Mash Theme: The REAL Story Behind "Suicide is Painless"
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- čas přidán 29. 03. 2020
- In this episode, we're going in deep on the Mash Theme song finding out The REAL Story Behind "Suicide is Painless"
More on why Radar left M*A*SH
doyouremember.com/115036/why-...
If you need a refresher here's the M*A*S*H Opening TV Theme (remastered) Enjoy the iconic TV theme song
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doyouremember.com/
/ doyouremember
#MashThemeSong #DoYouRemember #TVThemeSong - Zábava
What do you remember about the show M*A*S*H? Ever seen the movie? #MASHTheme #MASH
Saw the movie. I liked that it was essentially ab-libbed. And as a way of killing time during quarantine, I'm rewatching the entire series. I rather like how the characters grow. And how the departure of Frank Burns allowed the Doctors to actually come together and thus not be at each others throat, allowing the grim realities of war to really be given the examination it needed. Also believe it or not they downplayed military antics by a significant degree.
Yes I did
@@Bubbleskittymaster cu
@@lindaallen6689 what?
I viewed the movie in 1970 and, as a young man approaching draft age, I was enthralled with it's nihilistic, anti-war theme. Nothing good comes from war. When the TV series premiered in 1972, i was appalled as they gradually made the show more commercial and less dark. Of course I understood why the did it, but it was an offense to the movie. The M*A*S*H doctors and nurses were not meant to be "noble" and "self-sacrificing." Although the series feigned an anti-war theme it actually glorified the medical staff as heroes that would never have been so heroic if not for the "great" opportunity to serve in war. BullshT!! ....And I admit that the acting and writing and casting of the TV show was excellent, but why did they have to call it M*A*S*H??
The lyrics are NOT stupid. They are a masterpiece of melancholy and irony. Irony is something totally different from stupidity.
How TF is it ironic?
@@zapkvr I don't think it's ironic. That term is greatly misapplied these days. But it is also not stupid.
@@rmhartman The video explains how it's ironic. But even out of context of the movie, it is clearly ironic. The idea of suicide being "painless" is obviously silly, since anyone committing suicide will be suffering from some sort of pain. The whole song is a joke, and yet manages to be deeply moving, too, and irony helps to achieve that affect, the melodrama of the verses contrasting with the "I can take it or leave it" lines of the chorus.
@@Fantumh Right on! Sometimes the momentary pain of suicide is much less painful than the agony of living. Irony.
Yeah the amount of times they said "it's just stupid. And being written by a teenager makes it more stupid." Kinda pissed me off.
I think it's beautifully written. Was it written on a whim? Maybe. But that doesn't make it any less poetic. Especially given its original purpose.
Director: I need a stupid song , I know I’ll get my stupid son to write a dumb song
Son: writes a beautiful masterpiece of a song and makes more money than the director
The world works in mysterious ways 😆
If ever there was a irony, this is it! 😂
And makes a million bucks on 5 minutes of work.
Yeah, how he can his son "stupid"?! I hate it when people are so careless with their words. Epic example of not looking down on people.
best irony ever.
One of my family's favorite shows. My Mom was bunkmates with Loretta Swit. My Mom passed in May and I reached out to her to let her know and she wrote back and told me about their time together. So nice of her.
What "bunkmates"? In what setting? Just curious. Very sad about your Mom, God Bless Her. Loretta Swit is a kind, down to earth Jersey gal. I'm not surprised that she wrote.
@@22ergie in acting school. My Mom when she came to the states from Haiti did some Modeling, Dance and school for the Arts. They were roommates in school for Acting.
@@robertott9083 That's very interesting. Sorry for your loss.
@@22ergie yeah my mom looked a lot like Elizabeth Taylor when she was younger. The often hung out in a coffee shop off of Broadway. She new Carol Burnett before she was famous. And even met Judy Garland before she passed. She showed me all of these pictures with them in them. Wish I knew where they were. She gave up the career and worked in Real Estate for over 50 years raising all of us. My dad had a total of 14 kids 8 of them were from my mom. My wife needed name tags for the first couple of months! LOL
@@robertott9083 Wow, she sounds like she was an interesting wonderful woman. My mom passed in 2016, and sometimes it feels like not long ago. She looked like Natalie Wood back in the 60's, only with a beehive. :) She raised 5, in the northeast US, and worked for BCBS. Dad was military/architect, and part time limo driver.The only celebs Mom knew/met through Dad, were: Tom Jones, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Engelbert Humperdinck, and Bobby Vinton LOL! Those were the days. You should try to find those pictures! Maybe your wife can help you look for them. What great memories, for us...thanks for the smiles. :)
I honestly don't understand how the lyrics are supposed to be stupid. They're very deep.
It was the writer. Inspiration comes in strange ways
@@DYR My mom's favorite TV show and she was an RN - not in war but stateside. I always found the lyrics to be PROFOUND . We are always going to lose the game of life - we all die. Death of course brings on many changes . I always loved the lyrics after I discovered them after hearing the melody THOUSANDS of times.
"im 14 and this is deep"
I was young, in school, I herd the song, my dad was in the United States Marine Corp. I was asked, the day after I heard the song, what I wanted to be when I grew up?
