Suicide Is Painless

"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.

Mike Altman is the son of the original film's director, Robert Altman, and was 14 years old when he composed 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 dollars for co-writing the song while he only made $70,000 for directing the movie. The song, as sung by Johnny Mandel, is played during the film's opening credits. Additionally, the movie also features a scene that begins when Walter Koskiusko Waldowski, a dentist nicknamed “Painless Pole,” declares his intention to commit suicide, and the song is sung by Ken Prymus (playing Sergeant Seidman) during the suicide scene. Several instrumental versions of the song were used as the theme for the TV series (in which “Painless Pole” was mentioned, but never appeared).

First released 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 refrain is well-known:

'Cause suicide is painless,

It brings on many changes,

And I can take or leave it if I please

The Songs Meaning

This is possibly one of the most misunderstood songs ever written. This song is not a pro-suicide song at all. Although, it was denounced by some Fundamentalist Christians as such. The song must be understood in the context of the Vietnam War. It is simply dark war humor, tinged with Fatalism that existed during the 1960's. Many young people felt that the Vietnam War was unjustified. Thus the songs darkness and fatalist lyrics. It was all just a social commentary of the times, nothing more, and nothing less.

Cover versions

• Ahmad Jamal recorded an instrumental jazz-funk version of the song on his 1974 release Jamalca titled "Theme From M.A.S.H." This version was included on some re-releases of the soundtrack album.
• 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.
• Manic Street Preachers released a cover version as a charity single to help The Spastics Society (now Scope) in 1992. It spent three weeks in the UK Top Ten and peaked at No 7.
• Marilyn Manson, well known for recording cover versions, did a version for the soundtrack of Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 in 2000. He calls the original "more depressing and offensive than anything I've ever done."
• Royal Trux recorded a version for the BBC John Peel radio show in 1993. It was later released 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.
• Kelis does her own interpretation of the song in her single "Lil Star" (with Cee-Lo, from Gnarls Barkley).
• 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.
• Cal Tjader recorded a version on his album The Shining Sea (1981).
• Jimmy Smith recorded a version on his album Off the Top (1982).
• Matt Costa, singer-songwriter from Huntington Beach, California, covered the song on his six-track The Elasmosaurus E.P. in 2005.
• Ryan Kallok, singer-songwriter from Youngstown, Ohio, has performed it live, and offered it as a download during the "Era" sessions in 2008.
• Al De Lory recorded a jazz piano version titled "Song from MASH" that was an adult contemporary hit a few months after the movie was released in 1970.
• Paul Desmond (alto saxophone) played together with Ed Bickert (e-guitar), Ron Carter (bass) and Connie Kay (drums) an instrumental version on his album Pure Desmond in 1974.
• Kerstin Forslund and Small Town Singers released a version in 1975. The single made Top-100 in Australia.
• I=mc2 is the latest group to sample the melody, making a single called "Please" as a tribute to the soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq.
• The Drones performed an acoustic version in 2008 on Triple J in Australia.
• Jay-Jay Johanson performed a version of this song on France Inter in 1997, later released on a promotional CD.
• Ino Hidefumi, a Japanese pianist and Fender Rhodes player, recorded the song for his 2008 album Living Message.
• Barði Jóhannson / Bang Gang and Keren Ann) recorded a version on their album Lady And Bird (2003).
• Satanicpornocultshop covered this song for their 2009 album Catholic Sunspot Apron.
• Edgar Cruz recorded an instrumental cover of the song for his 1997 album Reminiscence titled "M*A*S*H Theme".

Other appearances

• The refrain is heard in The Simpsons, when Marge is taken by Ziff's helicopter from her backyard.
• The refrain also is heard in the Family Guy movie Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, when a drunken Stewie sings it to Brian at the Drunken Clam.
• A soundalike of the refrain is heard in the Futurama episode War is the H-Word.
• Similarly, a drunken Toby Ziegler absently mumbles the song to himself in The West Wing episode "The Stormy Present," while flying on Air Force One to the funeral of a former president.
• In the 2007 independent New Zealand film Manders, the lead character whispers this song constantly while torturing his victims.
• In the 20th issue of The Sandman comic book series by Neil Gaiman, the character Element Girl sings this song to Death while asking to be released from life.
• Australian comedy band, Tripod, have a song which outlines the (fictional) annoyance that the writer of "Suicide is Painless" has, as a result of everyone knowing the song as "The Theme from M*A*S*H"
• The phrase was written in dust on the hood of the car abandoned by disgraced hedge fund manager Samuel Israel III just before his faked suicide.

External links

• http://www.mash4077.co.uk/theme.html