Szomorú Vasárnap

It is autumn and the leaves are falling
All love has died on earth
The wind is weeping with sorrowful tears
My heart will never hope for a new spring again
My tears and my sorrows are all in vain
People are heartless, greedy and wicked...

Love has died!

The world has come to its end, hope has ceased to have a meaning
Cities are being wiped out, shrapnel is making music
Meadows are coloured red with human blood
There are dead people on the streets everywhere
I will say another quiet prayer:
People are sinners, Lord, they make mistakes...

The world has ended!

~Literal translation of Szomorú Vasárnap (Gloomy Sunday)

In 1933, Rezsô Seress, a self-taught pianist, wrote a morbid song for his girlfriend after their break-up. Shortly after its release, she committed suicide.

A Hungarian teenager was drinking in a bar, with the band playing this song in the background. After finished listening to it, he cried, “I can’t stand this anymore!” Withdrawing a gun and pointing it to his temple, he pulled the trigger.

The policewoman who was in-charge of investigating the reason for the teenager’s sudden suicide listened to the song, hoping to find come clues. She was later found to have killed herself too.

The mystery surrounding the infamous song continued to spread across Europe and America.

In Washington, a pianist was invited to play the song in a funeral. Reluctantly, he agreed. But immediately after finishing the piece, he died of heart attack.

Another pianist in Milan heard of the news but was sceptical of it. So, he decided to try out the song. He then left a note before committing suicide, claiming that the song was too depressing for anyone to withstand, and thus, should be destroyed.

(By the way, Seress jumped to death from his flat in 1968.)

When the number of suicides in Hungary linked to the song climbed up to seventeen, Gloomy Sunday was allegedly banned. Even BBC was purported to have agreed that the song was too depressing to be broadcast over the radio. According to some sources, more than 200 persons worldwide committed suicide after listening to the song. Naturally, it soon gained its infamous popularity as the “Hungarian Suicide Song” or the “Suicide Anthem”.

To me, it is strange that some people just can’t accept the fact that anyone can just commit suicide anywhere and anytime, with or without a logical reason. After all, everyone has the right to choose the way to end his life.

No doubt, the history of Gloomy Sunday might have been blown out of proportion and has become an urban legend. All the same, it’s intrigued me to find out more about it. Isn’t it an easy way of making a graceful exit if you can literally drop dead after listening to a song?

There are two versions of the song, both orginally written in Hungarian. Personally, I think the second version is more meaningful as it strikes a chord within me and tugs on a certain melancholic feeling.

I also managed to download two of the latter version of the song, one by Diamanda Galás and another one by Sinéad O'Connor. They gave me shivers when I tried to listen to them last night. But when I replayed them this morning, they weren’t that creepy as I thought.

Frankly speaking, the music isn’t as interesting as I anticipated. It is the kind of song which I’d care not to listen for a second time had I not heard of its intriguing history. Even though most people comment that the verses written by Seress himself is better than the one written by Javor, I beg to differ. I’m of the opinion that the latter is more touching. I’ve included the second version so that you may judge for yourself.

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
Gloomy Sunday

Sunday is gloomy
With shadows I spend it all
My heart and I have decided to end it all
Soon there'll be flowers and prayers that are sad,
I know, let them not weep,
Let them know that I'm glad to go

Death is no dream,
For in death I'm caressing you
With the last breath of my soul I'll be blessing you
Gloomy Sunday

Dreaming
I was only dreaming
I wake and I find you
Asleep in the deep of
My heart
Dear

Darling I hope that my dream never haunted you
My heart is telling you how much I wanted you
Gloomy Sunday

By Sam M. Lewis

As is the case with unexplainable phenomena, there are several theories surrounding Seress and his infamous song, including the claim that he was a cultist. Another more absurd version is that Seress adapted the song from a music composed by a scientist who was researching on ways to transfer thoughts and memories in the form of a tune. But I say, why listen to such baseless claims?

Meanwhile, I’m still alive, just in case you’re wondering.

† Sources (accessed on 08 September 2005):
http://www.phespirit.info/gloomysunday
http://www.flar.demon.co.uk/terror/tale135.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloomy_Sunday
http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/gloomy.htm