My answer was alive. I'm 54 now and I'm struggling just to stay alive.
This silly song has helped me through this madness we call life. It has saved my life more than once. I hope it helps others too.
Saw this comment two years after you posted it. I hope this finds you still struggling if that means you're on the grass side of the ground. I truly hope you've found a way to be content in life and beaten what you were struggling against. This song found me while I was struggling the same struggle you were when you made this comment. I can say get counseling, find a therapist, reach out to friends... Blah blah blah... When you just want the pain to stop it seems ridiculous to think any of that is the answer. But I can promise you they aren't. Not if you aren't ready to find the answer. If you do happen to respond to this I'd love to know you're OK. That I'm not the only one who is still here after the struggle. Everyone says I won. I'm still here so I won. Living after cancer is winning. Living after attempting is...
For me "Suicide is Painless" Was always a very hopeful song in the end. He knows that life is hard and painful, that it's just a game rigged against him. He realizes that if he were to take his life it would cause a lot of changes to those he loves. In the end, he had to ask himself, "What do I really want?". He may have not said no directly but the line he repeats all the time "I could take or leave it if I please" shows that he likely won't. When you're at the point where you're about to commit suicide you don't feel like you have a choice. It's the last thing you can do and nothing else will work, or at least that's what your brain is telling you. You don't feel like, "Well I could, I don't care."
It has helped me through a lot of hard times. It brings back memories of sitting in the dark living room, waking up and eating cereal while my mom put on M*A*S*H. It reaffirms my thoughts that life is painful and hard but it tells me that, that's okay. It's not a game to play to win, it's a game to play to see everything you can that it has to offer, the good and the bad. It's okay to just be alive, even if you are in pain, even if you are depressed, so long as you're alive you're doing something valuable. I know that this was all made to be ironic and to be a joke but meaning is in the eyes of the beholder and it's human nature to assign meaning to something even if that wasn't supposed to be the meaning.
😅😮
The song "if I please" is a valuable bit to me. My younger years was filled with a nice combination of abuse with a mix of being ignored. I can always take my life, I have have a choice, I choise not to. I am now a bit monster if needed, I ride life for the adventure.
I don't think your assumptions in regards to the inner workings of a suicidal Person are entirely accurate. Suicide being a choice is what draws you to it. The situation or life itself may seem like you don't have much choice and can't change it. But you can still just opt out. The thought gives you back a feeling of being in control.
"The thought of suicide is a great consolation: by means of it one gets successfully through many a bad night." (Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil)
However Christ came to give life and life in abundance
the game of life is hard to play, I gonna lose it anyway, the losing card I'll someday play.. so this is all i have to say... how in the world are these considered stupid lyrics.. incredible words
Stupid lyrics? I've never thought so.
The sons lyrics, damn he had really good lyrics :) The lyrics gives me chilss
heres an excerpt from wiki about the song being created;
Director Robert Altman had two stipulations about the song for Mandel: it had to be called "Suicide Is Painless" and it had to be the "stupidest song ever written".[4] Altman attempted to write the lyrics himself, but upon finding it too difficult for his 45-year-old brain to write "stupid enough," he gave the task to his 14-year-old-son Michael, who wrote the lyrics in five minutes.
so the word stupid is totally up for interpretation, but the person who was tasked to write it didnt do a good job so he asked his son to do as he thought as a 14 y o child it wouldnt be "deep"
little did either of them know a diamond in the rough was created. son made more than the director of the original movie,
@George Penwell - Totally agree. I saw nothing stupid about it before and actually have even more respect for it now. Really scratching my head over this “we need it to be stupid” thing.
@@joeangell5652: Yeah, this is the first I've heard about the "gotta be stupid" requirement. Who would commission their son to intentionally write "something stupid" just to be ridiculed? I'm not buying that.
I think what is really meant instead of stupid would be to make it abnormally edgy. Like it becomes so edgy with the lyrics that It starts sounding stupid especially if you take the context of the scene it was meant for. At least that's my interpretation.
I was 10 years old when MASH first aired. Eleven years later they aired the last episode in 1983. I joined the Army that year and became a Combat Medic, 91B. On our graduation day they presented a slide show of our group's time at Fort Sam Houston and a band played Suicide is Painless. What a great feeling that was hearing that song at that time.
I wouldn't call Maxwell Q. Klinger "gender bending." He was trying to get out of the army. He acted no less masculine than the other men. Except he had IMPECCABLE fashion sense! Lol.
Allegedly, Klinger’s shtick was based on something Lenny Bruce actually tried. My head canon of Klinger is that is that before we met him he was gung-ho to kill commies until he saw what war really was. Then he was desperate to get out. That’s how I’d write him in a reboot.
@Guest yup😔
Yes to say that he has missed what the character was really about , and why he was so funny
@@joemedley195 Nah. Klinger wanted out from the get-go, he didn't even want in in the first place. I've been watching a ton of Mash on hulu lately, he talks about never wanting to be in and trying to get them to turn him down for being crazy from the get go. Season 6 episode 19.
His motivation for cross-dressing doesn’t change the fact that he was cross-dressing. The term “gender bending” still applies.
