Tuesday, October 16, 2018

"Gloomy Sunday" as sung by Sarah McLachlan

There's this urban legend I heard about in high school called the "Hungarian Suicide Song," thus named because it has been linked to a number of suicides. It was composed by a Hungarian pianist named Rezso Seress, but the lyrics that are known today were written by a poet named Laszlo Javor. The lyrics are about a man wanting to commit suicide after his lover's death. When I first heard about it in high school, I wrote a story inspired by the song that followed the same plot line with some minor changes. In my story, a young man commits suicide by jumping off a bridge. His lover, consumed by despair, listens to the Hungarian Suicide Song over and over, getting lost in its melancholy melody. Her friends eventually find her lifeless body in her apartment, the song still playing. Now that I think of it, the people in my stories often end up dead. There's probably a metaphor in there somewhere.

Anyway, newspaper articles from the 1930s associate as many as 19 suicides with the song in both the United States and Hungary. However, this was during the 1930s, which was a depressing time for most of the world, so it's hard to really substantiate that it was the song that did them in. More than likely, people were probably killing themselves because they were starving during the Great Depression or witnessing the increasing fascist influence of Nazi Germany in Eastern Europe (which included watching their friends and family disappear in the middle of the night). Still, Billie Holiday's moving rendition of the song was banned from playing on BBC and numerous versions of the song were banned from being played on the radio. Bad for morale, you know? Unfortunately, the song's composer, Seress, did eventually kill himself, but that was much, much later and was linked to his ongoing battles with depression and financial difficulties.

Sunday is gloomy,
My hours are slumberless
Dearest the shadows
I live with are numberless
Little white flowers
Will never awaken you
Not where the black coach of
Sorrow has taken you
Angels have no thought
Of ever returning you
Would they be angry
If I thought of joining you?

I can assure you - I have listened to this song many times and have yet to succeed in killing myself so it's probably safe to listen to, dear reader. The Sarah McLachlan version is quite beautiful, in a sad sort of way. But all her songs are like that. There's a reason they play "Angel" during ASPCA commercials - that woman's voice has a way of making people's heart break, even when they were perfectly happy only moments before. Seriously, if I see that commercial, I feel compelled to save all the poor, abused puppies and kittens (of all ages....I have a habit of calling all dogs "puppies" and all cats "kitties"). I will and then I'll be completely broke, which would suck because I still have a husband, a toddler, and five cats to support.

Just a note: The final verse in the Sarah McLachlan version was not part of the original. It was an attempt by the studio to cheer the song up a bit and distinguish it from other versions.

Another note: YouTube is being a bitch on my laptop right now. I'll add the video later.


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