Content Warning: the article below will contain discussions about mental health and suicide. If you are struggling help is available through The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK(8255).
We’re back with another edition of Urban Legend: Fact or Fiction. In this chapter, we are going to look at the notorious song “Gloomy Sunday” and see if it actually caused a spike in suicides.
The Story
In 1933 Rezső Seress and László Jávor collaborated to write the tune “Gloomy Sunday,” the song contains lyrics like;
“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?”
Soon after its release, there was a wave of suicides directly linked to the bleak track. As many as 200 people decided to end their lives while making some direct reference to the song via notes, having it playing on repeat, or clutching the sheet music in their final moments. It got so out of hand that the Europe, the United States, Budapest, and its home country of Hungary had to ban “Gloomy Sunday” from the airwaves.
“I’ve become the suicides’ singer?” Seress lamented before he took his own life in 1968. “I’m devastated that this has become the song’s fate. At this price I don’t need success.”
Variants
There are strange variants in almost every aspect of this story so let’s start from the beginning with how the song was written. Some accounts claim that Seress’ fiancée left him for being a struggling musician, and he wrote the song for her. While others say that lyricist/poet Jávor asked Seress to compose a score for a poem he wrote about his ex. However, both accounts agree that someone got dumped and was in a very dark place due to it.
By 1936, two English-language versions of the song were recorded, one version has lyrics by Desmond Carter and is sung by Paul Robeson. This version is narratively similar to Jávor’s, keeping the ominous last line; “Last of all Sundays.” The other version is by Hal Kemp, with lyrics by Sam M Lewis. This version did stray from the original Hungarian lyrics by adding a third verse, where the person decides not to end their life. Even though it still contains the lyrics “My heart and I have decided to end it all,” they are followed by the line “Dreaming, I was only dreaming.” While this track has been sung by over 100 different artists, Lewis’ became the more common English version due to its less bleak ending.
In terms of the deaths themselves, we found sources claiming anywhere from 16 to 200 deaths to be linked to “Gloomy Sunday.” The problem is many of these sources were either not well preserved, or seem to be exaggerating events for more sensational news coverage. Yes, clickbait was a thing long before the advent of the internet. The best source we were able to dig up is a Time Magazine piece about the song from 1936 that lists some of the deaths reportedly linked to “Gloomy Sunday.” [Writers note; the article is extremely dated and does contain a slur along with some rather insensitive descriptions of death.]
The first and probably most reported on is Joseph Keller, a shoemaker, who left a note quoting lyrics to the song. It goes on to claim that “17 other impressionable Magyars” took their own lives due to it. Two of them shot themselves after hearing a band play the piece, others killed themselves while listening to recorded versions of it, the most notable example being a woman who had it on repeat during a barbiturate overdose. Several other people allegedly leaped into the Danube while holding the sheet music.
Another source tells the story of a young errand boy in Rome, Italy. He supposedly heard an unhoused person humming the tune, parked his bicycle, and gave him all of his money, before proceeding to jump off a bridge. Many also blame to song for creator Seress’ own suicide in 1968. Some say it’s because he couldn’t replicate the success of “Gloomy Sunday.” Others point to the quote by him in the introduction as some kind of admission of guilt.
As you can see there are very few names associated with the deceased, which could be the result of poor records preservation or embellishment on the part of reporters. It is also reasonable to assume the name may have been withheld for the sake of the deceased and their loved ones. There is really no way to definitively tell fact from exaggeration here.
It is also important to note that a lot of this took place during the Great Depression, and with Adolf Hitler rising to power WWII was also looming. A lot of people were already in very rough situations, and desperate people have been known to render desperate deeds. Since most of the initial wave took place in Hungary it’s also worth pointing out the country’s staggeringly high suicide rate, with it being the cause of death of 19.1 in 100,000 inhabitants. This makes it the third highest in Europe behind Lithuania (28.2) and Russia (19.5). It has even warranted multiple studies in hopes of finding some kind of cause for this tragic statistic. Basically, there are WAY more factors at play here than just a sad song.
