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"'Gloomy Sunday'" (from Hungarian "Szomorú Vasárnap", ) 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 the United States, 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. Michael Brooks wrote in the program notes for 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."

Contents

Song

Urban legends

Performers

In popular culture

See also

External links

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. The 1935 British recording by Paul Robeson (released in the US in 1936) combined the relentlessly downbeat Carter lyrics with a dirgelike arrangement, and is perhaps the gloomiest of the English-language versions. Sam Lewis's somewhat more-mainstream lyrics were performed in 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's 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 dream theme (starting with "Dreaming, I was only dreaming"). Diamanda Galás's 1992 version used Carter's lyrics, but most recent versions have used Lewis's.
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.

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, mentioning the song's notorious reputation. The article reads:
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:

Performers

Artists who have covered or reinterpreted the song include:

★ 1935 (UK): Paul Robeson (released in the US in 1936)

★ 1936: Damia (in French, under the title "Sombre Dimanche", recorded on February 28, lyrics by Jean Marèze and François-Eugène Gonda, music by Rezsö Seress)

★ 1936: Hal Kemp and his Orchestra

★ 1936: Paul Whiteman

★ 1941: Billie Holiday

★ 1957: Josh White

★ 1958: Mel Tormé

★ 1959: Eila Pellinen (in Finnish under title "Surullinen sunnuntai")

★ 1961: Sarah Vaughan

★ 1962: Lou Rawls

★ 1967: Carmen McRae

★ 1968: Genesis (U.S. band unrelated to the well-known British band)

★ 1969: Ray Charles

★ 1979: Lydia Lunch

★ 1981: Elvis Costello & the Attractions (''Trust'')

★ 1982: Associates

★ 1983: Swans Way

★ 1983: Jacques Calonne (''Ténor Mondain'') (in French, under the title "Sombre Dimanche", lyrics credited to László Jávor, but probably the ones by Jean Marèze and François-Eugène Gonda)

★ 1984: Peter Wolf

★ 1985: Harri Marstio (in Finnish under title "Surullinen sunnuntai")

★ 1986: Christian Death

★ 1988: Serge Gainsbourg (''Le Zénith de Gainsbourg'') (in French)

★ 1991: The Singing Loins (''Songs For The Organ'')

★ 1992: Diamanda Galás (''The Singer'')

★ 1992: Sinéad O'Connor (''Am I Not Your Girl?'')

★ 1995: Gitane Demone

★ 1995: Sarah McLachlan (''Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff'')

★ 1996: Mystic (The Funeral soundtrack)

★ 1998: Marianne Faithfull

★ 1999: The Smithereens (''God Save the Smithereens'')

★ 1999: Björk

★ 1999: Heather Nova (''South'')

★ 2000: Kronos Quartet

★ 2000: Sarah Brightman

★ 2001: Iva Bittova (''The Man Who Cried)

★ 2003: Emilie Autumn

★ 2003: Edvin Marton

★ 2003: Hot Jazz Band

★ 2004: Branford Marsalis (''Eternal'')

★ 2004: MC Sniper (with changed lyrics, rap, Korean)

★ 2005: Jaurim

★ 2005: Eminemmylou featuring Legs MC (raps added, turned into anti-suicide anthem)

★ 2006: Tsukimono (on Famousfor15mb.com)

★ 2006: Angéla Póka (live) (performing ''Szomorú Vasárnap'' live during Megasztár)

★ 2006: Red Sky Mourning

★ 2006: Lucía Jiménez (for the movie ''the Kovak Box'' inspired by the song)

★ 2006: Zaorany kytky [1](band from Czech republic)

★ 2007: Candie Payne

★ Marc Almond

★ 1958 Ricky Nelson (released posthumously)

★ Mickey Baker

★ Artie Shaw

★ Anton Lavey - from "htmpl productions & pcl link dump - christianity vs satanism" compilation

★ Rob Coffinshaker
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".

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.

★ The song is featured at the start of the film Schindler's List

★ The song is featured at the start of the film The Funeral

★ The song is featured in the movie Gloomy Sunday - Ein Lied von Liebe und Tod

★ The song is featured in the movie Grindhouse (film)

★ The song is mentioned as a trivia answer on the British game show QI

★ In the film The Man Who Cried, Christina Ricci sings the song in the scene where she and Cate Blanchett are on the ship bound for America.

See also

★ Copycat suicide

External links

★ recording by Paul Whiteman with Johnny Hauser vocal, released under creative commons license, hosted by the Internet Archive

★ Full list of recordings of the song

★ English version of lyrics by Sam Lewis

★ English version of lyrics by Desmond Carter

★ Urban Legend Reference Page on Gloomy Sunday

★ Lyrics Of Gloomy Sunday in Hungarian and English Translation

★ ''Overture to Death'' by D. P. MacDonald

★ ''Gloomy Sundays: A Study in Black'' by Michael Fingerhut