Mad World' was easy for me to sing because I could relate to Roland's lyrics. We were both the middle of three sons and had been brought up by single mothers with absent fathers.

To be honest, I've been back to Atlanta a couple of times, I can't remember what for. One for a big conference, a radio conference. I feel like it's a vibrant place. It has a vibrant music scene.

Mad World's distinctive percussion intro was played on a Roland CR-78 drum machine. We first recorded it at twice the speed, but it sounded great slowed down.

Curt Smith Quotes