Lyrics to
Madness

This version of Madness was released by Elton John in 1978.

Our Decade Lyrics Elton John profile has all of the Madness lyrics from 1978 and many more songs from the Elton John discography that we have on file.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Elton John or about the 1970s in general.

The fuse is set and checked once more
Then left beside a back street door
And in the cold grey light
Someone sees a shadow run through the night and out of sight
They hide inside a smoke filled room
To hear at last the blast of doom
And so the deed is done
They listen to the final countdown begun, three, two, one

Madness, it’s a kind of madness
Tat turns good men bad
And we’re helpless caught up in the madness
Of a world gone mad

The roar of fire rings out on high
And flames light up the black night sky
A child screams out in fear
A hopeless cry for help but no one is near enough to hear

As walls collapse and timbers flare
The smell of death hangs in the air
When help at last arrives
They try to fight the flame but nothing survives of all those lives

And it’s madness, every time a victim dies
There is madness, burning in a blind man’s eyes
And it’s madness, hidden in the hate and pain
There is madness, burning in a wild man’s brain
And it’s madness, every time the bullets start
There is madness, burning in a poor man’s heart

And it’s madness, something that we can’t control
There is madness, burning in a madman’s soul
Madness

---

Want more lyrics and songs by Elton John?

Elton John has released many songs over the years besides Madness. Elton John released songs from 1969 to 2004 spanning across albums like Empty Sky, Tumbleweed Connection, Elton John, Madman Across The Water, 11/17/2010, Honky Chateau, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Don't Shoot Me (I'm Only The Piano Player), Caribou, Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy, Rock Of The Westies, Blue Moves, A Single Man, Victim Of Love, 21 At 33, The Fox, Jump Up!, Too Low For Zero, Breaking Hearts, Ice On Fire, Leather Jackets, Reg Strikes Back, Sleeping With The Past, The One, Duets, Reg Dwight's Piano Goes Pop, Made In England, The Big Picture, One Night Only, Songs From The West Coast, and Peachtree Road. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Elton John.

If you're a fan of lyrics from 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1978 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Madness by Elton John

The lyrics for Madness are defined as the words making up the song released by Elton John in 1978. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to Madness have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only Elton John and those working with them know all of the meanings behind all of the lyrics to their songs.

Some folks are interested in word and phrase etymology. It is easy to understand the lyrics to Madness by Elton John if you think through it. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Madness" means the words set to the music of Madness, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Elton John. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Madness and the lyrics to Madness are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Elton John who came here looking just for the lyrics to Madness, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

More Songs & Lyrics by Elton John

Visit our Elton John profile for more Elton John songs, lyrics & info!

)