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This song was written by a 15 year old? I just learned about this.

To this day that song can make me cry. Knowing it was written by someone who was only 15 makes it all the more poignant. Thank you, for posting this.

Wow, I didn't know that either. I've always loved that song.

According to wiki the 14 year old who wrote the words (not the music) was the son of Robert Altman, the director of the movie MASH. Someone else wrote the music, but the director tried to write the words himself. He wanted the song "to sound as stupid as possible, but my 45 year old brain could do stupid. So I gave it to my 14 year old son, and wrote in five minutes".

Altman said that he "earned 70 thousand dollars for directing the movie, but his son has earned over a million dollars in royalties for writing the theme song."

I can't watch the video right now. What is the name of the song?

Suicide is painless. It's the MASH theme song, if you're familiar.

Thanks! Of course I'm familiar with the MASH theme song! Never heard the lyrics, though.

Really a pretty good show. Hawkeye, to me, was pretty sanctimonious; I liked his 2nd buddy better; it's funny how the Trapper in MASH became Trapper John, MD in the 1980s.

Nope. I had no idea. I also had no clue what the lyrics were - or what the title was, for that matter.

Makes sense, though. Teenaged brains are among the most creative as well as volatile & emotional of all people, so it's not really surprising to hear that a 15 year old wrote a song about suicide.

And now...a word from our sponsor. (Yeah, that's Robin on guitar).

"Suicide is painless" is a play on words also. It refers back to the dentist on the original MASH movie (not the tv show).

From wiki:


Father Mulcahy, the camp's chaplain, tells Hawkeye that Walt "Painless" Waldowski, the unit's dentist, has consulted him about a problem. Mulcahy feels unable to divulge any details because Walt confided in him during confession. Waldowski tells Hawkeye that he suffered a "lack of performance" with a visiting nurse and now believes he has latent homosexual tendencies. He wants to commit suicide, and asks advice on a reliable method. Hawkeye, Trapper and Duke suggest that he use the "black capsule", a fictitious fast-acting poison. At a farewell banquet that satirizes The Last Supper, Walt takes the capsule (actually a sleeping pill) and falls asleep in a coffin. Hawkeye persuades Lt. Maria Schneider to spend the night with Walt and cure him of his "problem."

^ That's interesting. So the 15yo writer wasn't such a depressed teen after all; just a very creative talented writer who was able to work the movie into the theme song.

Exactly.
The OP is a bit misleading.

The movie director just suggested to his own son "write a dumb sounding song about suicide for a scene in my movie", and the son dashed off a - what some feel -is actually a very poignant song about the subject.

Just the words. Some grown up had already composed the music.

In the Eighties, and Nineties, you would even hear the instrumental version as muzak in stores. Which would crack me up because the song has "suicide" in its title.

Huh. I don't think I'll ever get quite so choked up about it again! Not sure how I feel about that...

I still think it is a great song. I was not such a fan of the movie but I love the show. Funny but very poignant. the song goes with the show. In the movie, it was more sarcastic satire. As a lead-in to the show, kind of gives me goosebumps.

C'mon, admit it.. who else has been whistling this tune off and on for the last couple days?

Thanks for the earworm, EzraS!