The lyrics were written by 14-year-old Altman for his father's film M*A*S*H. On an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in the 1980s, Robert Altman said that Mike Altman earned more than a million dollars for cowriting the song while he only made $70,000 for directing the movie. In addition to being sung by Johnny Mandel over the film's opening credits, the movie also features a scene that begins when Walter Koskiusko Waldowski, a dentist nicknamed “Painless Pole,” declares his intention to commit suicide, and the song is sung by Ken Prymus (playing Sergeant Seidman) during the suicide scene. At least two instrumental versions of the song were used as the theme of the TV series, in which “Painless Pole” was mentioned, but 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
Suicide is Painless
M*A*S*H Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Visions of the things to be
The pains that are withheld for me
I realize and I can see
That suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it if I please
The game of life is hard to play
I'm gonna lose it anyway
The losing card I'll someday lay
So this is all I have to say
Suicide is painless (suicide)
It brings on many changes (changes)
And I can take or leave it if I please
The sword of time will pierce our skins
It doesn't hurt when it begins
But as it works its way on in
The pain grows stronger
Watch it grin
Suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it if I please
A brave man once requested me
To answer questions that are key
Is it to be or not to be
And I replied oh why ask me?
Suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it if I please
And you can do the same thing if you please
The lyrics of "Suicide Is Painless" from the TV show M*A*S*H explores the theme of death and suicide. It opens with the singer looking ahead towards the future, while remembering the things he has gone through in life. He acknowledges the pain that is waiting for him and realizes that he can escape it by taking his own life. The chorus of the song repeats the idea that suicide is painless, and it brings many changes. The second verse describes how life is a game that is hard to play, and in the end, everyone will lose. The lyrics suggest that the singer is ready to lay down his losing card by taking his own life.
The third verse is the most striking as it talks about the sword of time that will eventually pierce everyone's skin. The pain is not immediate, but it gradually grows, and it eventually leads to death. The use of the word "grin" at the end creates a creepy and powerful image. The fourth and final verse seems to mock the idea of asking someone whether to be or not to be, which is a famous line from Shakespeare's play Hamlet. The singer bluntly tells the person asking such a question that they can also take or leave suicide.
Line by Line Meaning
Through early morning fog I see
Even through difficult times, I can still see my future clearly.
Visions of the things to be
I have dreams and aspirations of what I want to achieve in life.
The pains that are withheld for me
I know that there will be challenges and obstacles in my future.
I realize and I can see
Despite the difficulties, I am aware of what is to come.
That suicide is painless
Taking one's own life may seem like an easy escape from troubles.
It brings on many changes
Ending one's own life would have a huge impact on the lives of those around them.
And I can take or leave it if I please
Ultimately, it is a personal choice that only the individual can make.
The game of life is hard to play
Living a fulfilling and successful life can be challenging.
I'm gonna lose it anyway
No matter how hard I try, there will be losses and failures in life.
The losing card I'll someday lay
Eventually, I will face defeat in some aspect of my life.
So this is all I have to say
Despite these challenges, I still have a choice to make.
The sword of time will pierce our skins
As time marches on, we will face physical and emotional pain.
It doesn't hurt when it begins
At first, the pain may not seem overwhelming.
But as it works its way on in
Over time, the pain can become much stronger and harder to bear.
The pain grows stronger
The pain can become unbearable, and may seem like a reason to end one's life.
Watch it grin
The pain may seem almost like an entity, taunting and torturing us.
A brave man once requested me
Someone once asked me a very important question.
To answer questions that are key
They wanted me to answer fundamental questions about life, death, and existence.
Is it to be or not to be
The ultimate question is whether to continue living or to end one's own life.
And I replied oh why ask me?
I did not feel qualified to answer such a profound question.
And you can do the same thing if you please
Ultimately, the choice is up to each individual, and they must make it for themselves.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Johnny Mandel, Michael B Altman
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@moontiger6393
@@roymarius1634 It was the mentality of Paul Erdős, the most prolific mathematician of the 20th century, and arguably the most ingenious and dedicated problem solver and poser in all of human history, quoting from Paul Hoffman's biography, "The man who only loved numbers":
' "The game of life," Erdős often said, "is to keep the SF's score low. If you do something bad in life, the SF gets two points. If you don't do something good that you should have done, the SF gets one point. You never score, so the SF always wins." ' [SF here was the way Erdős referred to God, calling him the Supreme Fascist. This may seem cynical, but Erdos was known for his amusingly original words to refer to many things, so this may be considered playful eccentricity]
And yet even with this view, Erdős dedicated his life to the truth and achieved far more than many ever will. The way I see it, accepting that life is a losing game isn't a loser's mentality, it's just an acknowledgement of the reality of the situation. We will all die far before we can achieve, learn and experience everything we are capable of. From birth, we are all making choices that clip off more and more possibilties until we have no choices left at the end, and so we cannot avoid failing to achieve many of the things which we could possibly have done. We lose no matter what.
