"Mad Season" is the title-track and third single off Matchbox Twenty

Matchbox Twenty

Matchbox Twenty is an American rock band, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1995...

's second album, Mad Season

Mad Season (album)

Mad Season, also known as Mad Season by Matchbox Twenty, is the second studio album from American rock band Matchbox Twenty, released in May 2000...

. The song peaked to #48 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 and #76 on the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

.

Background and writing

Thomas told Billboard magazine that the song took a more universal tone but was originally about "the wild ride that the band has been on since success hit. The whole idea came from out mad season," he says. "It has nothing to do with being bad, it's just crazy. There are no handbooks for any of this."

Music video

The song's music video, directed by Phil Harder

Phil Harder

Philip Harder is a music video director and commercial director represented by Bob Industries in Santa Monica, California. He had a music video company Harder/Fuller Films, 1985 - 2005...

, shows the band getting off a plane, and being surrounded by screaming fans trying to grab them. They are wearing what appear to be special passes, which say "Rock Star" on them, around their necks. Police are there trying to keep everything under control. The band eventually makes it safely to their limousine, but then the crowd climbs all over the car, and it can't go anywhere. The police fail to keep things under control, and the fans break the windows of the limousine. When they get inside, they rip the "Rock Star" passes off the band members, and then they leave. This suggests that they didn't really care about the band; they just wanted the passes.

Chart positions

Charts	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...	42
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	48
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) The Mainstream Top 40 is an airplay chart from Billboard magazine, and is also known as Pop Songs on billboard.com. It was often mistaken for and confused with the now discontinued Pop 100 Airplay chart...	20
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	76
New Zealand Singles Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...	34