"Gloomy Sunday" (from Hungarian "Szomorú vasárnap", ) is a song written in 1933 by Hungarian pianist and composer Rezs? Seress, in which the singer mourns the untimely death of a lover and contemplates suicide.
Though recorded and performed by many singers, "Gloomy Sunday" is closely associated with Billie Holiday, who scored a hit version of the song in 1941. Due to unsubstantiated urban legends about its inspiring hundreds of suicides, "Gloomy Sunday" was dubbed the "Hungarian suicide song" in the U.S. Seress did commit suicide in 1968, but most other rumors of the song being banned from radio, or sparking suicides, are unsubstantiated, and were partly propagated as a deliberate marketing campaign.[1]
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. However, most of these claims are unsubstantiated.[2]
It is also rumored the music played without lyrics will put the listener into a deep sleep and induce vivid dreams and nightmares. The nightmares usually consist of falling or flying sensations.
In 1968, Rezs? Seress, the original composer, jumped to his death from his apartment. His obituary in the New York Times mentions the song's notorious reputation:
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
Recorded Versions
There are two English-language versions of the lyrics. The first, by Desmond Carter, was used in the 1935 Paul Robeson recording and a few others. Most English-language recordings have used the Sam Lewis lyrics made famous in Billie Holiday's 1941 recording. That recording added a third verse, not in the original Hungarian song, indicating that the singer was only dreaming about her lover's death. See links below for the lyrics.
Artists who have recorded or reinterpreted the song include:
1935: Pal Kalmar (this is by many considered the original and "the granddaddy of them all)
1935: (UK): Paul Robeson (released in the US in 1936; Desmond Carter lyrics)
1935: Pyotr Leschenko (in Russian, under title "Mratschnoje Woskresenje")
1936: Damia (in French, under the title "Sombre Dimanche", recorded on February 28, lyrics by Jean Marčze and François-Eugčne Gonda, music by Rezsö Seress)
1983: Jacques Calonne (Ténor Mondain) (in French, under the title "Sombre Dimanche", lyrics credited to László Jávor, but probably the ones by Jean Marčze and François-Eugčne Gonda)
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 the island of Majorca with people who are injected with a microchip that causes them to commit suicide when they hear "Gloomy Sunday". 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.
The Japanese movie Densen Uta (2007) was also inspired by this song. In the movie, a high school girl and a magazine editor investigate a series of suicides linked to a mysterious song released 10 years back, including its possible connection to "Gloomy Sunday".
The song and its surrounding legend play a considerable part in Phil Rickman's novel The Smile of a Ghost, linked to several apparent suicides.
↑ Brooks, Michael. notes for 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."
Encyclopedia
top
