Gloomy Sunday

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"Gloomy Sunday" (from Hungarian "Szomorú Vasárnap", IPA: ['sɒmɒɾuː 'vɐʃaɾnɐp]) is a song written by the Hungarian self-taught pianist and composer Rezső Seress in 1933. According to urban legend, it inspired hundreds of suicides. When the song was first marketed in America, it became known as the "Hungarian suicide song". There is no systematic substantiation for such claims, as it is not documented where any such allegations appear in press coverage or other publications of the time.

Numerous versions of the song have been recorded and released. Phil Elwood, writing in JazzWest.com, cites the following words of Michael Brooks, taken from Brooks' program notes accompanying the 10-CD set, "Lady Day" - the Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia, 1933-1944:

"Gloomy Sunday reached America in 1936 and, thanks to a brilliant publicity campaign, became known as The Hungarian Suicide Song. Supposedly after hearing it, distraught lovers were hypnotized into heading straight out of the nearest open window, in much the same fashion as investors after October, 1929; both stories are largely urban myths."

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[edit] Song

The crushing hopelessness and bitter despair of the original lyrics by Seress were soon replaced by the melancholic lyrics of the Hungarian poet László Jávor.

Sam M. Lewis and Desmond Carter each translated the song into English. Sam Lewis's version was performed from 1936 by Hal Kemp and his Orchestra, then later by Artie Shaw and Billie Holiday. The popularity of "Gloomy Sunday" increased greatly after its interpretation by Billie Holiday in 1941. Her performance established Lewis' version as the standard for later interpreters. Attempting to alleviate the pessimistic tone, a third stanza was added to the Billie Holiday version, giving the song a dreamy theme (starting with "Dreaming, I was only dreaming"). Paul Robeson (1936) and Diamanda Galás (1992) used Carter's lyrics in their versions of the song.

The origin of the song became the background of the German/Hungarian movie "Gloomy Sunday - Ein Lied von Liebe und Tod" (1999) (A Song of Love and Death), based on the novel by Nick Barkow, co-written and directed by Rolf Schübel and starring Joachim Król, Ben Becker, Stefano Dionisi and Erika Marozsán.

[edit] Urban legends

There have been several urban legends regarding the song over the years, mostly involving it being allegedly connected with various numbers of suicides, and radio networks reacting by purportedly banning the song. Sources propagating the legend fail to provide substantiation for claims of suicides or radio bans. The legend may have inspired Spider Robinson's short story "The Law of Conservation of Pain", part of the Callahan's Crosstime Saloon series.

In 1968, Seress jumped to his death from his apartment. The New York Times Archive holds the obituary of Rezső Seress, where he is credited with causing suicides. The article reads:

“ Budapest, January 13. Rezsoe Seres, whose dirge-like song hit, "Gloomy Sunday" was blamed for touching off a wave of suicides during the nineteen-thirties, has ended his own life as a suicide it was learned today.

Authorities disclosed today that Mr. Seres jumped from a window of his small apartment here last Sunday, shortly after his 69th birthday. The decade of the nineteen-thirties was marked by severe economic depression and the political upheaval that was to lead to World War II. The melancholy song written by Mr. Seres, with words by his friend, Ladislas Javor, a poet, declares at its climax, "My heart and I have decided to end it all." It was blamed for a sharp increase in suicides, and Hungarian officials finally prohibited it. In America, where Paul Robeson introduced an English version, some radio stations and nightclubs forbade its performance. Mr. Seres complained that the success of "Gloomy Sunday" actually increased his unhappiness, because he knew he would never be able to write a second hit.

- New York Times, 1968

 ”

In 1997 Billy Mackenzie, vocalist with Scottish band The Associates (who recorded a cover of Holiday's version in 1982), committed suicide near his father's home in Dundee.

The codifying of the urban legend appears in an article attributed to "D.P. MacDonald" and titled "Overture to Death", the text of which has been reproduced and disseminated countless times online. According to the website of Phespirit the article was originally published by the 'Justin and Angi' site to augment their now defunct "Gloomy Sunday Radio Show". Their introduction to the article reads:

“ This message was forwarded to us by a visitor to our web site. There is some good historical information on the song intermixed with some information of more dubious repute. The accounts begin to take on the feel of a satiric e-mail chain letter after a while, but then, sometimes truth is indeed stranger than fiction. The story does read a little bit like the script of a segment from Strange Universe! So take this with a grain of salt ..... The text was [supposedly] quoted from the Cincinatti (sic) Journal of Ceremonial Magick, vol I, no I, printed in 1976. ”

[edit] Performers

Artists who have covered or reinterpreted the song include:

Marilyn Manson is rumoured to have recorded a version for his upcoming album Eat Me, Drink Me, to be released in June 2007.

The Dead Milkmen did not actually cover the song, but they quoted its lyrics in their 1987 song "(Theme From) Blood Orgy of the Atomic Fern".

Venetian Snares remixed Billie Holiday's version on his album "Rossz Csillag Alatt Született" (English: born under a bad star).

Emilie Autumn also refers to this song in her song "The Art of Suicide".

[edit] In popular culture

  • Holiday's version was featured in the Simpsons episode “Treehouse of Horror XVII”.
  • There is a Swedish "doom metal" band from Gothenburg called Gloomy Sunday; and many of their lyrics deal with depression and suicide.
  • The song inspired the Spanish movie The Kovak Box (2006). A writer is trapped on an island where everybody seems to commit suicide. The song plays during the movie, sung by the actress Lucía Jiménez. A music video from the cover was released as part of the movie promotion.
  • Poppy Z. Brite refers to this song in her novel Exquisite Corpse.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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