Suicide Is Painless

"Theme From M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless)"
Single by The Mash
from the album M*A*S*H (Original Soundtrack Recording)
B-side	"The M*A*S*H March"
Released	1970
Format	7" vinyl
Recorded	1969
Genre	Folk
Length	2:53
Label	Columbia/CBS
Writer(s)	Johnny Mandel (music) Mike Altman (lyrics)
Producer	Thomas Z. Shepard

"Suicide Is Painless" is a song written by Johnny Mandel (music) and Mike Altman (lyrics), which is best known for being featured as the theme song for both the movie and TV series M*A*S*H. The actual title is "Song from M*A*S*H" (Suicide is Painless)". Mike Altman is the son of the original film's director, Robert Altman, and was 14 years old when he wrote the song's lyrics. During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in the 1980s, Robert Altman said that his son earned more than a million US dollars for co-writing the song while he only made US $70,000 for directing the movie.

The song is played during the film's opening credits, sung by uncredited session singers John Bahler, Tom Bahler, Ron Hicklin and Ian Freebairn-Smith (the vocals are sometimes misattributed to Johnny Mandel, due to his being the only name officially credited for the song). Additionally, the movie also features a scene that begins when Walter Koskiusko Waldowski, a dentist nicknamed "The Painless Pole", declares his intention to commit suicide, and the song is sung by Ken Prymus (playing Private Seidman) during the suicide scene. Several instrumental versions of the song were used as the theme for the TV series. Credited to "The Mash" when it appeared on the film's soundtrack album on Columbia/CBS Records in 1970, it belatedly became a number one hit in the UK in 1980 after being championed by BBC Radio 1 DJ Noel Edmonds.

The song was ranked #66 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs.

Track listing

7" vinyl

• Germany: CBS / 5009
• UK: CBS / S CBS 8536
• US: Columbia / JZSS 153321 [Promo only]
• US: Columbia / ZSS 153321 [original release]

A-side
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Artist	Length
1.	"Theme from M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless)"	Johnny Mandel, Mike Altman	The Mash	2:53

B-side
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Artist	Length
1.	"The M*A*S*H March"	Mandel	Johnny Mandel	1:19

Chart performance

Chart (1970)	Peak position
Dutch GfK chart	3
Dutch Top 40	4
Chart (1980)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart	1

Preceded by "What's Another Year" by Johnny Logan

UK number one single 31 May 1980 – 14 June 1980

Succeeded by "Crying" by Don McLean

Manic Street Preachers version

"Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide Is Painless)"
Single by Manic Street Preachers
from the album Ruby Trax
B-side	"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" (by The Fatima Mansions) "Sleeping with the NME" "Spectators of Suicide" "Star Lover" "Never Want Again" "Dead Yankee Drawl" "Ain't Goin' Down"
Released	1992
Format	7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, CD
Genre	Alternative rock, hard rock
Length	3:43
Label	Columbia
Writer(s)	Johnny Mandel (music) Mike Altman (lyrics)
Producer	Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers singles chronology
"Stars and Stripes" (1992) "Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide Is Painless)" (1992) "Little Baby Nothing" (1993)

Manic Street Preachers released a cover version of "Suicide Is Painless" in 1992. In the UK it was a double A-side charity single (to help The Spastics Society), with The Fatima Mansions' take on Bryan Adams' "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" as the other A-side. The 12" and CD versions of the UK single included "Sleeping with the NME" - an excerpt from a radio documentary recorded in the offices of the NME, capturing staff's reaction to photographs of guitarist Richey Edwards's self-mutilation. The single peaked at #7 in the UK Singles Chart spending three weeks in the Top Ten. In other countries it was released as a Manic Street Preachers single, with different B-sides.

