"Suicide Is Painless" or "Song from M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless)" is the t… Read Full Bio ↴"Suicide Is Painless" or "Song from M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless)" is the theme song to the 1970 film and later tv series M*A*S*H (or M.A.S.H.). The song was written by Johnny Mandel (music) and Mike Altman (lyrics).

M.A.S.H. was a hard rock band from Slovania active in the 1980's. They recorded a 11 track demo, though it was never officially released.

M.A.S.H. was a thrash metal band from Poland active in the 1990's. They released two full-length studio albums, New Power (1992) and Animal (1995).

Welcome
M.A.S.H. Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Hang your collar up inside
Hang your dollar on me
Listen to the water still
Listen to the causeway
You are mad and educated
Primitive and wild
Welcome to the occupation

Here we stand and here we fight
All your fallen heroes
Held and dyed and skinned alive
Listen to the Congress fire
Offering the educated
Primitive and loyal
Welcome to the occupation

Hang your collar up inside
Hang your freedom higher
Listen to the buyer still
Listen to the Congress
Where we propagate confusion
Primitive and wild
Fire on the hemisphere below

Sugar cane and coffee cup
Copper, steel and cattle
An annotated history
The forest for the fire
Where we open up the floodgates
Freedom reigns supreme
Fire on the hemisphere below
Listen to me
Listen to me
Listen to me
Listen to me
Listen to me

Listen to me
Listen to me

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to M.A.S.H.'s "Welcome to the Occupation" suggest a political commentary that criticizes the primitive and wild nature of society, referring to the "fallen heroes" and the violence perpetrated in Congress. The first verse discusses hanging one's collar and dollar up and listening to the still water and causeway, indicating a sense of stillness and contemplation before the chaos of the rest of the song. The repetition of "primitive and wild" throughout the song reinforces the idea that humanity has not advanced enough, despite education and loyalty, to avoid violence and conflict.

The second verse refers to fallen heroes being "held and dyed and skinned alive," indicating a ghastly violence. The reference to "the hemisphere below" and "sugar cane and coffee cup, copper, steel and cattle" alludes to Latin America and suggests that the violence and corruption is widespread, not just in the United States. The line "where we open up the floodgates" suggests that the violence and confusion is being allowed to happen and is not being stopped.

The repetition of "listen to me" at the end of the song suggests that the singer has important things to say, but perhaps they are not being heard or taken seriously. Overall, the song suggests a need for change and a criticism of the state of society and politics.

Line by Line Meaning

Hang your collar up inside
Take off your formal clothes and relax

Hang your dollar on me
Rely on me to handle the money matters

Listen to the water still
Be quiet and hear the peaceful sound of water flowing

Listen to the causeway
Listen to the peaceful path towards progress

You are mad and educated
You are knowledgeable, but you still have emotions that drive you

Primitive and wild
You have raw and natural qualities that make you unique

Welcome to the occupation
You are joining a group of passionate and driven individuals

Here we stand and here we fight
We are united and ready to defend our cause

All your fallen heroes
Remember those who have sacrificed before us

Held and dyed and skinned alive
Their fate was brutal and unfair, but we must never forget their sacrifices

Listen to the Congress fire
Be aware of the political turmoil and tension

Offering the educated
We offer our intelligence and knowledge

Primitive and loyal
We are loyal to our cause, but we also have simple and natural qualities

Hang your freedom higher
Value your freedom and hold onto it tightly

Listen to the buyer still
Be attentive to the people who purchase and control things

Where we propagate confusion
We intentionally spread disorder and confusion to disrupt the system

Fire on the hemisphere below
There is a raging fire underneath the surface, representing political tensions and conflict

Sugar cane and coffee cup
Represents the agricultural industries of the area

Copper, steel and cattle
Represents the mining and ranching industries

An annotated history
The past is recorded, and we must learn from it

The forest for the fire
We are willing to sacrifice the environment to achieve our goals

Where we open up the floodgates
We unleash powerful forces that we cannot control

Freedom reigns supreme
Our ultimate goal is to achieve freedom and independence

Listen to me
Pay attention to what I am saying, it is important

Listen to me
I have something to say that needs to be heard

Listen to me
I am passionate about our cause and want to persuade you to join us

Listen to me
I am determined to succeed and I need your support

Listen to me
Together, we can make a difference

Listen to me
Believe in what we are fighting for, and we will achieve our goals

Listen to me
This is our time to make a change, so listen to me

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Michael Mills, Michael Stipe

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Comments from YouTube:

charles gebhart

2y↑13

I think Alan Alda really did crack up when BJ delivered that line

SKIP AD

2y↑39

I love how everyone in the cast always sang the praises of Larry Linville (Major Burns) as the nicest guy in the world.

