April 23, 2020
On coronavirus lockdown in L.A., Curt Smith of Tears for Fears plays "Mad World" with his daughter Diva.
I thought this was a really nice contribution to the music of the lockdown. The father/daughter interaction is charming. I had to look up the age of the beautiful daughter, which I thought could have been anything from 9 to 29. It's 20.
Here's the original Tears for Fears version of the song (from 1982). Smith is the lead singer, but the other guy, Roland Orzabal, wrote the words.
The most famous version of the song is this, by Gary Jules, which Smith evokes in his new version. Any other examples of that — someone has a song that he's done one way, then another person comes along and does it very differently, and the first guy takes to singing his own song the way it was done in the cover version?
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98 comments:
Very nice! It's fun to play guitar with your daughter, although I ain't no Eric Clapton......
Best version of Mad World ever done was by Maelyn Jarmon on The Voice two seasons back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoZi51jQ8pw
Saw them a couple years ago in Milwaukee. TFF opened for Hall and Oates. Frankly, their show was equal to H&O. Maybe slightly better.
Ah, good times.
Please stop romanticizing obedient capitulation to this delusional panic, professor.
All along the watchtower. Dylan now plays it (more) like Jimi did.
This delusional panic is the craziest motherfucking event of my life and I've seen a lot.
I lived thru the anti-war movement, hippie nirvana and collapse in SF, the AIDS epidemic in SF, the crack epidemic and 9/11 in NYC, the death of two wives, and now this mass delusional hysteria.
For God's sake, professor, rebel. Stop counseling us to be pleasant, obedient serfs.
Shutting down the economy and placing us all under house arrest to attempt to extend the lives of the morbidly obese elderly is the most insane display of human stupidity I've witnessed in my 70 years on this earth.
Well done! His daughter does look very young and I found it hard to pinpoint her age too. Lovely young woman. His voice is still so nice and mellow.
That was lovely. It brought tears to my eyes as I remember the days that my father and I would play guitar together. I wish that we had the technology then to be able to see and hear it again. Now it is just faded memories.
Where the hell are the young musicians screaming "Rebel! Rebel!" at the top of their lungs and giving the middle finger to old farts who are terrified of dying?
The Jules made a mesmerising video, but I prefer the Tears for Fears version of the song.
Nothing is better than playing music with your father.
"Saw them a couple years ago in Milwaukee. TFF opened for Hall and Oates. Frankly, their show was equal to H&O. Maybe slightly better."
I saw Hall and Oates once. It was in the 1970s. But who did they open for? Could it have been Lou Reed?? Yes! It was #4 on Spin Magazine's "Eight Very Odd Concert Bills."
(#1 is Jimi Hendrix opening for The Monkees in 1967.)
Jesus Christ, Althouse, you just listed a whole group of musicians who were willing to die for freedom when they were kids.
You're incredibly obtuse right now.
"Where the hell are the young musicians screaming "Rebel! Rebel!" at the top of their lungs and giving the middle finger to old farts who are terrified of dying?"
Old fart screams at young people. Wants rebellion.
You're almost like Paul's grandfather talking to Ringo in "Hard Day's Night."
We now know the Cuomo crew in New York required elderly patients with the ChiCom flu to be knowingly returned to their nursing homes while still contagious.
This is on top of NYC never shutting down or restricting use of their subways, the biggest single vector of viral transmission.
And then we used the NYC virus results as the basis to slam the entire US economy into a depression....
.....while the dems now scream for mandatory nationwide vote harvesting by mail.
Shouting Thomas said...For God's sake, professor, rebel. Stop counseling us to be pleasant, obedient serfs.
A vast majority of the American public disagrees with you so you are unlikely to get what you want through the obnoxious approach you've chosen.
A vast majority of the American public disagrees with you so you are unlikely to get what you want through the obnoxious approach you've chosen.
Oddly, from a nostalgia point of view, Althouse is all in favor of that obnoxious approach.
I bet the young kids are out there.
I'm going to have to go look for them.
First, academia loaded the kids down in debt so that admins and professors could feast off big salaries and perks.
And, now those admins and profs want the kids to live in lockdown and joblessness so that they can continue to feast off big salaries and perks in their guaranteed, secure jobs.
the music of the lockdown.
"Folsom Prison Blues"
Thanks for posting. Nice!
