  I love the layers of detail here - like a good phyllo dough - adding to the deliciousness of it all.

I don't recommend American Idol as great artistic content, but as a pop culture phenomenon, it's hard to beat.  I will say watching the YouTube version of Adam Lambert's singing doesn't do it much justice, though feel free to be un-grabbed by his performance.

I did see the Director's Cut the first time, but will go back and view the original Donnie Darko.  And I will never get this song out of my head now!  Who was it that so loved this movie?  Mandy?  Sheyne?  I can't remember now.

[southendmd]

Remember "hungryhungryhippos"?

[Kelda]

Remember "hungryhungryhippos"?

thats sheyne.

[Aloysius J. Gleek]

That was way cool, John.  Thanks.

Thank you, Paul!

Wow, John!  You are such an excellent research librarian.  I love the layers of detail here - like a good phyllo dough - adding to the deliciousness of it all.

I don't recommend American Idol as great artistic content, but as a pop culture phenomenon, it's hard to beat.  I will say watching the YouTube version of Adam Lambert's singing doesn't do it much justice, though feel free to be un-grabbed by his performance.

I did see the Director's Cut the first time, but will go back and view the original Donnie Darko.  And I will never get this song out of my head now!  Who was it that so loved this movie?  Mandy?  Sheyne?  I can't remember now.

Thank you, Celeste--and good luck with your friend (Mr Lambert)!

In re: finding the original Darko  video--well, I hope so, but the 'Director's Cut' version dominates. Again, good luck--except in this  instance, you'll need it.



It's not the original coda, but this official Gary Jules-Donnie Darko video is wonderful:

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MyMOi4LEr4&feature=related[/youtube]

&feature=related

We can laugh at the Eighties, but Tears For Fears is the perfect choice for Donnie Darko--even the band's name. Here, the first 2:30 of the 4:53 of the following video--perfect blocking, panning, the 'edits' in the camera, the go fast/go slow 'choreography', the music--perfect. (Richard Kelly had planned and prefered to do another song--well. One of the reasons why I feel that, rather than by the director, DD is the movie that created itself through a wormhole in spacetime.)

And to see Patrick Swayze only eight years ago--cruelly sad.

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWJPa0bvWnM[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWJPa0bvWnM

[Ellemeno]

John, thank you for finding and posting that gem just written by Gary Jules.  I like so much that he wants to give credit where credit is due, including to himself, but only as much as is justified.

Celeste, I wish I'd said this in my first post to you:    Great when you are here.

I think I have this in my Now Playing thread in my blog.  Gary Jules playing "After the Goldrush" by Neil Young.


[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qrNk8lfpR4[/youtube]