Though Mad World is essentially a very short song, its brevity adds to feelings of anguish. Sometimes the simplest words can provide all the explanation that is needed. This helps to chronicle the misery the narrator experiences as he searches for himself outside the bounds of the average world. Yet, the narrator does not actually seek others until the end of the song, leaving him isolated in his own misunderstandings. “Went to school and I was very nervous / No one knew me, no one knew me / Hello teacher tell me what’s my lesson / Look right through me.” No one understands the sadness that the teenage narrator feels, nor does anyone seem to want to. The lyrics themselves help to exemplify the loneliness and sadness the narrator feels. The songs slow progress and low key add to the depressed mood of the lyrics.
The song can also be described as being a solo act only Gary Jules provides vocals, creating loneliness in the song. In this particular song, only a lone piano provides musical assistance. Sometimes the simplest means of communicating are the most significant. Though the message of this song is complex, its musical elements are very simple. As the song continues, the world contracts around the narrator, causing the narrator to search for an outlet from his misery. “Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow / No tomorrow, no tomorrow.” The repetition of certain lines in the song helps to exemplify the narrator’s loss of hope, as he loses faith in the world around him. The sadness around him affects him deeply, infesting him with the same sense of hopelessness, which is reiterated throughout the song. The song, which reads more like a poem, first describes, through the inner-monologue of the narrator, the sad drudgery felt by the people around him. Despair may be contagious and also timeless.