Gloomy Sunday: Hungarian "Suicide Song" That Caused 100 Deaths

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The inextricable link between music and emotion has always been an important part of evolution, and today most people cannot imagine their life without music. The researchers say that listening to music reduces stress, and that music can also have a relaxing effect. However, with one song it turned out quite the opposite. We are talking about "Vege a vilagnak" (The world is coming to an end), which became better known as "Szomoru vasarnap" (in Hungarian) or "Gloomy Sunday" (in English), which translates as "Gloomy Sunday". This single went down in history as “Hungarian Suicide Song”.

Where did such a creepy name come from? And the fact is that this is probably one of the most dreary songs in history, it is literally saturated with hopelessness through and through. And also it is with "Gloomy Sunday" that more than 100 cases of suicide are associated.

The original lyrics of this song, which was written by the Hungarian composer Régio Seres in 1933, told about the despair caused by the war, but everyone forgot about it when the friend of Seres, the poet Laszlo Javor wrote his poems for "Gloomy Sunday" about people who commit suicide after the death of his beloved. As a result, the combination of Yavor's mournful lyrics and Sheresh's depressing and sad music led to the death of more than 100 people.

Initially, "Gloomy Sunday" went unnoticed, but in 1935, when it was performed on radio by Pal Kalmar, a wave of suicides swept across Hungary. One of the first victims of the song was Joseph Keller, a shoemaker from Budapest. He committed suicide in February 1936, and an investigation revealed that in his suicide note, Keller had quoted some lines from Gloomy Sunday.

It is said that many people drowned themselves in the Danube, holding the notes for the song in their hands, while others, after listening to the song on the radio, were shot or poisoned. In Hungary, the number of suicides has reached such a level that the government has banned the broadcast of "Gloomy Sunday" on the radio. Although, in fairness, it is worth noting that the country already has a very high suicide rate (46 out of every 100,000 people commit suicide every year), so it is difficult to verify the relationship of the song with the tragic events of 1936.

English versions of the "Hungarian Suicide Song" appeared in the 1930s. Sam M. Lewis and Desmond Carter wrote the lyrics for the English version of the song, and Hal Kemp released an adaptation of the Lewis song in 1936. To understand what the "forbidden" song is about, we will give one of the verses in translation:

This song reached its peak in popularity in the West after it was sung by Billie Holiday in 1941. As a result, this version of the song made "Gloomy Sunday" even more popular. However, the BBC soon banned the song because it felt it could have a negative impact on the morale of the soldiers. The ban was lifted only in 2002.

As for Rezho Sheresh himself, the “fatal” success of his song plunged the composer into depression. This, coupled with the fact that in the end Régueux could never become more popular than "Gloomy Sunday", led the composer to commit suicide. He jumped out of the window of a building in Budapest in January 1968.

Much more optimistic they sound 6 world hits and curious stories associated with them … Just listen and enjoy!