So I was trying to find the perfect music to help set the scene for a future filled with despair & Jersey Shore books (see below) when I came across Gloomy Sunday by Reszo Seress, a Hungarian composer.This song is interesting because of the number of urban legends behind it. Essentially, this song is said to have caused a large number of suicides. The video, after the jump, gives a detailed (and somewhat romanticized) account of Seress' song and its effects. It is certainly an interesting and morbid read, which is why I am blogging about it, but I don't know how much of it is true.
"Gloomy Sunday" is a song composed in 1933 by Rezso Seress. It was originally titled ége a világnak (End of the world), with alternate Szomorú vasárnap (Sad Sunday) lyrics written by Laslo Javor. Original lyrics describe war-stricken Hungary and are a prayer to God. The alternative lyrics by Laslo Javor are about mourning the loss of a lover and a pledge to commit suicide in order to meet the lover again in the afterlife.
In 1941, Billie Holiday recorded a version and made it very popular.
Interestingly, there are a plethora of urban legends that relate to this song, namely a number of suicides inspired after listening to this song and, consequently, of radio stations banning this song from the airwaves. With the popularity of the suicide legends, the song was given a new name in the US, "Hungarian suicide song." While many of these suicides are unsubstantiated, my best friend Wiki confirms two relative suicides, that of Reszo Seress in 1968 and Billy Mackenzie, a vocalist who did a cover of Billie Holiday's version, in 1997.
What do you think about all this & what it says about the power of music?
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