Tears for Fears The Hurting released

The Hurting Tears for Fears

Released: March 7, 1983 Peak: 73 US, 11 UK, 7 CN, 15 AU, 13 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 0.3 UK, 2.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: new wave/synth pop

Tracks: Click on a song titled for more details. The Hurting [4:17] Mad World [3:46] (9/20/82, 2 CO, 3 UK, 12 AU) Pale Shelter [4:24] (3/31/82, 4 CO, 5 UK, 12 CN) Ideas as Opiates [3:46] Memories Fade [5:05] Suffer the Children [3:52] (11/2/81, 39 CL, 20 CO, 52 UK) Watch Me Bleed [4:19] Change [4:14] (1/24/83, 73 US, 22 AR, 6 CO, 4 UK, 23 CN, 29 AU) The Prisoner [2:55] Start of the Breakdown [5:01] Total Running Time: 41:39 The Players: Roland Orzabal (vocals, guitar, keyboards, rhythm programming) Curt Smith (vocals, bass, keyboards) Manny Elias (drums, rhythm programming) Ian Stanley (keyboards and computer programming)

Rating: 4.173 out of 5.00 (average of 23 ratings) Quotable: “Absolutely essential for fans of the darker side of new wave.” – Eric Aaron, OpenUpAndSay.com Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album “Tears For Fears developed on the periphery of the early '80s electro-pop phenomenon; their Bath base isolating them from the confidence and cool of their Sheffield compatriots – the Human League, ABC and Heaven 17--and the urban sleaze of Soft Cell. The Hurting is nevertheless an assured debut; Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith weaving contemporary technology with traditional arrangements in a fashion that would soon…dominate '80s mainstream pop.” HE Tears for Fears stood “out among the…crop of identikit synth-pop groups by virtue of their resourceful, stylish songwriting and fetching rhythmic sway.” RS There is a “desire to create something important.” AD “Awash in dark synth–pop textures, this harrowing album smartly resolves the group's renowned soulful pop tendencies with a new–wave, post–punk vibe reminiscent of early Depeche Mode.” OU “The keyboard programming, the keyboard and drum arrangements in general, are…very innovative sounding even…twenty years later.” AD “The oft–underrated result is as profound and emotional as 1980s pop ever was.” OU The album was virtually ignored in the US, but in their native England, “Change,” “Mad World,” and “Pale Shelter” were top 5 hits. These singles “still sound remarkably fresh today wrapped up in melancholic keyboard textures and depressing sixth-form poetry.” JL “This magnificent collection of polished pop-rock is absolutely essential for fans of the darker side of new wave.” OU This “is not a light or easy listen;” OU “the adolescent angst and bleak, pained romanticism…sometimes come off as an adequate imitation of Joy Division, at best,” RS but while they “may be too concerned with their own petty traumas…it is a testimony to their refined pop instincts that they manage to produce this much pleasure from the pain.” RS “It is an unforgettable experience, gripping you on first listen and never letting go.” OU Reissue A 1999 reissue adds alternate versions of “Pale Shelter,” “Mad World,” and “Change,” as well as another version of “The Way You Are,” which was a single released in between The Hurting and follow-up album Songs from the Big Chair. The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

The Hurting Tears for Fears

Writer(s): Roland Orzabal Released: The Hurting (1983) Peak: 6 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 6.50 streaming

Mad World Tears for Fears

Writer(s): Roland Orzabal (see lyrics here) Released: 9/20/1982 as a single, The Hurting (1983) B-Side: “Ideas as Opiates,” “Saxophones as Opiates” Peak: 2 CO, 3 UK, 12 AU, 2 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.25 UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 76.84 video, 184.35 streaming Covered by: Michael Andrews with Gary Jules

Mad World Michael Andrews with Gary Jules

Released: December 15, 2003 Peak: 11 AA, 30 MR, 13 UK, 93 CN, 28 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.7 UK, 0.92 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 157.53 video, 296.38 streaming