Yah, I saw MASH first run in the movies. I knew I was slated to go to Viet Nam and I thought the song was the most perfect melody I ever heard. I bought the soundtrack of the movie. I bought the sheet music of the song and learned to play and sing it at the time. Viet Nam came and went. I was there and came home again...but I was different. I went over as a teenager and came home a man with a man's outlook on the world. They started making MASH, the tv show, while I served my time in the Army. When I got out of the service, MASH was still on, and continued for longer than the 9 years I was in the Army. Obviously, MASH, the movie, the song and the tv show are tied together with my Army service. It's been a trying life at times, but now I'm an old man with many memories, both good and bad, and...suicide is painless. It brings on many changes, and I can take or leave it if I try! It's not a dumb song. It's not a stupid song. It is what it is, if you lived it. I did.
Thank you for your service! I think it’s an amazing song too, even though I never saw the movie, I was a kid and loved the tv show
Thank you! Your words touched me! I'm thankful for you and so many others who served. May God richly bless you....today, tomorrow and always!💕
Life in a paragraph that reads deeper than many novels. Thank-You Sir!
Thank you for your service, and for sharing your thoughts as well.
Welcome home …
I would think David Ogden Stiers as Chas Emerson Winchester would rate a mention as he was a big part of the tv show. Or Did you Forget?
Most striking is this: czcams.com/video/qtaKMHZGv1U/video.html
Liked him better than ferret face, character wise the person was said to be a nice guy
@@ehsnils Nice link. So ironic since the MCU/MCEU are the two most popular movie franchises right now.
Charles was involved in some of the best laughs, and some of the most poignant, powerful, and thought provoking, storylines in the show. His character arc, and personal growth, during his time, was far more than Burns, who was essentially the same character in season one as season five.
What's kind of funny is I never thought the song was stupid. Always took it as an allegory for the war, not literally about the scene it was in. Kind of funny knowing the story behind it now. :D
I always liked the song. Not funny just perfect for the movie and show.
I never thought the song was stupid. When I heard the lyrics in the movie I was moved to tears.
His "stupid" kid outsmarted them all.
When the narrator mentions all the new cast characters on the series, he totally forgot about Winchester which is kinda sad
i dont think the song is a joke.. i take it word for word.. which helps me with my depression.
I don't get the joke either. And it sounds exactly like something a teenager would write.
The song would give me depression lol
To me it seems like is kid was serious in the lyrics but no one else was about the song which is fitting considering how peoples pain, depression, and suicidal thoughts are dismissed especially back then.
Well, I always took it for defiance, you know, life hasn't killed me yet! All this war, deprivation, disease, fear and I'm still here. And I can see how much better I have it now.
Depression can lift for a time..... when people toast the new year & out with the old (2020.....I'm looking at you!), I feel comraderie.
Never found the lyrics to the song stupid or even remotely funny. I’ve always been shocked a 14 year old wrote those words. I think it’s powerful. Haven’t heard a cover that tops the original either.
14 is an age where many of us experience big changes in life and emotions. I always was very touched by the lyrics and now knowing that they where written by a teenager they even make more sense to me!
There's a cover by the manic street preachers that's really good
@@MsStealYourDadAndMom ppp
‘Dust in the Wind’ by Kansas comes close.
@@pmfx65the brats dad was the director. You honestly think this kid wrote it or all of it. His dad was right there. People are so gullible.
Johnny Mandel, who wrote the music for this song, died on 29 June, at the age of 94. The lyrics were written by the director's young son.
That seems off... any "young son" of Mandel would have been LONG before M*A*S*H*.
@@zelphx I wasn't quite right. Director Robert Altman had two stipulations about the song for composer Johnny Mandel: it had to be called "Suicide Is Painless" and it had to be the "stupidest song ever written". Altman attempted to write the lyric himself, but, upon finding it too difficult for his "45-year-old brain" to write something "stupid" enough, he gave the task to his 14-year-old-son Michael, who reportedly wrote the lyrics in five minutes.
Both actors who played Henry Blake died within 24 hours of each other, in 1996
Both of a heart attack
Crazy
The choice of that theme song, given the lyrics and the ongoing Vietnam War, was irresponsible and outrageous. I learned the lyrics about 20 years ago and was disgusted and furious. The song wasn’t irony. It was a proposal. And there’s no damn way that a 14 year old wrote it in 5 minutes.
Lying online is incredibly easy and you can take or leave it if YOU please.
@@junior.von.claire, you are SO triggered... did someone put salt in your Malt-O-Meal? 😁
@@redtorino I’m about your age. I don’t get “triggered”. Stupid term. I’m passionate about certain things.
@Spring Ranch I saw your reply two days ago and made a note to respond.
I want you to know that I’m glad you recognized my sincerity and how much I appreciate your candor.
For decades, I’ve been studying war and atrocities with focus mainly on WWII and Vietnam. I loathe war, but it’s been a privilege to study indoors and in comfort, never having seen combat. I’m so very grateful for my rights and they’ve been extremely expensive. The genocide and torture of individuals hurts my feelings deeply. I’m trying to understand the dark side of human nature, how the conditions which lead to war arise and preventative measures.
