Song choice and analysis

After partaking in an extra curricular activity, Film's Cool, with the owner of the Ivor Novello awards, Gary Osbourne, we have chosen a song that would be best fitted towards our synopsis, and our trailer.

We have chosen to use 'Mad World' by Gary Jules, as it is a very downbeat, and depressing song (much unlike the other songs on choice from the Ivor Novello award winning category). Choosing a downbeat song such as this would help create this gloomy atmosphere that would be needed in this trailer, since our synopsis includes talking about a girl who has committed suicide.

Below, I have analysed the lyrics in it's implied contextual and subtextual meaning, and how it could possibly influence the composition of our trailer.

Click to see lyrics

'All Around me are familiar faces, worn out faces, worn out places'

From this, I imply that familiar faces that the person is speaking about are faces that he regularly sees. However, he represents them in a much negative mood, claiming that the environment and these people are 'worn out', suggesting that they're soulless and lifeless, rather than exuberant and vibrant. As this is the first line, it already sets the dark and depressing atmosphere to this song.

'Bright and early for the daily races, going nowhere, going nowhere'

This may suggest that in the writer's point of view, it is much different to wake up now than it was before. "Bright and early for the daily races" suggests that he's waking up to set off to whatever he's meant to do, just like it was a normal day. However, this line is quickly hit with a contradiction, since he explains that he's "going nowhere". This turns this line into some kind of a paradox, since there would be no point to get up early if you are going nowhere. So, what the line is trying to say is that the writer is getting up for no reason, which may represent his direction in life, since there is no reason to wake up to anything anymore, and is therefore meaningless. In terms of the

'Hide my head and drown my sorrow, No Tomorrow, No Tomorrow'

This heavily suggests suicide, or to forget bad memories. "Hide my head and drown my sorrow" suggests that he would want to