I remember the first time I herd the Gary Jules version. KBCO played it on the radio. I was floored. One of the best covers ever. I love TFF. One of the few 80's bands that created music that, IMO, endures the test of time.
A vast majority of the American public disagrees with you so you are unlikely to get what you want through the obnoxious approach you've chosen.
It's a good thing the US isn't a "pure" democracy.
Let me summarize.
Althouse thinks the youth rebellion of the 60s was great and she was all in favor of giving her parents and authority of that era the middle finger.
Parents and authority are now good. Because Althouse is a parent and authority. The kids should obey.
Strange how things change, huh?
Where the hell are the young musicians screaming "Rebel! Rebel!" at the top of their lungs and giving the middle finger to old farts who are terrified of dying?
The skater kids in California who dug out their skatepark and used the sand to build a dirt bike track as an extra FU.
I was SO PROUD when I read that.
Dickheads in local government have probably filled it with concrete now.
So what would actually be the end game of the current induced mass panic? A world where everything and everybody is 100% controlled by the government? Where all decisions, who live, who dies, where youlive, where you work, what you eat, what you read, who you acssociate with, etc. all determined by the government? If it asaves one life, it is worht the cost, no matter what?
Am I watching my country die before my eyes, slowly day by day, with many wimpers and the only real outrage is the people screaming to stay in your house or else you will kill someone? You can smoke pot, but cannot fish, order food delivered, but cannot buy seeds to grow your own food in person, cannot buy an American flag..
If you favor staying at home and only having stuff delivered - what makes you so special that someone else should risk their life for you? Asking for a friend.
Covers: the Pet Shop Boys' cover of Always On My Mind
I am not a huge Tears for Fears fan but Songs from the Big Chair is a perfectly produced album.
Wondering if that his daughter at 1:18 or so in the original you linked too?
"Wondering if that his daughter at 1:18 or so in the original you linked too?"
Maybe the mother. The daughter was born in 1999. The video is from 1982.
Live free or die Motherfuckers!
A young Roland Orzabal looks kinda like a young Jerry Seinfeld. ?
I don't know anything about Curt Smith's marital history. This is just a general observation. If you want to have attractive children, it doesn't hurt to marry supermodels. That's one of the perks of being a rock star. They get to marry supermodels and have good looking children....I'd still prefer to be a superjock in my next life, but I'm willing to settle for rock star. My absolute preference would be golf or tennis. Football, for all its glory, looks to be more trouble than it's worth.
Springsteen has supposedly said that “Because the Night” belongs to Patti Smith, but I don’t know if he has changed the way he sings it.
John le Carre supposedly said that after the “Tinker, Tailor” miniseries he could never again visualize George Smiley without seeing Alec Guinness.
"Live free or die Motherfuckers!"
It isn't either/or. Live free until you die, Fatherrapers!
I agree with Andrew (twice! ) another "Hurt." I'd like to hear NIN perform it again to see what, if any effect JC's version had in their performance. Both efforts took a loot of wisdom and creativity.
It isn't either/or. Live free until you die, Fatherrapers!
Well, yeah. It appears I've got another 10 to 15 years left on this earth. I plan to raise hell.
I'll be putting out a video of a song later today or tomorrow. It's pretty crude, but that's what I intended.
I am so pissed at myself for acquiescing to this madness in any way. Really, I don't know how to fight back against this shit. It's like fighting with Brer Rabbit.
You're almost like Paul's grandfather talking to Ringo in "Hard Day's Night."
'When you could be out there betraying a rich American widow or sipping palm wine in Tahiti before you're too old like me.'
I haven't seen it, but that was an iconic performance, this was around the time le carre was still showing signs of sanity, now he's utterly bonkers,
the original miniseries, I guess Oldman is a reasonable substitute, for smiley,
@ST....while a usually agree with you about our most things: this current farce/lockdown/government takeover, the constant lecturing to be good little boys and girls, listen to Daddy (I mean the government) etc etc......MAN!...lighten up once in a while. This rage can't be good for your BP.
I never heard the song posted...that I can remember. Don't have any 'political' or really any associations with the tune... And actually only listened to a short amount of the video. I found it wholesome to see a father/daughter playing together. Nostalgia for when I was able to play music with my father and my family (who were all musical...we are Welsh after all, can't help it 😊)
Pick your battles. It is more effective than being "Old Man Yells at Clouds".
Grandfather: Parading the streets! Trailing your coat! Bowling along! LIVING!
Ringo : Well, I am living.