But in accepting this fact, perhaps we will realise that if nothing else, we are still free to choose between resignation to total failure, or struggling to the very end to do the absolute best that we can do, even if we will still die with so much undone. This I believe is the way Erdős saw things. He died at a conference of a heart attack at the age of 83, almost certainly doing significant mathematics the same day, to the very end he didn't let the SF get any easy points. Indeed, this was basically how he had hoped to die:
'I want to be giving a lecture, finishing up an important proof on the blackboard, when someone in the audience shouts out, 'What about the general case?'. I'll turn to the audience and smile, 'I'll leave that to the next generation,' and then I'll keel over' - Paul Erdős
Is that the sign of a loser's mentality?
@nicholasbettencourt788
Lyrics:
Through early morning fog I see
Visions of the things to be
The pains that are withheld for me
I realize and I can see
That suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it
If I please
The game of life is hard to play
I'm gonna lose it anyway
The losing card I'll someday lay
So this is all I have to say
Suicide is painless (suicide)
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it
If I please
The sword of time will pierce our skins
It doesn't hurt when it begins
But as it works its way on in
The pain grows stronger, watch it grin
Suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it
If I please
A brave man once requested me
To answer questions that are key
"Is it to be or not to be?"
And I replied, "Oh, why ask me?"
Suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it
If I please
And you can do the same thing
If you please
@jonnnyren6245
"War isn't hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell."
"Well, boys, it would be hard to call what we've been through fun, but I'm sure glad we went through it together. You boys always managed to give me a good laugh right when I needed it most. Never forget the time you dropped Winchester's drawers in the O.R. 'Course I had to pretend I was mad at ya, but inside I was laughing to beat all hell."
"Frank, do you know what a hero is? Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, he's somebody who's tired enough and cold enough and hungry enough not to give a damn. I don't give a damn."
"Minding my own business is a full-time job. In my spare time, it's my hobby. I can't divide myself emotionally. I couldn't break my word to Peg, and not because God will send me to Hell without an electric fan or because it's not the right thing to do. I simply don't want to."
"Great little war we have here."
@justdope1963
'The game of life is hard to play. I'm gonna lose it anyway.' That hits me every time I hear it.
@mikeyates7931
AMEN
@roymarius1634
It is literally the mentality of a loser.
@hittaman8067
@@roymarius1634 so true bro pure sign of defeatism
@johnyzero2000
@@roymarius1634 Please don't volunteer at a suicide prevention center.
@moontiger6393
@@roymarius1634 It was the mentality of Paul Erdős, the most prolific mathematician of the 20th century, and arguably the most ingenious and dedicated problem solver and poser in all of human history, quoting from Paul Hoffman's biography, "The man who only loved numbers":
' "The game of life," Erdős often said, "is to keep the SF's score low. If you do something bad in life, the SF gets two points. If you don't do something good that you should have done, the SF gets one point. You never score, so the SF always wins." ' [SF here was the way Erdős referred to God, calling him the Supreme Fascist. This may seem cynical, but Erdos was known for his amusingly original words to refer to many things, so this may be considered playful eccentricity]
And yet even with this view, Erdős dedicated his life to the truth and achieved far more than many ever will. The way I see it, accepting that life is a losing game isn't a loser's mentality, it's just an acknowledgement of the reality of the situation. We will all die far before we can achieve, learn and experience everything we are capable of. From birth, we are all making choices that clip off more and more possibilties until we have no choices left at the end, and so we cannot avoid failing to achieve many of the things which we could possibly have done. We lose no matter what.
But in accepting this fact, perhaps we will realise that if nothing else, we are still free to choose between resignation to total failure, or struggling to the very end to do the absolute best that we can do, even if we will still die with so much undone. This I believe is the way Erdős saw things. He died at a conference of a heart attack at the age of 83, almost certainly doing significant mathematics the same day, to the very end he didn't let the SF get any easy points. Indeed, this was basically how he had hoped to die:
'I want to be giving a lecture, finishing up an important proof on the blackboard, when someone in the audience shouts out, 'What about the general case?'. I'll turn to the audience and smile, 'I'll leave that to the next generation,' and then I'll keel over' - Paul Erdős
Is that the sign of a loser's mentality?
@DANMINARD
This sounds like the Beach Boys gave-up surfing
@dxo8809
It brought on many changes.
@gerwinnus
I fuckin' laughed so hard xD
@milenkocovic
Brilliant joke 😊 Bravo