Awards (Tears for Fears): (Click on award to learn more). Awards (Andrews/Jules): (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: The United States was largely unaware of Tears for Fears until their 1985 sophomore album, Songs from the Big Chair. In the UK, however, the band’s first album, The Hurting, was a hit, spawning three top-5 hits, including “the menacing” JL “Mad World.” It is “an indelible song with odd, syncopated percussion, moody synths and [Curt] Smith’s haunted vocals on precociously wise, perceptive lyrics.” EO It “features top notch drum patterns and keyboard work, as well as a perfectly placed vocal [and] great lyrics.” AD Roland Orzabal wanted to create a new wave song like Duran Duran’s “Girls on Film.” WK The narrator is “a depressed young person who feels out of place in this world.” SF Orzabal was inspired by Arthur Janov, who wrote The Primal Scream, and his theories. The line “the dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had” comes from the notion that dreams of intense experiences are best at releasing tension. WK Smith ended up handling lead vocals because, as he said, “It worked better with my voice because it’s more melancholic, darker.” SF The song was revived in 2001 for the soundtrack to the film Donnie Darko. The director, Richard Kelly, commissioned television and film composer Michael Andrews to develop the score. Because of the project’s low budget, Andrews recorded all the instruments himself but wanted vocals on at least one song. He tapped Gary Jules, a childhood friend with whom he’d worked in the Origin and the Greyboy Allstars. WK Tears for Fears was one of their favorite bands so they opted to record a stripped-down version of “Mad World.” Jules said, “I think it’s a really beautiful example of a person struggling with the fact that life is mad.” WK The “slower and more melodic” SF version was more fitting to the somber lyrics, although some considered the original “upbeat dance tune by Tears for Fears” SF to be deliberately ironic. Jules said, “Every so often a song with just vocals, piano, and cello creeps up on you and says something about who you are, where you’re going which stops you in your tracks.” WK Donnie Darko was well received by critics but didn’t do well commercially. However, after its DVD release, it gained a cult following and demand grew for a single release of “Mad World.” It was released in late 2003 and it topped the UK charts. Orzabal said the cover reaching #1 was the proudest moment of his career. SF The song had yet another comeback in 2020 during the coronavirus epidemic when people found themselves quarantined worldwide. Many musicians turned to in-home, intimate performances to reach out to fans and offer some entertainment and comfort. Curt Smith and his daughter Diva performed “Mad World” in a style more like the Andrews/Jules version and it went viral.

Pale Shelter Tears for Fears

Writer(s): Roland Orzabal Released: 4/9/1982 as a single, The Hurting (1983) B-Side: “The Prisoner” Peak: 4 CO, 5 UK, 12 CN, 5 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 22.30 video, 53.00 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: On both ‘Mad World’ and “the moody” OU Pale Shelter, beguiling hooks and panoramic guitar effects suck the listener into dizzy whirlpools of cleverly synthesized orchestration.” RS The latter, awash in a “sweeping synth-and-acoustic guitar-based [sound is] one of the best-sounding songs of the entire new wave era with Smith’s soaring vocal reaching ethereal heights above the instrumental swirl.” EO

Ideas as Opiates Tears for Fears

Writer(s): Roland Orzabal Released: 9/20/1982 as B-side of “Mad World,” The Hurting (1983) Peak: 11 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.82 streaming

Memories Fade Tears for Fears

Writer(s): Roland Orzabal Released: The Hurting (1983) Peak: 7 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 5.24 streaming About the Song: Beyond the three top-5 UK singles featured on The Hurting are “album tracks such as…Memories Fade [that] have also stood the test of time well.” OU Its emotive wailing backed by a heartbeat-like percussive pounding give the song a “stark yearning.” OU

Suffer the Children Tears for Fears

Writer(s): Roland Orzabal Released: 10/23/1981 as a single, The Hurting (1983) B-side: “Wino” Peak: 39 CL, 20 CO, 52 UK, 9 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 4.68 streaming About the Song: The Hurting “bursts with inspired pop melodies, not least with the schoolgirl la-las of Suffer the Children.” HE The song was released as a single a full year-and-a-half before getting an album release on The Hurting.

Watch Me Bleed Tears for Fears

Writer(s): Roland Orzabal Released: The Hurting (1983) Peak: 11 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 9.80 streaming

Change Tears for Fears

Writer(s): Roland Orzabal Released: 1/24/1983 as a single, The Hurting (1983) B-Side: “The Conflict” Peak: 73 BB, 22 AR, 6 CO, 4 UK, 23 CN, 29 AU, 5 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 31.16 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “The rolling and thumping alterna-soul of Change” EO has a “breathless core riff and nervous percussion [that] accelerate the song's strong disco pulse,” RS making for an “energetic, infectiously danceable” OU song. “It has an anxiety and energy as well as a huge pop hook in the chorus [and] very nice…vocals.” AD

The Prisoner Tears for Fears

Writer(s): Roland Orzabal Released: 4/9/1982 as the B-side of “Pale Shelter,” The Hurting (1983) Peak: 38 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.31 streaming About the Song: “Angst and catharsis are persistent forces, evident in Orzabal’s howl” HE and “the sculpted sonic abrasion of The Prisoner.” OU

Start of the Breakdown Tears for Fears

Writer(s): Roland Orzabal Released: The Hurting (1983) Peak: 19 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.63 streaming About the Song: “Angst and catharsis are persistent forces, evident in Orzabal’s howl…and the claustrophobia of…Start of the Breakdown.” HE It “is a successful venture into artier territory, a macabre play-by-play of emotional collapse that’s heightened by the stark contrast of exotic percussion flourishes and a bleak, descending keyboard motif.” RS

Resources/References: AD Adrian Denning HE Half.Ebay.com JL Jonathan Leonard, Leonard’s Lair EO Eric Olsen, BlogCritics.org OU OpenUpAndSay.com review by Eric Aaron RS Rolling Stone review by David Fricke, originally in print issue 399 SF Songfacts page for “Mad World” WK Wikipedia page for The Hurting WK Wikipedia page for “Mad World” Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/24/2008; last updated 8/10/2025.