Mike Difranco

2y↑8

ive seen that scene a million times and it still makes me laugh

Ryan Tiemann

2y↑93

Frank and Hot Lips thinking "Hooray, we're getting another serious soldier." Then he arrives and thet realize "Oh Dear God...now we have two Hawkeyes."

Boston Railfan

2y↑7

he got his professional soldier, he just didn’t like that it was his new commanding officer and who wouldn’t let him get away with stupidity

TheDarkElmStreetLagoon

2y↑7

WHAT SAY, FERRET FACE???

IsiahTomas

2y↑1

Now, for a pair of Hawkears...

Santiago Murillo

ROFLMFAO! So true, but when this went down, & we lost Capt Honeycutt (Trapper), it tore me apart. When Henry died, shi*t, I truly f-me Up!, & I was in college!

Mockingjay 1764

@Santiago Murillo I was introduced to this show during Covid. When I got to Henry's death, I cried and was like, "His newborn is not going to see his Father."😭

TheDarkElmStreetLagoon

2y↑120

All I had to hear as a kid was "What say, Ferret Face?" and I loved Capt. Hunnicutt, but what sealed it for me was the episode where he was the practical joker. "AIR RAID" anyone?

lightfall

2y↑2

godtier episode right there

Leslie Moise

2y↑3

My favorite episode!

Curt Vogue

2y↑7

Dr. Sidney Friedman - "It's YOU?!?!? You're the practical joker?"
BJ - "Certainly looks like it doesn't it? Wanna help?!"

TheDarkElmStreetLagoon

2y↑3

@Curt Vogue What do I do?

3 More Replies...

C0MMAND3R ZER0

2y↑11

i remember watching this a year ago with grandma, still makes me laugh.

Lupin the 3rd

2y↑9

I allways wondered how much trouble BJ and hawkeye would have gotten into if trapper never left the 4077th.

Mockingjay 1764

2y↑4

The Mash 4077 would be a circus

Free Patriot

2y↑4

When instantly knew BJ was gonna fit right in. Hahaha

Tim Heavrin

2y↑6

Out bloody hilarious! I about split a gut laughing when I first saw this! Still do when I see it!😁🤣😂

ResidentBigEvil

2y↑7

Just imagine if these 2 guys were your doctors. I wonder how they even survived basic

LilyRose89

2y↑13

Everyone but Frank was shown to be a good doctor on the show. Being forced to serve in the military and hating that fact has nothing to do with whether or not they were good doctors. Look at Frank. He was a horrible surgeon but loved the military. Or even Potter. Good surgeon but also loved the military.

cyrannodb

2y↑5

Found Frank Burns' alt account

davincent98

2y↑2

To quote Odo: They were drafted

Kevin Burk

2y↑1

If you ever served in the Military, you can appreciate this show

Dave TheRave

My dad served and was retiring when this stared up. Hated Hawkeye big time. Then, eons later he was saying how funny he was. Ha!

Mr. Aldini

2y↑27

I liked Trapper and BJ both.

LilyRose89

2y↑13

Me too. I'm always reminded of what Potter said about him not being Henry. I'm paraphrasing, but it was something like "It didn't mean I was better or worse, just different." From Period of Adjustment, season 8.

That's how I feel about all the replacement cast, except Charles. He may have been a snob but he was definitely better than Frank.

James Scarborough

2y↑11

It looks like Hawkeye wasn't prepared for what BJ said.

Nolan Boles

2y↑4

It might have been improvised.

Chuck Selvage

2y↑10

Larry Linville made that show Major Burns was comedy gold

CloudStreets

2y↑1

I miss those days

Frankensteinbeck

2y↑31

One of the few times I found BJ genuinely funny. I just never understood the appeal of that character. I grew to love Charles a lot more in the later seasons.

Joe Blow

2y↑3

I despise BJ and I despise Mike Farrell. The first couple of seasons he was just a bland pale imitation of Trapper. Later as the character basically became Mike Farrell I despised him. Charles for me was the best character on the show.

cornerofthemoon

2y↑3

Mike Farrell didn't have very good comic timing. He just didn't appear convincing trying to make BJ funny. He did fine with the dramatic scenes however.

Joe Blow

2y↑1

@cornerofthemoon I find him over done in drama and completely without timing in comedy. He's a dud. It's worse on MASH because everyone else is so good.

