Expert: Bong Santos - 7/31/2006

Question
Bong Santos,

  Thanks, the song It a mad, mad world is also a old school rap-beat group in the 80's. It's not from Tears for Fears. I'm having a hard time in searching for it. The second song is right,What people do for money is by Divine Sounds. Please help in finding the first song.Salamat PO.

Merlin
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Followup To

Question -
Please help in finding 2 songs, 1) It's a mad, mad world. 2) What people do for Money. Thank You.

Answer -
Dear Merlin,

I hope I got your songs just right unmindful of the vague clues you gave that can cause mistaken searches as songs often do have identical titles and lyrics. First song could be MAD WORLD by TEARS FOR FEARS. A cut from their 1983 album THE HURTING, it was recently revived by MICHAEL ANDREWS & GARY JULES for the movie DONNIE DARKO and actually became a hit in the Modern Rock Tracks Chart peaking at #30 in 2004. The next song could be WHAT PEOPLE DO FOR MONEY by DIVINE SOUNDS, an old school rap group from Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York, featuring Disco Ritchie, Shelton D & DJ Mike Music. The group released the song only on 12" remix versions back in 1984. It was released for the first time in CD on RHINO RECORDS' 1992 compilation STREET JAMS: HIP-HOP FROM THE POP, PART 1.

Unfortunately, I do not have lyrics of that song. I only got MAD WORLD. Here it is:

MAD WORLD / TEARS FOR FEARS

all around me are familiar faces
worn out places
worn out faces
bright and early for the daily races
going no where
going no where
their tears are filling up their glasses
no expression
no expression
hide my head i wanna drown my sorrow
no tomorrow
no tomorrow
and i find i kind of funny
i find it kind of sad
the dreams in which i'm dying are the best i've ever had
i find it hard to tell you
i find it hard to take
when people run in circles its a very very
mad world
mad world
children waiting for the day they feel good
happy birthday
happy birthday
and i feel the way that every child should
sit and listen
sit and listen
went to school and i was very nervous
no one knew me
no one new me
hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
look right through me
look right through me
and i find i kind of funny
i find it kind of sad
the dreams in which i'm dying are the best i've ever had
i find it hard to tell you
i find it hard to take
when people run in circles its a very very
mad world
mad world
enlarging your world
mad world

Maraming salamat po!

BONG M. SANTOS
Manila, Philippines

Answer
Dear Merlin,

OK, my fault. TFF is not a rap group, so as me, I'm never into rap. But hey, it's 80s. So here it is. You're making me learn rap music.
Well, what you're looking for is MAD, MAD WORLD by 7A3. It was never in their lone album and can only be found on the original soundtrack album of the 1988 movie COLORS. COLORS which stars SEAN PENN & ROBERT DUVALL and directed by DENNIS HOPPER. The movie takes place in LA and is about an experienced cop and his rookie partner trying to keep the gang violence in their beat under control. The film's release coincided with the rash of violence in the southwest US that was just starting to become a national media story at that time. As for the group, 7A3, they consists of LAWRENCE MUGGERUD (a.k.a. DJ MIXMASTER MUGGS), BRETT B & SEAN B. MUGGS was a mobile DJ in Southern California in 1985 when he teamed up with rappers BRETT B and SEAN B forming the 7A3 crew. After pushing some material through the independent label MACOLA RECORDS, the group tried pushing some more demos to major labels. Geffen Records who was trying to infiltrate the growing hip-hop market was turned on by 7A3's non-threatening and radio-friendly party rap style (that same year Geffen turned down N.W.A.). 7A3 recieved moderate success for MAD MAD WORLD and the single GOES LIKE DIS. They released their lone album in 1988 called COOLIN' IN CALI. It produced a minor hit, the title track which peaked at #64 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks Chart on December 24, 1988. After the group broke up MUGGS hooked up producing for MELLOWMAN ACE (remember MENTIROSA (Hot 100, #14, July 21, 1990) but gained wide recognition with his role in CYPRESS HILL as producer/DJ and for his work on HOUSE OF PAIN's JUMP AROUND.

Here is its lyrics:

MAD, MAD WORLD / 7A3

A little bit more attitude?

Teenage years are full of complications
You go to school to get an education
Never realizin that there's a limitation
If you don't get a job or a fresh occupation
With your parents there's no communication
You feel a lotta fear, a lotta frustration
Knowin your only destination
Is to be a nobody in this population
So you set ahead with your I-can't-do's
Leavin your troubles behind and all your hard time blues
Because becomin an adult can leave your mind in a twirl
When you think you know it all in a mad, mad world

Look at Ethiopia, and what do you see?
I said you can't tell the children from the elderly
And when you look in their eyes, all you see is peace
Cause from the agony they want to be released
You see, they're fightin for their lives with every breath
Against famine, disease and the claws of death
Now this was once a mighty nation
But then came the plague that they call starvation
Now the stomach feels the pain, shocks the brain
All because one day it decided to rain
And the land is dry while the mothers cry
And the babies that are born are born to die
See the flies on their faces, dust in the air
The attitude we take is "I don't care"
But I guess it hurts me more than any other
That's not a kid, that's my little brother
Death is walkin the nation, takin boys and girls
And all I say to myself is it's a mad, mad world

It's a mad, mad world, whether poor or rich
Because you're livin with the problems that you're tryin to ditch
I mean your daughter is a addict, your husband has left
You have to pay for the bills of your ( ? ) death
Mentally abused, day in and day out
Your stress point fills up, you're ready to shout
But let me tell you a little something, that will not work
Cause all you will find out are more problems that hurt
Can't pay for all your rent so you try to hide
And when that doesn't work you commit suicide
And now who has the problems? Your little girl
And do you know why? Cause it's a mad, mad world

Let's take for example the Vietnam war
Sent our boys to the jungle, never told em what for
Some thought that they'd be heroes, for their destiny was bound
A lot are still missing, never to be found
Why are we fighting the war is what a lotta people said
While parents prayed every night, their sons were dead
Took mommy's little boy, left him in a foreign land
Said, "You're fightin for your country, you better be a man"
Better watch yourself, kid, and do the best you can
Cause one wrong move can mean you're dead where you stand
He finally gets home, another war is goin on
Some are sayin that he's right while other say he's wrong
When all he ever wanted was a warm embrace
Of love, but instead we spit in his face
And shoved him aside to become an outcast
With a bitter hate and a pain for the past
No one understood his hatred or confusion
Said he was a fool and was livin in illusion
Thinkin of society and how he must adjust
Dreamin of his buddy who he saw blown in the dust
Got a chip on his shoulder, it must weigh a ton
Can't hold a job cause he's been killin from 18 to 21.

Maraming salamat po!

BONG M. SANTOS
Manila, Philippines