But after this spike in suicides, countries supposedly began banning the song left, right, and center. The Time article is also where the claim that the Budapest police banned the song seems to originate from. There is nothing we could find that seems to definitively confirm that it was banned in the US or Hungry. However, it is reasonable to assume that stations may have downplayed the song once the reports of suicides linked to it began to pour in. The one ban that can be confirmed happened in Europe with the BBC banning Billie Holiday’s version of the song from being broadcast, claiming it was detrimental to wartime morale. They eventually allowed an instrumental-only version to be played, before officially lifting the ban in 2002.
Pop Culture
At this point well over 100 musicians have covered “Gloomy Sunday” partially due to what a powerful song it is, and partially due to the controversy. Some of these artist include:
- 1935 – Hungarian pop singer Pál Kalmár was the first to sing the tune.
- 1936 – Paul Robeson and Hal Kemp versions brought it to English-speaking countries.
- 1941 – Billie Holiday released what may be the most well-known version of “Gloomy Sunday.”
- 1958 – American musician and actor Ricky Nelson put out his version.
- 1969 – the legendary singer, songwriter, and pianist Ray Charles covered the song.
- 1981 – Elvis Costello put his own spin on the track.
- 1986 – Rock band Christian Death did a fittingly bleak version of it.
- 1987 – Punk band Dead Milkmen used it as a bridge in their song “(Theme from) Blood Orgy of the Atomic Fern.” That same year the stylistically very different Marianna Faithfull did her own cover.
- 1992 – Irish singer, songwriter, and activist Sinead O’Connor lent her ethereal voice to the song.
- 1994 – Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan, covered it on his album “Strange Music.”
- 1994 – John Williams created an instrumental version to score Steven Spielberg’s film, “Schindler’s List.”
- 1996 – Sarah McLachlan did a version with Sam M. Lewis’ lyrics. Sarah Brightman also used this version for her own cover in 2000.
- 1999 – The always unique Björk did another wildly famous cover. She also performed it at friend/fashion designer Alexander McQueen’s funeral after he took his own life in 2010.
- 2006 – Artie Shaw did a version for the “Wristcutters: A Love Story” soundtrack.
In addition to the countless covers of “Gloomy Sunday,” in 1999 the drama “Ein Lied von Liebe und Tod – Gloomy Sunday” tells a fictional account of how the song was written. In 2006 the psychological thriller “The Kovak Box” centers heavily around this song as well.
Is it Real?
Suicide is a complex and heartbreaking issue that we still don’t understand the full psychology behind. Coupled with a topic as complex as popular media’s relationship with death and violence, this question becomes impossible to answer. “Gloomy Sunday” was not the first nor the last bit of media accused of encouraging suicide.
The term “Werther Effect”, was created by sociologist David Phillips due to a spike in suicides after the release of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s novel “The Sorrows of Young Werther.” This 1774 novel had the main character take his own life which led to a rash of copycat suicides. In 1990 metal band Judas Priest came under fire for supposed subliminal messaging in their 1978 cover of the song “Better by You, Better than Me.” A lawsuit alleged the band backmasked a subliminal “Do it” into the song, which was blamed for a suicide pact by 20-year-old James Vance and 18-year-old Ray Belknap via gunshot in 1985 . Belknap was killed instantly but Vance survived. The lawsuit was dismissed.
In 1999 American rock band Blink-182 recorded the decidedly anti-suicide track “Adam’s Song.” A year later the song was found playing on repeat when 17-year-old Columbine High School Greg Barnes hanged himself. Barnes also witnessed and lost loved ones in the Columbine High mass shooting. There have been several other instances of “Adam’s Song” being referenced in suicide notes. Namely the line;
“Give all my things to all my friends.
You’ll never step foot in my room again.”
There are millions of factors that can go into why someone thinks that taking their own life is the only option. While yes media can be one of those factors, to say a song made someone kill themselves is insultingly reductive. Not to mention grieving families look for anything to place blame on, to process their trauma. While this blame is often wildly misplaced, it’s an understandable response and survivors’ guilt can be crippling.
The bottom line is correlation does not equal causation. A piece of art cannot force anyone to do something they weren’t already considering to some degree.