Recently, I’ve been revisiting the American and French Revolutions and the history of Western Civilization. I’ve studied the history of slavery around the world over the past year. I’m looking for truth, knowing that discovering I’m wrong means improvement each time. It demands humility, no doubt, as we tend to root for our knowledge at any given time. When something makes me uncomfortable, I want to know why.
Concentration camps, POW camps and a variety of cruel behaviors are subjects where I limit my exposure, though I deliberately refresh my memory every year or two. Keeping the purpose in mind is motivating.
There’s a point to sharing this. I don’t mention it often, but it’s tough to learn of such things. I don’t recommend it, to such extent, for others. Some people probably are better off steering clear entirely. But for me, learning the realities of such suffering and cost? I didn’t live it. The least I can do is learn. There, but for the grace of God, go I.
I’ve been so blessed, but not only for what I have and have experienced. Every day, I learn of people with whom I don’t want to trade places and they add to the seemingly infinite count.
I very much appreciate your words and you’re welcome. It’s people like you that make life more bearable.
When I graduated from the Army combat medic training in the late 1970’s they played the song while we were given on certificates. I love that song.
"To Conserve the Fighting Strength." I finished AIT at Ft Sam in 1986 - 91A headed back to my Guard unit. Thanks for sharing your experience. I graduated the day of the Challenger disaster....
Graduated as 91B10. Separated from service in 1982 as 91B20. Love the years and the service.
I’m 19 and I absolutely love the show! I just stared it and I’m already on season 7.
Get the movie too. I liked it better.
It’s about the Korean War, but ironically the show lasted longer than the actual war.
Actually, the Korean War hasn’t ended yet. There was a cease fire in 1953 but no peace treaty.
You should have seen it in real time, in the 70-80s. Imagine us waiting a week for a new episode!
The singers of the theme song, The Ron Hicklin Singers were also the real singers for The Partridge Family, you left THAT out.
Good call
@@DYR wow I learned something from this. I am a pretty good expert on both the movie and tv show. I had no idea who was actually singing.. Great movie and great tv show. Lyrics were written by Mike Altman. Robert Altman's son.
@Rocco Lore Is the person who made the video saying that the version sung in the film is the original, and that the opening credits version is the cover? That's what he seems to be saying.
Well Shirley Jones and David Cassidy did sing.
@@antoniabaker7770 Yes, they were the only ones. The rest of the cast were not involved in the recordings. Even David didn't sing at first. Some of the earliest episodes, like the first one. the voice is clearly not his, as David was a tenor and the ghost singer was a deep baritone.
i always find it funny when i sing this around someone they almost always recognize the tempo as MASH but not the lyrics and question "Did you just make the MASH theme super dark?"
Nope. Look it up, its dark without me messing with it.
Its just funny how many people recognize the tempo alone but have no idea it had lyrics.
Suicide Is Painless, was a No1 hit in the UK.
10 years after the movie!
I’ve seen the movie and watched the show with my folks until I got my own tv and watched the finale. It wasn’t until the finale that I finally got what the heck was going on! Great show
Indeed, a brilliant show!
@randall2020 unwatchable? In what way? I'd love your input. I won't lie. It is in my top 5 shows. I could rewatch it yearly and love it. I'd love to hear your criticism? I am open minded.
This has to be the Greatest triple header in entertainment history. The Book is better that the fantastic movie which is better than one of the best TV shows of ALL TIME.
Agreed. I have the book and I bought it on a whim at a used bookstore after seeing the movie as a teenager. I will always keep it and recommend it to anyone.
*"Life's a game that's hard to play, I'm gonna lose it anyway" - that line alone is a stroke of absolute glorified genius.*
There isn't anything even remotely stupid about those lyrics. They're actually beautiful in a very melancholy way, and to me seem totally serious and even poetic. I'm really surprised they were going for "stupid". Actually, what saved their friend was Lt. Dish (the dishy nurse who seduced him).
So....who's Stupid now?
After seeing the original movie on local TV during a special uncensored airing, I remember buying a copy of "Song Hits" magazine (which in the 80's was one of the few places to get song lyrics besides buying the LP) and was blown away at how deep the meaning of the lyrics are.
The song had deep meaning for me for decades & helped with my Bipolar II. I understand it has deep meaning for many of us that have to cope with mental illness. Now I am not sure how to feel. I just feel sad, like I fell for some bad practical joke.
They weren't going for stupid. They were going for irony.
Mmmmmmmm. Lt. Dish. Mmmmm mmmm mm
They taught us to sing this song in music class in the 7th grade. That was in the 70s. Somehow I doubt it'd go over today.
Agreed. People are too shallow these days to get the MEANING. Too caught up on words that speech is becoming censored more than I can ever remember in a lifetime. C'mon, although the word itself may have negative connotations, isn't it ridiculous that the news resorts to saying stuff like "...and Joe Person used the 'N'-Word. Sounds very childish - use the words if they were spoken!
Getting flown out after being hit I hummed the song to occupy my mind.
I'm glad you are here to tell about it. Stay well.
