Gloomy Sunday, The Hungarian Suicide Song

Can music kill ? , I am not sure, But the song I am now talking about was claimed to kill hundreds of people (surprising !),  It all happened in Hungary in 1932. When a poet named Rezsoe Seress had composed a song "Gloomy Sunday" which was a sad melody. when the song had been released many people who committed suicides linked themselves with this song. let's go more into the details

Once upon a time in Hungary, Rezsoe Seress was trying to make a living as a songwriter, but was unsuccessfull. All  his compositions failed to impress the music publishers, He was determined to become an internationally famous songwriter (now he is ). His girlfriend was not happy about his profession and requested to change his profession, couple had frequent quarrels over the same, one  afternoon, things finally came to peak . Seress and his fiancée had a fierce argument over his utter failure as a composer, and the couple parted with angry words.

On the day after the quarrel, Rezsoe Seress was in a state of despair, started playing  piano in his apartment, gazing Outside, storm-clouds gathered in the grey sky and the heavy rain began to pour down.  "What a gloomy Sunday" Seress said to himself as he played about on the piano's ivories which resulted in the Song Gloomy Sunday.

Gloomy Sunday lyrics

But a few months after Gloomy Sunday was printed, there were a series of strange occurrences that were allegedly claimed to be sparked off by the new song.

" In Berlin, a young man requested a band to play Gloomy Sunday, and after that, the man went home and shot himself in the head with a revolver after complaining to relatives that he felt severely depressed by the song, which he couldn't get out of his head. That song was Gloomy Sunday "

" A week later in the same city, a young female shop assistant was found hanging from a rope in her flat. Police who investigated the suicide found a copy of the sheet-music to Gloomy Sunday in the dead girl's bedroom "

New york times writes about suicide of Seress

" Two days after that incident, a young Girl in New York gassed herself, and in the suicide note she requested Gloomy Sunday to be played at her funeral. Weeks later, another New Yorker, aged 82, jumped to his death from the window of his seventh-story apartment after playing the 'deadly' song on his piano. Around the same time, a teenager in Rome who had heard the unlucky tune jumped off a bridge to his death "

Citation available is

Seress dies

I am not sure if Gloomy Sunday was only the cause of their suicides but song was desperately depressing and sad

I want to share this with you as it was a revolution in 1930's. After the tremendous hit, he could not do many compositions due to the notorious reputation earned by Gloomy Sunday.

want more of Gloomy sunday check out the video too.

gloomy sunday video  

Gowardhan

Referances

wikepedia

www.qsl.net