Grandfather : You? Living? When was the last time you gave a girl a pink-edged daisy? When did you last embarrass a sheila with your cool, appraising stare?
Ha.
There aren't any Rock and Roll rebels, or musician rebels, because they only rebel when its sanctioned by the Liberal/Left.
they weren't rebels in the 60s, they were just following the party line.
This rage can't be good for your BP.
My BP is outstanding. I lost 50 pounds over the past year and have been maintaining my target weight for 4 months. So, I'm almost close to getting entirely out of the BMI overweight standards, which are kinda crazy.
My BP is generally around 115/70 and my resting pulse is around 60.
So, I've got plenty of overhead for yelling at the clouds.
I thought she was a little girl.
Neil Diamond for many years sang Red Red Wine in UB40’s cover style.
Donnie Darko wanted me to tell you that there's a version with Curt Smith & Gary Jules singing it together here
Oops. Here. Right here
I love Tears for Fears. Songs From the Big Chair is one of the best albums of the 80s. My favorite track of theirs is Head Over Heels.
Ann, not quite what you were looking for but here is the
original recording of Double Shot Of My Baby's Love, by Dick Holler & The Holidays.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8gBlyWXPm0
It was written by 2 guys in his band. The huge version was done several years later by The Swingin' Medallions which is very different from the original.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDEmmLDyHZc
Also Dick Holler would go on to write Abraham, Martin & John.
I would not have thought she was a young teenager. She'll be happy with those genes in fifty years.
ST is mostly right above, but this is the wrong thread!
We can casually talk about non-Covid-19 things on occassion, can't we?
Let's reopen the US and sing a lotta songs........
How can you forget Adam Lambert's version on Idol! Link.
This is the best cover version of Mad World. Don't let the seven foot clown baritone scare you away--it's a beautiful loungey arrangement.
That song got so much radio play in the '80s. It's amazing which bands get picked up as worthy of cover play. Asia. Journey. We thought of them as disposable pop...
My favorite track of theirs is Head Over Heels.
Same. Especially because of the first line.
Wow, we're talking about "Tinker"? That's by far the best miniseries I've ever seen. (It makes the Oldman movie look like absolute rubbish.) If anyone here needs something to do while stuck at home, the entirety of "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" is on YouTube. Watch it for Guiness's performance alone. But also Ian Richardson and so many more.
Start here. For the love of God, I beg you.
https://youtu.be/pq61jstTApk
Off topic, but I've always wondered what Le Carre thinks about the whole Russia collusion scheme. Yes, he's a leftist, but surely if he saw all the evidence, or read the right journalists, he'd understand what really happened. I remember reading "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold" as a teenager. There is a wonderful moment near the end, better than any Agatha Christie novel, where all of a sudden you understand the whole plot. It's like an epiphany. The heroes become villains and vice versa. I wish Le Carre would spend some time with recent American political history, and give a report. He can start with a caveat, "I hate Trump," but then be honest about what was really going on.
There was a paragraph in "Smiley's People" where Le Carre (through a character) acknowledged that at the Berlin Wall, there was no moral equivalence between the West and the Communists. On the West, with all its faults and hypocrisies, there was still freedom. At least then, Le Carre was an honest liberal. Not certain if that's still true, but I'd like to think so.
Drago said...
We now know the Cuomo crew in New York required elderly patients with the ChiCom flu to be knowingly returned to their nursing homes while still contagious.
Link, please? I'd like to understand materially the end of Cuomo's career.
Shouting Thomas said...
Let me summarize.
Althouse thinks the youth rebellion of the 60s was great and she was all in favor of giving her parents and authority of that era the middle finger.
Parents and authority are now good. Because Althouse is a parent and authority. The kids should obey.
Strange how things change, huh?
What's your point? That Althouse is unutterably wicked? That she is a toad? Yes, we know. We've known for a long time. If you wanted to sharpen your pencil and come up with suitable adjectives to describe her offenses, that might be helpful.
For a long time "Mad World" was my favorite REM song.
Nichevo: "Link, please? I'd like to understand materially the end of Cuomo's career."
New York Mandates Nursing Homes Take Covid-19 Patients Discharged From Hospitals
"State cites urgent need to expand hospital capacity; doctors group says decision ‘represents a clear and present danger to all of the residents of a nursing home."
WSJ, MARCH 26, 2020
BTW, as you can see from the date on the article, it took over 3 weeks for anyone in the media to even mention it to Cuomo during one of his "impressive" media gatherings.
