In Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Charles Mackay, pg 629-630, reported his dismay at hearing the song in London.
The album's title is derived from Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, a famous book by Charles Mackay.
Union for a Popular Movement | popular culture | Madness (band) | Madness | Popular Democratic Party | Popular Mechanics | Popular Science | The Madness of King George | Reefer Madness | World Popular Song Festival | The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier | The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen | The Madness of George III | Popular Front | Popular culture | National Popular Vote Interstate Compact | Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds | popular sovereignty | Popular Orthodox Rally | Popular Front (France) | Popular Electronics | Kerala State Film Award for Best Popular Film | extraordinary rendition | Extraordinary Lord of Session | Envoy Extraordinary | At the Mountains of Madness | Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, 2012 | The Madness of George III (play) | Sree Moolam Popular Assembly | popular science |
One of Livermore's favorite books was Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, by Charles Mackay, first published in 1841.
Those stories, and many others, are recounted in Charles Mackay's 1841 popular account, "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds".