"Suicide Is Painless" (also known as "Theme from ''M*A*S*H''" or "Song from ''M*A*S*H''") is a song written by

Johnny Mandel John Alfred Mandel (November 23, 1925June 29, 2020) was an American composer and arranger of popular songs, film music and jazz. The musicians he worked with include Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Anita O'Day, Barbra Streisand, Tony Benn ...

(music) and Michael Altman (

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...

) for the 1970 film ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (an acronym for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richa ...

''. In addition to being performed by characters in the film, it plays during the

title sequence A title screen (also called an opening screen or intro) is the method by which films or television show, television programmes present their title and key filmmaking, production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often an op ...

as sung by The Ron Hicklin Singers. An instrumental version was used as the

theme music Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

for the TV series based on the film, playing over the opening and closing credits.

Background

The song was written for Ken Prymus, the actor playing Private Seidman, to sing during the faux-suicide of Walter "Painless Pole" Waldowski ( John Schuck) in the film's "Last Supper" scene. Director

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and sat ...

had two stipulations about the song for composer Johnny Mandel: it had to be called "Suicide Is Painless" and it had to be the "stupidest song ever written". Altman attempted to write the lyrics himself, but, upon finding it too difficult for his "45-year-old brain" to write something "stupid" enough, he gave the task to his 15-year-old-son Michael, who reportedly 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. This more choral version was sung by uncredited session singers John Bahler, Tom Bahler, Ron Hicklin, and Ian Freebairn-Smith, and was released as a single attributed to "The Mash". Altman said that, while he only made $70,000 for directing the movie, his son had earned more than $1 million for co-writing the song. Several

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

versions of the song were used as the theme for the TV series, but the lyrics were never used in the show. It became a number-one hit in the UK Singles Chart in May 1980. The song was ranked No. 66 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs.

Track listing

7″ vinyl * West Germany: CBS / 5009 *UK: CBS / S CBS 8536 *US: Columbia / 4M-45130 ono promo only*US: Columbia / 4S-45130 riginal stereo stock release

Chart performance

Manic Street Preachers version

Welsh

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Wales, Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, in 1986. The band consists of Nicky Wire (bass guitar, lyrics) and cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, le ...

released a cover version of "Suicide Is Painless" on September 7, 1992, as "Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide Is Painless)". In the UK, it was a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

charity single to help The Spastics Society, with the Fatima Mansions' take on

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...

' "

(Everything I Do) I Do It for You "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams. Written by Adams, Michael Kamen, and Robert John "Mutt" Lange, the power ballad was the lead single for both the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves#Music, soundtr ...

" as the other A-side. The 12-inch 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 ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' capturing staff's reaction to photographs of guitarist

Richey Edwards Richard James Edwards (22 December 1967 – disappeared 1 February 1995, declared dead 24 November 2008), also known as Richey James or Richey Manic, was a Welsh musician who was the lyricist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band ...

' infamous self-mutilation. The single peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart spending three weeks in the top 10.

Track listings

7-inch vinyl * UK: Columbia / 658382 7 * Netherlands: Columbia / COL 658385 7 12-inch vinyl * UK: Columbia / 658382 6 CD * UK: Columbia / 658382 2 * Europe: Columbia / 658385 2 * Japan: Epic/Sony / ESCA 5668

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover recorded versions

Ahmad Jamal Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones; July 2, 1930 – April 16, 2023) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator. For six decades, he was one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz. He was a NEA Jazz Ma ...

recorded a new version of the song that replaced the version by The MASH on pressings of the soundtrack album beginning in 1973; the film retained the original version. *

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, block chords, innovative chord voicings, a ...

included an

jazz cover on his posthumous album ''You Must Believe in Spring'' (recorded in 1977 but not released until 1981). Various live recordings by Evans are also in circulation. *

The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson (musician), Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar acro ...

recorded a cover version for their 1977 album ''TV Themes''. This version makes heavy use of fuzz guitar, with a faster tempo and a funk beat. *

Al De Lory Alfred V. De Lory (January 31, 1930 – February 5, 2012) was an American record producer, arranger, conductor and session musician. He was the producer and arranger of a series of worldwide hits by Glen Campbell in the 1960s, including John Har ...

recorded "Song from M*A*S*H", an

jazz piano version for his 1970 album ''Al De Lory Plays Song from M*A*S*H''. This version peaked at No. 7 on the

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart during the summer of 1970. *

Andre Kostelanetz Andre Kostelanetz (; December 22, 1901 – January 13, 1980) was a Russian-American popular orchestral music conductor and arranger who was one of the major exponents of popular orchestra music. Biography Abram Naumovich Kostelyanetz was born ...

recorded an uptempo vocalese-instrumental version for his 1974 album "Quadraphonic Pop Concert". *Swedish group Small Town Singers released a version under the title "Song from M*A*S*H" in 1975. The single peaked at 17th position in Sweden, Top 100 chart in Australia. *

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the Marilyn Manson (band), same-titled band he founded in 1989. Th ...

recorded a cover version which was released on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

to '' Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2'' in 2000 *In the tenth episode of the fifth season of ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where t ...

'', titled "The Stormy Present", Toby Ziegler sings the song while drunkenly writing a

eulogy A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person, especially one who recently died or retired, or as a term o ...

for a former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

aboard

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control-designated Aviation call signs, call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. The term is commonly used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modifie ...

. *The Icelandic duo Lady & Bird covered the song for their 2003 self-titled album. *

Royal Trux Royal Trux was an American alternative rock band active from 1987 to 2001, and again from 2015 to 2019 consisting of Neil Hagerty (vocals, guitar) and Jennifer Herrema (vocals). History While still a teenager, Hagerty joined Washington D.C. g ...

recorded a cover version which was released on the 2x album "Singles, Live, Unreleased" in 1997.

References

{{Authority control 1970 singles 1970 songs 1980 singles American folk songs American soft rock songs British soft rock songs CBS Records singles Charity singles Columbia Records singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles M*A*S*H Manic Street Preachers songs Marilyn Manson (band) songs Songs about suicide Songs about the military Songs with music by Johnny Mandel Songs written for films Comedy television theme songs UK singles chart number-one singles