MovieChat Forums > M*A*S*H (1972) Discussion > Suicide is Painless

Suicide is Painless

posted 8 years ago by snepts
9 replies | jump to latest

Suicide is Painless.
For the longest time, I assumed Loudon Wainwright wrote this song. Maybe they punched it up with some brass arrangement, and I think he sang it in an episode and the lyrics would fit his sardonic world-view.
Turns out it was Johnny Mandel, who I believe was quite the successful tunesmith.
But I'll admit I was disappointed a bit. I like Loudon a lot. Figured he was getting paid big-time residuals for the theme from M*A*S*H. Oh well, he's probably doing o-k anyway.

I'm not a woman much less Deanna Durbin, but the old-time glam-shot appeals to me.

[–] Sunny_Nelson 8 years ago

It was never sung on the show. It was sung in the Robert Altman film of 1970.
It refers to the Dentist, the "Painless Pole," who wanted to kill himself.

[–] snepts 8 years ago

Thanks. So I'm thinking Loudon was in the film? Easy enough to check. Thanks for straightening me out.

I'm not a woman much less Deanna Durbin, but the old-time glam-shot appeals to me.

[–] ExplorerDS6789 8 years ago

Are you, like, a huge fan of Loudon Wainwright or a member of his family or something?

[–] snepts 8 years ago

Hahaha. I'm a pretty big fan. I don't own everything he's done, but he's pretty entertaining. It's just when M*A*S*H was current, I could have sworn he had a bit part singing that song, and it just sounds like something he might have written. Then I figured out he didn't write it (funny story about that, too), but still thought he performed it. I looked it up and I'm utterly mistaken. But yes, Loudon is pretty cool in my book. Thanks for asking.

I'm not a woman much less Deanna Durbin, but the old-time glam-shot appeals to me.

[–] snepts 8 years ago

So I just checked if LWIII was in the movie or the TV show. Looks like just the TV show.
Huh. I wonder how I got the notion he sang SiP in character. I'm going to try to figure this out.

I'm not a woman much less Deanna Durbin, but the old-time glam-shot appeals to me.

[–] indy_go_blue44 8 years ago

The music was written by Johnny Mandel. The words were actually written by Robert Altman's 14-year old son, Mike.

The lyrics used in the movie intro were written by Mike Altman. He is the son of Robert Altman, who got a big break when he directed M*A*S*H. Robert Altman went on to direct Popeye, Cookie's Fortune and Gosford Park.
Altman penned the lyrics at the age of only 14. His father told Johnny Carson that, while he himself was paid only $70,000 for directing the film, Mike made over a $1 million from the song.

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1088

Who sang it in the movie?

The song was written specifically for Ken Prymus (the actor playing Private Seidman), who sang it during the faux suicide of Walter "Painless Pole" Waldowski (John Schuck) in the film's "Last Supper" scene. Robert Altman had two stipulations about the song for Mandel: first, it had to be called "Suicide Is Painless"; second, it had to be the "stupidest song ever written". Altman tried to write the lyrics himself, but found that it was too difficult for his 45-year-old brain to write "stupid enough". Instead he gave the task to his 14-year-old-son, Michael, who wrote the lyrics in five minutes.

Altman later decided that the song worked so well, he would use it as the film's main theme, despite Mandel's initial objections. This version was sung by uncredited session singers John Bahler, Tom Bahler, Ron Hicklin and Ian Freebairn-Smith and the single was attributed to "The Mash."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Is_Painless

Pretty deep lyrics for a 14 year old.

[–] snepts 8 years ago

Nice research. I already had figured out that Altman's young son wrote the lyrics, but for some reason I associated it with Loudon Wainwright. Completely wrong. But thanks for adding to the thread.

I'm not a woman much less Deanna Durbin, but the old-time glam-shot appeals to me.

[–] Sunny_Nelson 8 years ago

Pretty deep lyrics for a 14 year old.

And very punny, too.

Makes sense that the lyrics were never used in the tv series, since Painless was in maybe one episode.

[–] indy_go_blue44 8 years ago

I think the full instrumental version was only used in the pilot.

There was some other interesting information I found when I was researching. A British group released a cover of it in '73 (IIRC) which went to #1 on the sceptered isle. There've been at least 5 other covers released commercially. It's in the top 5 most recognized tv theme songs of all time, #1 in several polls (The "I Love Lucy" theme is the all time #1.)