[John151]

The song was played at the beginning and end of CSI last night (Thursday, Sept 29).  I have heard it on the radio a few times, but have not caught the name of the artist.  

Thanks, John

[John151]

I found the answer:

Welcome, "CSI" fans!! I understand a lot of you want to know the name of the song that played at the beginning and end of last night's episode (September 29, 2005). It was "Mad World" by Gary Jules. The song was originally done by Tears For Fears. You can find both versions of this song on the soundtrack to the movie "Donnie Darko".

I first heard the song when it played on "Without A Trace", during the episode called "The Bus". It's one of my favorite songs, and it's also the "Without A Trace" song that gets the most questions. When people hear it, they want to know who does it.

[Digi-G]

I looked up that song on the internet right after CSI went off.  I remembered a snippet of the lyrics and did a search on them.  Not sure if I've heard that song before, but it caught my attention.  I used Kazaa Lite to download the song.  

[SWG255]

Allmusic.com has an interesting write-up on the Donnie Darko soundtrack, and listening to song samples on Amazon.com seems to show the U.S. disc to be primarily "new age" or "space" music with the final track being the standout "Mad World". There's an import CD of the soundtrack from the UK available beginning October 4, 2005, which has more musical variety, including tracks by The Church and others. It's pricey though, around $37, but it's a double CD.