I remember this show playing throughout my childhood. I always thought it was just an old, boring show for adults. This changed after I grew up, and gave it a chance. It has become one of my all ti e favorite shows, and though ive seen every episode I still rewatch because it is TV Platinum too good to be gold.
And yes - the lyrics are far from stupid. One of the best damn lyrics ever written IMHO. It might be stupid in the way they used it. But on it's own. This in particular - "The sword of time will pierce our skin
. It doesn't hurt when it begins. But as it works its way on in, the pain grows stronger, watch it grin". So beautiful.
Not to mention being an incredibly interesting set! They filmed almost all of the outdoor spaces in Malibu Canyon State Park. You can even hike to the ruins! It's a massive part of Hollywood History. And one of the few remaining outdoor sets!
There isn't anything left but a burned out ambulance and Jeep and a replica of the sign post.
I was in the army when the last episode aired. We all gathered around a small black and white TV in our barracks!
Beautiful
My daughter served in the Army while stationed in Germany, she spent time in Iraq and Afghanistan. After her Honorable Discharge, she was hired by KBR and went to the Bagram airbase in Afghanistan. First as she was an Ordnance Specialist, her job was part of a team to clean out mine fields, clean out weapons and ammo caches found in schools and hospitals. After that was done, she went into logistics and would send out anything the troops called in for. If she didn't have what they needed, she knew who did, and circumvented the chain of command and went to directly to who had it and got it sent out AFAP. I had a guy call me from Afghanistan and thanked me for raising a good daughter he also told me they called her Radar as she was very adept at getting to them anything they needed and fast.
Please thank your daughter for me. And thank you, as well. 🇺🇸
Thank her for serving.
Faffff your lass deserves every honour she gets tell her thanks
,👏👏
Funny, I was in artillery and our unit did exactly the same thing, except I was not in the field. I was working keeping inventory. Some called me "Radar" as well. A few times we got called out to the hospital to donate blood for some unfortunate tech who had their arm blown off by a hand grenade or similar device. Most of us would pass out because of the amount of blood they needed. I saw the original movie while in the Army.
Powerful lyrics and engaging music. 🙏💜🎵
Thanx I really needed this. M.a.s.h was one of my favourite shows as a kid
This show shaped my childhood so when i saw the movie it was a bit harder and these lyrics to a tune i did not know had any lyrics....very impactful.
You left out the original black character, Dr. Oliver Harmon "Spearchucker" Jones.
@drew pedersen You'd probably not be able to watch "Blazing Saddles" then. That is one of the best Mel Brooks comedies made. However in today's woke world, people are unable to discern satire.
racism should be shoved in your face like that, because then you have to deal with it.
@@LordOfNihil Race only matters to racists
@@spydude38 I made sure to order a blue ray of it for when the inevitable hatchet comes
Spearchucker was removed from the show because, at the time portrayed, there were no Black surgeons in the U. S. Army. I always liked his character, though. Wish they could have kept the actor in a different roll.
I loved MASH but there was a time when I thought it was a little too much about Hawkeye and I lost interest for awhile.
So did Wayne Rogers (Trapper), that's why he left the show, at first blaming it on a contract dispute, only to later admit it on a reunion show.
I remember there was one episode where Hawkeye did nothing but talk nonstop for the majority of the show. It was because he had a jeep accident and got a concussion. So he had to talk to stay awake. Still it was the most boring episode I've ever seen!
@@melissacooper4282 I skip that episode any time I do a binge re-watch. I think one of the worst things to happen to the show was Alan Alda being a creative producer. 😕
I didn’t notice it at first but once Wayne Rogers left that the Alda factor got obnoxious.
**Alan Alda was way too full of himself and totally took away from the show. He was the only one with the answers, the only chest cutter to do the job, the only everything in the entire series.
** Hot Lips, who rightfully wanted to finally shed that name became buddy buddy and lost her total military discipline taking away another edge to the show.
**They turned Radar into an overly dependent, naive, pre adolescent instead of the one tuned into hearing things ahead of everyone else and making Henry Blake seem like a semi competent leader. The teddy bear went from a decent prop to an annoyance.
**Klinger was a one joke wonder. So far over the top and repetitive that its entire meaning lost its edge. He could have gone in other directions and still been effective.
**Col Potter……when he made his guest appearance as a colonel or major, he was eccentric and wacky. They bring him back as what Houllihan used to be, straight army . But then he melted into a puddle of sentiment and said the most inane corn pone catch phrases. Every time he spoke it was with “cuter than a bugs ear”, dumb that a horse’s patoot” blather. Folksy, Grampa on a porch talk, not military.
**BJ was very good as long as he could get a word in edgewise with Hawkeye. Always the shadow and the dupe for Hawkeye to shine again and again.
**Winchester was a great addition and could have stood even stronger as a character if Alan Alda didn’t always need to dominate the conversation and medical abilities and unrivaled compassion.
**Frank Burns departure was such a loss. He could have still been a bumbler but no one thought to expand his part enough in other directions.
I loved the movie and the book.
I loved the show until it became the Alan Alda answer to “look at me” show.
And it’s not the first show Hollywood has shot itself in the foot for. They press too hard to go over the top and they lose the nuances that make it a hit in the first place.