They are "impressive" because the media works hand in glove with Cuomo to blame Trump.
As you can imagine, as with slavery/Jim Crow/Segregation, the media and dems are working hard to make this clear and irrefutable democrat policy a republican Trump political problem.
Because duh.
For my money, Bob Dylan's performance of "This Old Man" on the Disney benefit album for Pediatric Aids, "For Our Children," is the definitive performance of that song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyrq38g7wG0
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.
oh his latest book, shows he's whole hog in favor of it, he has taken bill hayden's the Philby manques point that the uk is utterly unredeemable, because brexit running in place or something, john stock or Charles cumming do the nuanced but alienated intel operative better
A father-daughter team. Cool.
I am probably one of the few Americans who actually heard Tears For Fears' version when it was first released. Where I lived, there was a DJ in the overnight broadcast from a station in Huntington, WV that like to play albums that didn't get wide, or any, release in the US. Even though I didn't much like the rest of the album- that song I immediately liked, and other listeners apparently liked it, too, because it got requested a lot that Summer (1983). After that, I never heard the song again until I heard Jule's version in "Donnie Darko".
I like Jules' version much better. Tears for Fears hadn't, at that time, fully refined their sound the way the did on "Songs From the Big Chair". When I listen to their version with all the synthesizers, it jars me bit. I really want to see Disturbed take a crack at it.
Here's the relevant NY State order lingo:
"No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the NH solely based on
a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19. NHs are prohibited from
requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested
for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission.”
I wonder if the dems can impeach Trump over this? After all, they impeached Trump because of Biden's clear abuse of power and corruption in Ukraine.
"Strange how things change, huh?"
Or don't, when observations are adjusted for age.
the first author I mentioned
I was a regular watcher of MTV in the fall of 1982- to Summer of 1983, and I never once saw the original video. I just looked up the song on Wikipedia- it was apparently a significant hit in the UK.
Can anyone imagine what the media would have done if that New York state order had been handed down by the federal government?
Very nice duet! You know you're getting old when you find it reassuring when a young woman isn't showing a lot of ink.
I personally love this post as I have both the original and Gary Jules' version in my library. Both are good, but Jules' version is a bit more haunting, especially if you have seen the movie. The words are easier to understand.
The fact that Curt Smith is doing the Gary Jules version may be more about the context. It's hard for two people with acoustic guitars to do the original version, whereas it really fits the latter version.
All along the watchtower. Dylan now plays it (more) like Jimi did.
Dylan has said in interviews that he now plays the song more like Jimi than the original. I think Dylan's original version is stellar. It would be apples and oranges to say which is better.
You know you're getting old when you find it reassuring when a young woman isn't showing a lot of ink
Not at all. This not a generational (e.g. rebellious) issue. It's simply that people differ how to qualify and quantify excess corruption. Smith is fortunate that his daughter sets a lower threshold. One less thing to worry about.
What a treat. Thanks!
Well, this gives me a chance to combine two of my favorite things: Tears for Fears and Psych. Curt Smith did a cameo on series and it was very entertaining. He shows up around the 1:20 mark if you don't want to watch the entire snippet, which would be a shame.
https://vimeo.com/78056404
"320Busdriver said...
Saw them a couple years ago in Milwaukee. TFF opened for Hall and Oates. Frankly, their show was equal to H&O. Maybe slightly better"
Just saw Hall and Oates with Squeeze opening. Good job all around.
Well, this gives me a chance to combine two of my favorite things: Tears for Fears and Psych. Curt Smith did a cameo on series and it was very entertaining. He shows up around the 1:20 mark if you don't want to watch the entire snippet, which would be a shame.
That was cool. I've learned more about Curt Smith today than I have in 30 years.
One of my favorite covers.
Bob Dylan, My Back Pages at his 30th anniversary tribute. Dylan participated in the Byrds arrangement with all the verses and Dylan lyrics. The Byrds has removed a few verses and made minor adjustments to the lyrics in their 60s version of the song. But, it’s definitely the Byrds arrangement and Roger McGuinn kicks off the first verse.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rGEIMCWob3U
One of my favorite performances of one of my favorite songs.