Joe Blow

2y↑4

@T D It's quite clear in both the MASH book and the film that Hawkeye is the main character. Trapper however is supposed to be the 'chest specialist. There's a third character, Duke Forrest, who eventually ends up with Hot Lips in the film version of the story. For some reason they did not use Duke but made Trapper in the TV show more like Duke, a good solid surgeon but not quite as good as Hawkeye.
In the book and the film Frank is driven crazy and gets carried away in a straight jacket. They couldn't very well ruin the TV show Frank quite as quickly because they needed a weekly punching bag for the original formula.
Originally Loretta is playing a variation on Sally Kellermann's version of Hot Lips, but even in season 1 you can see her develop the character into something uniquely hers.

Curt Vogue

2y↑2

@Joe Blow Charles was pretty damn funny!

3 More Replies...

Jeff Burnham

2y↑1

Frank Burns was a by the book career military officer, as was Margaret. With BJ calling Burns "ferret face", that would have been grounds for charges of insubordination, but I guess the show was going for laughs.

Piano Fry

2y↑5

Burns wasn't career I think he might have been reserves or drafted . He had his own practice in the states.

Richard Beckenbaugh

Interesting thing about drafted doctors - charge them with an infraction of any sort and they can fight it and must be sent to the US to resolve the case. I became friends with a doctor who was charged with insubordination while in Vietnam. He had been drafted. He wasn’t interested in a career in the military. The insubordination charge was because he refused to give substandard care to blacks and other minorities. He was sent to Ft. Lewis, Washington for trial. He won the trial and was immediately honorably discharged. His total time in service was less than a year. There was some regulation at the time that even had he lost, he would have to immediately be discharged with an honorable discharge. The same is true for those on “stop loss”. Any charge that keeps them from performing the function that they were “stop lossed” for results in immediate discharge as the stop loss is immediately voided. Hard to discipline someone when that discipline results in their immediate freedom.

Justin a

He throws a 3 year old temper tantrum when he gets the letter that Potter is coming

Owen Lee Green

2y↑10

And Hawkeye had never said anything about ol Ferret Face, to BJ during the ride to camp.

Ralph Angioli

2y↑1

It probably came up as they were getting drunk at Rosie’s.

Greg W.

2y↑8

At the bar in the air base where he is picked up.

michael naretto

He did when they were in the officers' club. Hawkeye said they call Burns "feret face".

Lynn Point

2y↑14

BJ had about two good seasons on MASH and then Hawkeye became more Jesus-like and the show and all the characters just got preachy. And complaining. And loud. Plus the actors, already too old for their characters to begin with, kept getting older.

A.P. Guaschino

2y↑4

Yea. Wrong.

Lynn Point

2y↑6

@A.P. Guaschino No. Opinion. You have yours. I have mine. Nothing wrong or right about either. Except for the actor's ages. Alan Alda was 34 when he first portrayed the gifted but still young Hawkeye Pierce, ostensibly in his late 20s or so in 1950. Three years later when the war ended, it was increasingly difficult to accept the 47-year-old Alda as the 30ish Hawkeye.

UghMazing

2y↑2

To be honest I didn't really care for his character. Trap and Hawk had a much better dynamic. You make a great point though. I also immensely hated Hawkey's anti-gun, that just got increasingly worse as time went on. Particularly the episode of him and Potter in the foxhole. That pissed me off.

donziperk

2y↑7

@Lynn Point You do realize this was a TV show you know. As in not reality.

Greg W.

2y↑4

@Lynn Point Hawkeye was older as he served in WWII as a doctor. In one episode, he mentions that this is his second war which, puts him (youngest possible) in his 30's.

23 More Replies...

Travis Newberry

2y↑1

Ferret Face? Is he related to Malfoy?

Dave TheRave

Plenty of bloopers, I’m sure.

Ballinger French

2y↑2

If were a man, or woman for that matter, I would not like having either the initials, "B.J." or "J.O."

Nolan Boles

They never did explain what the initials stood for.

Brad Evans

2y↑2

@Nolan Boles BJ claimed in one episode (the one where Hawkeye was obsessed with learning what his initials stood for) that it came from his parents being named Bea and Jay. Of course he may have made that up to get Hawkeye to shut up about it.

majobis

Yeah but what does BJ stand for?
That question was never answered

julie everett

2y↑3

yes it was, for his mother Bea and his father Jay

majobis

2y↑1

@julie everett Oh ok, I guess I never paid attention to that on the show

Riskmangler

2y↑3

The first and last time Mike Farrell was funny.

Michael S. Smith

2y↑3

M*A*S*H* was a great show at first, but after McLean Stevenson, Wayne Rogers & Larry Linville left, it turned into the Alan Alda show! 👎

Ralph

BJ, worst thing to happen on Mash.
Potter was the Best.

AlienLife

2y↑4

B.J. was by far the worst character on this show. Mike Farrell is a good enough actor but Hunnicut was SO WHINEY! Always crying about his wife and kid.