Gabriel and Julian's "Mad World"

Some months ago, a song became a mild hit called "Mad World," sung by Gary Jules, a cover of the original song by Tears for Fears. I loved the Gary Jules version, but was curious about the original version. It appears on the Tears for Fears best hits album, which I bought and put in my car. I meant to only play it when I was alone, but one day some weeks back, Julian was in a screaming fuss about having been forcibly placed in his carseat after glaring at me like a petulant teenager with his tongue sticking out while he ran down the "get in or get put in" countdown. If there's too much kid noise in the car, I blast the grownup noise -- in this case, Tears for Fears' "Mad World." A few times of this strategy, and they both grew to like the song.

So now, Gabriel refers to it as "my favorite song." When I start the song, as soon as they hear the distinctive percussive opening, they both shout, "YES!" as though they were at a live concert. It's so cute, it makes me laugh every time. Julian actually tries to sing the music, mimicking the heavily synthesized sounds. Someday they'll be very embarrassed that 1980s pop was ever a favorite!

Speaking of singing, Gabriel and Julian have both been singing together more and more. At first, I thought they were singing songs they'd heard at Tonya's, but then I realized that some of them must come from Gabriel's preschool, and Julian picks up on them. Some of them don't sound like anything at all, and i think they're just making them up. But they sing in unison, looking at each other, occasionally laughing, reminding each other of the words. I've got to capture this on video, it's really cute. It'll be very interesting to see how they sing with their musical cousins!