Love Tears for Fears. Just in case anyone wanted to know. Does this count as a cover? Al Kooper wrote This Diamond Ring, but hated the Gary Lewis and the Playboys version so he recorded it how he thought it should be done. And surprise, surprise, it's actually a great song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7hNnt3zagk
Bonnie Raitt's cover of "Angel from Montgomery" has lots of harmony in the chorus. It was better like that and John Prine performed it that way after.
The daughter is really cute and based on how her father has aged, she will have a long run as a beauty.
One thing I know for sure is Springsteen has never performed the Manfred Mann version of Blinded by the Light.
It seemed a few weeks ago Shouting Thomas' psychotropic medication was in the right place but he seems to have fallen off the wagon.
Not just a father-daughter team, but a father-daughter duet. Tres cool.
CJ
"Just saw Hall and Oates with Squeeze opening. Good job all around."
Thats a nice pairing!
I am currently on a deep dive of these guys catalogue. Just fits the mood/
Here's my favorite version of "Mad Word", by Puddles Pity Party & Haley Reinhart. I have the audio cut on my "Mornings" playlist that I have Alexa play most mornings, but the video is even better.
https://youtu.be/aVevvbFNKiY
@bwebster
Agreed. It's even better if you don't know its a duet going in.
If you like TFF you’ll enjoy this. The national champion hammered-dulcimer player (yes, there is such a thing) posted a YouTube clip of “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”. This instrument is highly congenial to the song. Curt Smith saw it and dropped by to sing along at his next gig in the area.
https://youtu.be/iAFT4eVX5Ak
Thanks for this nugget, Professor Althouse. I love it when you mix things up.
Love tears for fears.
Tits.
+1000 on Bonnie Raitt" Angel from Montgomery (almost anything Bonnie).
"Very nice! It's fun to play guitar with your daughter,"
Well, unfortunately my daughter doesn't play guitar.
Come to think of it, neither do I.
The New York antibody testing has 21.2 percent of NYC residents with antibodies to Covid. If you exclude NYC, Long Island, Westchester and Rockland counties, the rest of the state has 3.6 percent seroprevalence. That establishes a clear upper bound on the false positive rate, so those who want to harp on that issue can go stuff themselves.
Remembering that it takes 10 days at least to develop antibodies, by now at least 30 percent of Big Apple residents are, or have been, infected. How likely is it that continuing the lockdown will actually keep the remaining 70 percent from ever encountering one of the 30 percent at a time when the latter is contagious? To ask the question is to answer it.
Given the way the NYC new cases and new hospitalization numbers have been declining for the past week, I expected the seroprevalence to be higher than 21.2 percent. But then I remembered that many people have such a strong innate immunity reaction that they defeat the virus without ever making antibodies. (This is a good thing, despite all the fake news stories you read bemoaning the "lack of immunity" of people with such impressive immune systems.) Just a guess, but suppose 20 percent of the populace can do that. It's probably higher than that, think children and young adults. But if you add that 20 percent plus my 30 percent with antibodies or an infection less than ten days old, you get to 50 percent. That's getting close to herd immunity.
There are people in NYC who can do the math. I expect a lot of pressure very soon to end the lockdown in NYC.
Jimi Hendrix opened for The Monkees in 1967?!?
I'm sensing a tear the fabric of the space time continuum.
“One of my favorite performances of one of my favorite songs.”
Mine too.
The original TFF version has an instrumental track of pure general MIDI sludge and the vocal track is over-processed and unintelligible. The lock-down-live and the Jules versions are superior. Better song than I remembered.
If the apocalypse were to leave only me alive, and I could bring one person with me, it would be Shouting Thomas. An absolutely essential sensitivity to what matters when all the crap melts away. Of course, I'd want him to be reincarnated in a young Goldie Hawn. Is she Chinese?
Curt Smith was a very strange looking guy back in the 80's. He ended up very normal looking. He's definitely not Chinese.
The obvious one is All Along the Watchtower. After Jimi Hendrix's cover, Dylan's performances followed Jimi's vibe rather than the original. See the live version on Biograph for proof (can't find it on YouTube).
Oh, and Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". A song that rested in utter obscurity until John Cale transformed it. All subsequent covers, as well as Cohen's public performances, followed Cale's re-arrangement to greater or lesser degrees.
A counter example might be Bruce Springsteen. Lots of transformative covers of his songs by others (Blinded by the Light, Fire, Because The Night), but they don't seem to work their way back to Bruce, who is pretty self-contained performance-wise. Perhaps because the covers didn't suit the live style of the E-Street Band?
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