Movies - Suicide Is Painless

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	Movies - Suicide Is Painless

"Suicide Is Painless" is a song by Johnny Mandel (music) and Mike Altman (lyrics), which is mostly known for being featured in both the movie and TV series M*A*S*H
.

In addition to being sung by Johnny Mandel over the opening credits, the movie also features a scene that begins when Walter Koskiusko Waldowski, a dentist nicknamed "Painless" declares his intention to commit suicide, and the song is sung by one of the characters during the scene. An instrumental version of the song was used as the theme of the TV series, in which Painless 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:

: Suicide is painless, : It brings on many changes, : And I can take or leave it if I please

The refrain also is heard in Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, when a drunk Stewie sings it to Brian at the Drunken Clam.

Cover versions

Bill Evans recorded a jazz piano trio version of the song for "You must believe in spring", an album posthumously released in 1981.
Manic Street Preachers released a cover version as a charity single to help The Spastics Society (now SCOPE) in 1992. It was their first UK top ten hit.
Marilyn Manson, well known for recording cover versions, did a version for the soundtrack of the Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2
in 2000.
Matt Costa, singer-songwriter from Huntington Beach, CA, covered the song on his six-track "The Elasmosaurus E.P." in 2005.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Suicide Is Painless ]

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