People of modern societies can become so easily caught up in themselves that they become isolated and disconnected from the rest of the world. I think "Hlaajean world" refers to how alien and foreign the world can sometimes feel. Possibilities I came up with which matched the speech sound more closely, but still didn't seem quite right, were "Herodian world," in reference to Herod The Great (who massacred babies fearing the rise of Jesus) and "Alogian world," in reference to the Alogian sect (a group who rejected Christ as the rational principle that governs the universe.) Both terms were a little bit off from what Curt was saying phonetically, and though either could be interpreted as conveying a "harsh" world that fits the atmosphere of the song, both are subjective religious references. lyrics:All around me are familiar facesWorn out places, worn out facesBright and early for the daily racesGoing nowhere, going nowhereTheir tears are. If you read Curt's lips in this youtube video of a 1982 performance, it's even more apparent that he's saying "hlaajean" and not "enlargen" - /… (see 2:00.) Later performances by Tears for Fears seem to skip the reference entirely, raising further suspicion. The part of the song containing "'enlargen' your world" had bothered me for a long time - even though it has clearly been adopted to "enlargen" your world in the Gary Jules cover version, the original Tears for Fears version does NOT sound like Curt is saying "enlargen" at all. General CommentThanks to biba01 for the "hlaajean" correction. Look right through me, look right through me Made to feel the way that every child should When people run in circles it's a very, veryĬhildren waiting for the day they feel good I find it hard to tell you 'cause I find it hard to take The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had Mad World has since been covered by various artists, including a 2001 version recorded by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules for the soundtrack of the film.