That's what I always wanted to know but not dared to ask. Thank you.
Abyssinia, Henry had the most gut wrenching ending I'v seen. Period.
The pilot of the helicopter for the last scene was named Clarence Rogers, call sign Elvis. He died in Bolivia in 1998 under very suspicious circumstances. Source: he was my father in law.
I don't know about the lyrics but the music is perfect because of the choice of instruments. Flutes and horns used in traditional war marches and the acoustic guitar which was popular in the hippie anti-war culture of the production time period. It was a perfect blending.
2:00 - "Ah, the breakfast of champions! Snap, crackle and burp!"
I am a huge fan of the M*A*S*H*. It is one of the few my late mother and I agreed on watching. Still remember watching Goodbye, Fair well, Amen. Lots of twists and turns in that one. As for the theme song, I love the version with the lyrics. It is somewhere here on CZcams.
Best thing about MASH was that it showed that in war there actually was a receiving end of a bullet shot. War movies usually were just guys courageously running around firing shots accompanied by terrible music.
As a kid I watched it because my father did, and although I didn’t get most of the witty stuff in the Dutch subtitles, at least it laid part of the foundation of a healthy disregard for authority.
Let us not forget the most important character in the show Spearchucker the roommate with soul !
Tim Brown was in the movie too, as a different character.
I remember the show running on UK cable TV in the late 90's. It showed every weekday evening and was a fixture of our evening viewing. Then one day they announced the final episode would be shown on Friday night. We were very sad to hear that and of course tuned in.
We needn't have worried though. After the show was over they announced that it would be airing again, starting from episode 1 the following Monday lol.
With 256 episodes it runs for an entire year.
Being the only son, Klinger would never had been drafted.
i don't think many songs translate that well to what feels like the thoughts of an entire generation (years later) and it's scary and great at the same time. the songs is an odd jam and i'm glad i randomly stumbled across that series on tv at one point.
Or maybe the father couldn't write a song, and when his son wrote something better, he called it stupid because he was jealous.
In the early 1980s when I was at University, this tune rose high in the UK singles charts. My university had a high suicide rate around exam time, and university radio banned the song. So some people in my hall of residence used some big speakers to play this to the students walking down to the sports centre to take their exams...
Frank Burns was not promoted until after he left the series (news announced by telephone call with Hawkeye the next season).
."..I'll even Hari Kari if you'll show me how, but I won't carry a gun!" I loved this show, I remember so many great moments... excellent entertainment. and I remember the MASH finale parties held everywhere. ..I watched at home and cried...that chicken😶
Anne Davis I was stuck at home with my 5 yo. Ice storm going on so couldn’t get together with friends to watch. Good thing tho, I bawled all the way through it.
I saw M*A*S*H (the TV series) before I saw any Marx Brothers films. The first time I saw Groucho Marx in action, I saw where the inspiration for Hawkeye Pierce had come from.
Greetings & Love from New York. I truly enjoy your channel. Mash, was one of my favorite shows and I still watch the reruns to this day. I remembering crying, when I watched the finale episode. Thank you for doing a video on this Amazing & Iconic show🤗❤️
Thanks 💕
I was 9 when my cousins who were older took me to the drive in to watch the original movie and that fall the TV series came out. I was a faithful watcher till the very end. The most heart wrenching scene was when Radar came into the OR and announced Colonel Blakes plane had crashed, there were no survivors. Still gets me to this day.
Both the movie and the tv show werw great and that it aired for along time is a credit to the fan base it had.. I don't know anyone who didn't watch the final episode of m.a.s.h. to thoae that past over the years and to that are still alive god bless we loved you
I pissed people off once by singing that song. Not getting the irony of it. They thought I singing a pro suicide song.
Suicide gets a bad rap.
@@Jim0i0 from Christians. In japan suicide is done to keep honor in the family bloodline. Like the kamikazes or sapuku.
@@Bubbleskittymaster Yeah, the ultimate way to go down swinging. But I was thinking more of merciful endings and personal dignity.
@@Jim0i0 I mean you're not wrong. I'd rather die in a blaze of glory than just putting a gun to my head aftet I have a bad day.
@@Bubbleskittymaster My most recent idea is the human equivalent of a full uninstall. Leave no trace. The anti-blaze.
M.A.S.H. I still have this on VHS! When I was too young to understand it, I was 11 years old in 1972 when the show first aired.
My brother loved this show, but he was 7 years older, so he understood the meaning. It took me a few more years, but once I started paying attention, I loved it!!
M.A.S.H. was hilarious! But I enjoy both the movie 🍿 and the T.V. series. The song? Nothing like it. I never thought that the lyrics were Stupid. When you write personal poetry, like I do, the lyrics will always make sense, especially when you write about the type of emotional content which comes from the pain you feel when the thought of suicide is on the table like it was for me! I didn't think that I would see 17. I just turned 60 sixteen days ago!
Great video! Really interesting. I don't know if anyone besides me ever noticed that in the theme from the show "ER"- it's in the exact same key as the MASH opening , and when the guitar enters in the theme to ER, the guitar plays almost the exact same notes as the famous opening guitar to MASH.