Track listings

7" vinyl

• UK: Columbia / 658382 7

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Artist	Length
1.	"Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide Is Painless)"	Johnny Mandel, Mike Altman	Manic Street Preachers	3:40

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Artist	Length
1.	"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You"	Bryan Adams, Michael Kamen, Robert John "Mutt" Lange	The Fatima Mansions	6:26

• Netherlands: Columbia / COL 658385 7

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide Is Painless)"	Mandel, Altman

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Spectators of Suicide"	James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Sean Moore, Richey James Edwards

12" vinyl

• UK: Columbia / 658382 6

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Artist	Length
1.	"Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide Is Painless)"	Mandel, Altman	Manic Street Preachers

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Artist	Length
1.	"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You"	Adams, Kamen, Lange	The Fatima Mansions
2.	"Sleeping with the N.M.E."		Manic Street Preachers

CD

• UK: Columbia / 658382 2

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Artist	Length
1.	"Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide Is Painless)"	Mandel, Altman	Manic Street Preachers
2.	"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You"	Adams, Kamen, Lange	The Fatima Mansions
3.	"Sleeping with the N.M.E."		Manic Street Preachers

• Europe: Columbia / 658385 2

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide Is Painless)"	Mandel, Altman
2.	"Spectators of Suicide"	Bradfield, Wire, Moore, Edwards
3.	"Star Lover"	Bradfield, Wire, Moore, Edwards

• Japan: Epic/Sony / ESCA 5668

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide Is Painless)"	Mandel, Altman	3:43
2.	"Never Want Again"		3:39
3.	"Dead Yankee Drawl"		3:46
4.	"Ain't Goin' Down"		3:08

Chart performance

Chart (1992)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart	7
Irish Singles Chart	12
Swedish Singles Chart	21

Cover versions

• Al De Lory recorded a jazz piano version of the tune (as "Song from MASH") that became an adult contemporary hit a few months after the movie was released in 1970.
• Henry Mancini recorded an easy listening version of the song for his 1970 album Mancini Plays the Theme from Love Story.
• Ahmad Jamal recorded an instrumental jazz-funk version of the song (as "Theme from M*A*S*H") on his 1974 release Jamalca. This version was included on some re-releases of the soundtrack album. Jamal recorded another version of the tune for his 1985 album Digital Works.
• Roy Ayers recorded an instrumental version of the theme for his 1974 album Change Up the Groove.
• Paul Desmond (alto saxophone) played together with Ed Bickert (e-guitar), Ron Carter (bass) and Connie Kay (drums) an instrumental version on his 1974 album Pure Desmond.
• Kerstin Forslund and Small Town Singers released a version in 1975. The single made the Top 100 chart in Australia.
• Ray Conniff recorded an easy listening version on his 1976 album Theme from S.W.A.T. and Other TV Themes.
• Bill Evans recorded a jazz piano trio version of the song for You Must Believe in Spring, an album posthumously released in 1981, having made it a staple of his live sets for some years. Evans' version modulates through all 12 keys. The song is also recorded in a jazz piano trio version on the CD Bill Evans Trio, recorded live in Buenos Aires in 1979.
• Cal Tjader recorded a version on his album The Shining Sea (1981).
• Jimmy Smith recorded a version on his album Off the Top (1982).
• Art Of Noise perform a short instrumental interpolation on their 1984 track "A Time for Fear (Who's Afraid)", featured on both Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise? and Daft.
• Royal Trux recorded a version for the BBC John Peel radio show in 1993. It was released in 1997 on a Royal Trux compilation called Singles, Live, Unreleased. On the compilation the song is titled "Theme from M.A.S.H."
• Killarmy sampled the music for their 1997 track "5 Stars" from the Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars album.
• Edgar Cruz recorded an instrumental cover of the song for his 1997 album Reminiscence titled "M*A*S*H Theme".
• Jay-Jay Johanson performed a version of this song on France Inter in 1997, later released on a promotional CD. In 2011 it appeared on his CD Spellbound.
• Marilyn Manson did a version for the soundtrack of Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 in 2000.
• Barði Jóhannsson and Keren Ann recorded a version on their album Lady and Bird (2003).
• Stewie Griffin sang a part of it on Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story in 2005.
• Matt Costa, singer-songwriter from Huntington Beach, California, USA covered the song on his six-track The Elasmosaurus EP in 2005.
• Kelis does her own interpretation of the song in her single "Lil Star" (with Cee-Lo), released in 2007.
• The Drones performed an acoustic version in 2008 on Triple J in Australia.
• Ania Dąbrowska recorded a version of this song on her album Ania Movie (2010).
• Amanda Lear recorded an acoustic and a dance version of this song on her 2009's cd Brief Encounters.
• Tripod did a short acoustic rendition of the theme in the song "Lingering Dad" (additionally, portions of the theme were later used in the song "Theme from Mash Guy" - a song about acquiring the rights to play the theme from M*A*S*H).