I'm convinced that's deliberate.
I was a little little kid when MASH was on, so I would have to go to bed before the show started, (and even later when I saw some scenes in reruns the themes and humor went over my head) but I sure do remember that opening theme.
Never thought of that 🤔
The 14 year old who wrote that song must have been very depressed. His father giving him the opportunity to write the song "because he is 'stupid'" can possibly help with some insight into his words and feelings. Someone's father publicly calling his son "stupid" would not result in a very happy son or one who felt loved by his father, and seems somewhat verbally/emotionally abusive.
you are mistaken. The movie was not "about death". The movie, and the book are about coping with the insanity of any and all wars. Set in Korea. As Catch 22 was set in WW2 by a vet of WW2, MASH was set in Viet Nam by a vet. And both are protests against war.
@russ yeatman.the television version of MASH was also set in Korea..
Viet nam...? you are an idiot
@@philg27 I am old enough to remember maps the had Viet Nam or Vietnam. You are obviously a millennial or a gen Xer. And you are rude and disrespectful. I was too young to be drafted, Nixon pulled US out the year I registered. My draft number was 5. I am an addiction counselor. I treat Viet Nam vets. They do not care how it is spelled.
@@russyeatman5631 In your original post you wrote, "MASH was set in Viet Nam by a vet." Nobody is criticizing how you spelled Vietnam, the point is MASH was set in Korea and not in Vietnam. Of course everything said in the book/movie/show about the madness and horror of war applied to Vietnam, too.
I have dyslexia. I flip things. Apologies. Lysdexics Untie! The TV show MASH was about Vietnam, set in Korea. The book was written by a doc who served in a MASH in Korea, Richard Hooker MD. Movie came out at in the midst of Vietnam war protests. After the book, where in the Maine lobsterman antecedents of Hawkeye Pierce were described I could never buy Alan Alda as Hawkeye Pierce. And in the movie the character of Duke was given back seat to Trapper John. As usual book is best, the diverts from book and TV show diverts from both. Such is the entertainment industry.
It was always amazing that you can have this song sound beautifully maudlin and then just by changing the vocalization by a few instruments, make it sound more upbeat and humorous - not unlike The Odd Couple theme.
If you listen closely, the rhythm of the TV version sounds like helicopter. It's the sound of Huey rotors, the iconic Vietnam soundtrack - you can hear the distinctive whopp-whopp in CCC's Fortunate Son, The Stone's Paint it Black, The Animals we've got to get out of this place and plenty more from that era.
Years ago, when depression was my only friend, yes that is how I saw it at the time, this song became the center of my life. Even though that time has passed, it still connects with me on some level.
This song, including the non-lyrical version, has always made feel mournful. I know that's not the typical reaction, but I remember feeling like that even when I heard the song as a kid.
😞
@@DYR It was when the show was in reruns, but when the song played at the start of Mash it gave me an eerie nostalgic feel. It still does.
Same
i remember the show, i also remember still being thankful the draft had ended months before. You see they went ahead and drew the numbers after it had been signed to law and My BF at that time drew a #11. I think it was one way to help people understand the nature of they kind of warfare that was common in that part of the world, and why so many men and women were coming home with PTSD.
"I'm used to s chain of command"
"Yes, with you in command and me in chains"
- hoilhan
I will never forget this bold line
I think Marilyn Manson's version is striking, but like when it comes to comparing his version of "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" - I like the original best.
Wow, these dudes were something. I mean to have the balls, and call your kid stupid in public, let them write a song, just so it would be stupid and earning a shitton of money for that song that they deemed as stupid? Wow. That must've been dad of the year at least -10 years in a row. I mean look at the lyrics, this should have made people worried.
I realise and I can see that suicide is painless,
and I can take or leave it, if I please,
the game of life is hard to play, I'm gonna lose it anyway,
the only way to win is cheat, and lay it down before I'm beat, and to another give my seat
And I can take or leave it if I please, and you can do the same thing if you please
I love the song, really, and I find it incredibly comforting, but as a parent, this would've worried me
@Wise and Free so if your kid start talking about how painless suicide is, and how (s)he is going to die anyway so why not just do it him/her self. You would be OK with that, not worried at all?
Kinda like poetic justice? All the way to the bank...😎😎😎😎
I was born in 1991 so by that time the show was already over. I must've been 3-4 years old to remember my parents watching reruns of the show and also buying 3 épisodes videotapes based off different themes of the show (IE one of them is called ''American Flagg'' I'm sure you can guess what that is about). The only thing I could remember about it was part of the melody and those two helicopters in the intro and I guess the fact that it's about the army and a war.
I started to watch it at around 15-16 years old when mother bought the whole thing on dvd. Curious about what that was all about, I never imagine that I would enjoy it as much as I did. While alot of shows only get me interested in watching them once, I must've Watch the whole thing at least 4-5 times. Still need to get my hand on the book though.
Some love for the Manics there, great stuff.
I love MASH and watch it everyday!!
It's a ironic song considering the situation they are in
The movie came out while I was in college. A roommate who was a DJ on our college radio station told me that they'd been told not to play the song during exam period.
I was in first grade in 1970 and had the same music teacher through 5th grade in 1975. His name was Mr. Wilkinson. He came in one morning all excited. He said his friend (with his help) had written a theme song for M*A*S*H. He sat down at the piano and played Suicide is Painless and taught us the words. Not long after, my Dad was watching the show on tv and I started singing the theme song. I got in a lot of trouble until later the words were sung on the show.
They would use a laugh track everywhere, except in the hospital during surgery and visiting the patient soldiers.
Lets be honest the person who wrote this song was the original emo
Inventing Emo earns you a cool $Mill in royalties.
The loudspeaker announcements were later added in to link the various unrelated scenes together and also became a unique stylistic feature.
As i call the theme to MASH I remember the heroics of the Marine Corps during the Chosen Reservoir, and the hardships they had to endure to endure. i am a ex-Marine from 1998-1991 & i could not image the conditions they had to fight through. I have the highest respect for the veterans of WWII, Korea, 7& Vietnam. i believe that I was born too late to fight in these wars.
How come on all these CZcams videos about M*A*S*H, nobody ever mentions Ho-Jon?
The Movie is a classic. The song very disturbing, also very amazing.
I remember seeing Mash in the movies, it’s a great show, must get out the DVD and watch it again!
To me when I started college and was suicidal I used to play the theme to mash constantly
I'm 60 + and I preferred the series over the movie. It was entertaining had moral stories and just fun to watch despite the seriousness of what was portrayed. You sorta fell in love with the personal wacky characters. Do miss them as we have lost more than a few, War might be hell but time is the final equaliser.
RIP Johnny Mandel 😢
RIP 😥
Fun trivia fact.
I went to school with Keith Urban (music artist and now husband of Nicole Kidman).
In our once a week music lesson our teacher would regularly get Keith to sing and play the MASH theme song on the piano.
I wouldn’t say Urban was particularly popular at school but it was obvious he had some rare talents.
It used to be one of my top 100 favorite songs until my nephew committed suicide last year. This is the 1st time ive even heard part of the song in almost a year.
RIP johnny mandel
RIP 😢
I am still in love with Hawkeye.
Worth mentioning regarding the many ironies of the song, the tone it set and of course, the lyrics is the dentist character in the movie. His nickname was PAINLESS.
I just wish there was a full version of the funeral scene. He sings it amazingly. Not better than the original and not worse either. It stands as an equal in my mind.
Our family watched every episode of MASH when it first aired. I even brought one of those AM/FM/TV portable radios so I could listen to the final episode on the way home from the city. Zip ahead to the 1990s and my entire family found MASH annoying. I started off liking the television series over the movie but that also switched over time. The humor of the television series was vaudevillian, pious and in need of a rim shot from a drummer every other Hawkeye line. I really hoped Hawkeye's character was put in a self-preservation situation where he had to kill to survive and deal with the mental and ethical consequences of finding he was not above what he had to do. It never happened and the series lacked the loose reality (even though it was a Vietnam sense rather than Korean War sense) of the movie. We've also discovered we had the same thing happen with Cheers. Loved it first time around, found it less engaging thereafter.
Sometimes 14 year olds can pen the deepest philosophical of thoughts "Suicide is painless" is one of these. Maybe at the time it was thought as "Stupid" at the time before anyone analyzed what he wrote. Of course, if a 14 year old wrote anything like this today they'd call him a loony-toons and send him to the school councilor as a mass shooter risk.
Bob Dylan said that the song is already out there and it finds you, not the other way around. Even a kid can write a masterpiece. When I first heard it, it made no sense: "Suicide is painless, it brings on many changes, and I could take or leave it if I please" was just words. But now that I've known people who wanted to end it all, it speaks to me full of meaning. Taking the easy way out brings on many changes to those left behind, but ultimately is your choice to make.
I didn’t care for Hawkeye tv it was always getting on his high horse and making long-winded speeches 👎🏻
Mr. J I agree with you.
the speeches had a point and a message.
@@noodletornado309 Yes, but half the time he was just being what seemed to be over the top and preachy . But, hey it was a t.v. show.
I've known a few people who especially complain about the later years when there were definitely more serious episodes that largely dealt with topical issues not necessarily directly related to war such as infidelities, "illigitimate" pregnancies, addiction, etc. I thought they handled them remarkably well for what was arguably an episodic comedy. Every tv show had the drugs episode in the 80's, and they're generally all pretty cringey. Both Family Ties and MASH had episodes on alcoholism as well as amphetamines. Family Ties' weren't as bad as other shows from the era, but I feel MASH handled them better. They weren't perfect, but compared to the after school special cheesy PSA stuff that was everywhere in the 80's, they still hold up.
JOHNNY MANDEL (1925 - 2020)
RIP
Thought he was the QB. for Cleveland Browns lmao
I loved the movie and watched the shows religiously with my daddy. It's the only TV show that if I come across it on, I don't care what else is on TV, I'll watch Mash even if I've seen the episode a hundred times.
As a BMT when things goes south like if equipment malfunctions, electricity shorts and so on i always sing my own little version of this song.
"suicide is painless, sh#t never changes and tomorrow we will do it all over again."