# Suicide Is Painless
**Suicide Is Painless** is a song written by [Johnny Mandel](https://www.edgepedia.org/johnny-mandel) (music) and Mike Altman (lyrics) for [Robert Altman](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-altman)'s 1970 film *MASH*, where it plays over the opening credits and is sung on screen during a mock-suicide scene. In instrumental form it became the theme music for the television series *[M*A*S*H](https://www.edgepedia.org/m-a-s-h-film)* (1972–1983)[1](https://themashhistorian.com/2022/12/09/mishmash-14/) • [2](https://www.mash4077tv.com/music/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Writers | Music by Johnny Mandel; lyrics by Mike Altman, the 14-year-old son of director Robert Altman[1](https://themashhistorian.com/2022/12/09/mishmash-14/) |
| First appearance | *MASH* film, in theaters from January 25, 1970, sung on screen and over the opening credits[1](https://themashhistorian.com/2022/12/09/mishmash-14/) |
| Brief | Altman required the title "Suicide Is Painless" and wanted the "stupidest song ever written"; the lyrics were reportedly written in five minutes[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066026/trivia/) • [1](https://themashhistorian.com/2022/12/09/mishmash-14/) |
| Film performance | Sung by Ken Prymus as Private Seidman during the faux-suicide of Captain "Painless" Waldowski (John Schuck)[4](https://www.jonkutner.com/theme-from-mash-suicide-is-painless-the-mash/) |
| Television use | Instrumental theme of *M*A*S*H* for all 11 seasons; the lyrics were never used on the show[2](https://www.mash4077tv.com/music/) |
| Royalties | Altman said in the 1980s that his son had earned more than $1 million in royalties against his own $70,000 directing fee[5](https://apps.lib.umich.edu/online-exhibits/exhibits/show/altman/altmanesque-sound---music/songs---rights) |
| Recognition | Ranked #66 in the American Film Institute's "100 Years…100 Songs"[5](https://apps.lib.umich.edu/online-exhibits/exhibits/show/altman/altmanesque-sound---music/songs---rights) |
## Origins
The song was written for a specific scene in *MASH*, Altman's Korean War comedy-drama based on [Richard Hooker](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-hooker)'s novel. Captain "Painless" Waldowski, played by [John Schuck](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-schuck), admits to his colleagues that he wants to commit suicide; not believing him, they throw him a farewell party at which Private Seidman, played by Ken Prymus, sings a farewell song[4](https://www.jonkutner.com/theme-from-mash-suicide-is-painless-the-mash/). Altman specified that the song had to be called "Suicide Is Painless" because the scene was about Waldowski's attempted suicide[6](https://mash.fandom.com/wiki/Suicide_is_Painless).
**The lyrics.** Altman first tried to write the words himself and failed. In Mandel's account, Altman said, "I tried fooling around with that song but there's too much up in this 45-year-old computer, my brain, for me to write anything as stupid as I really need," and offered his teenage son instead[7](https://www.esu.edu/jazz_at_esu/alcohn/documents/19-20/NoteSummerFall2019.pdf). Mike Altman, then 14, produced the complete lyrics in about five minutes[1](https://themashhistorian.com/2022/12/09/mishmash-14/). An original typed draft of the lyrics, signed by Mike Altman, is held in the Altman Archive at the University of Michigan[5](https://apps.lib.umich.edu/online-exhibits/exhibits/show/altman/altmanesque-sound---music/songs---rights).
**The melody.** Mandel's problem was that the temporary music used during rehearsal, a [Leonard Cohen](https://www.edgepedia.org/leonard-cohen) song in 6/8 time, had become fixed in everyone's ears. He described listening to the tape repeatedly, finding the Cohen melody hard to escape, and then, after a difficult night, writing what became the familiar tune[8](https://mads.si.edu/mads/id/NMAH-AC0808_Mandel_Johnny_Transcript). Both Altman and Mandel receive composer credit on the soundtrack and later covers[1](https://themashhistorian.com/2022/12/09/mishmash-14/).
## In the film
The song appears twice in *MASH*. In the "Last Supper" scene, staged around a table in deliberate echo of Leonardo's painting, Prymus sings it with a guitar accompaniment as part of Waldowski's mock funeral[9](https://cinematelevisionmusic.com/2019/05/02/altman-mash-1970/). Mandel objected when Altman decided to also use a sung version over the opening credits, over footage of the 4077th receiving wounded arriving by helicopter and ambulance, arguing that it did not fit; Altman kept it, and Mandel later said he was glad he lost that argument[1](https://themashhistorian.com/2022/12/09/mishmash-14/) • [7](https://www.esu.edu/jazz_at_esu/alcohn/documents/19-20/NoteSummerFall2019.pdf).
The credits version was performed by four uncredited session singers, Ron Hicklin, John Bahler, Tom Bahler, and Ian Freebairn-Smith[1](https://themashhistorian.com/2022/12/09/mishmash-14/). Columbia issued a single version of the main theme in 1970[10](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/70/RW-1970-03-28.pdf), and the recording credited to The Mash reached number one on the UK chart[11](https://number1sblog.com/2021/10/13/459-theme-from-mash-suicide-is-painless-by-the-mash/). On a 1973 reissue of the film's soundtrack album, the vocal was replaced by an instrumental version recorded by the jazz pianist [Ahmad Jamal](https://www.edgepedia.org/ahmad-jamal)[12](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2019/05/13/cinq-refrains-inoubliables-qui-ont-marque-le-festival-de-cannes_5461300_3246.html).
## The television theme
When *M*A*S*H* premiered on CBS on September 17, 1972, "Suicide Is Painless" became the series' theme, opening and closing each episode, but only as an instrumental; the lyrics were never used on the show[2](https://www.mash4077tv.com/music/). The pilot's cue sheet, prepared by Twentieth Century-Fox's legal department, credits both Mandel and Mike Altman even though the words are not heard[13](https://www.mash4077tv.com/music/breakdowns/mash-pilot/). According to the songwriter Jon Kutner, CBS had resisted the title as a theme on the grounds that young viewers should not go around singing a tune about suicide[4](https://www.jonkutner.com/theme-from-mash-suicide-is-painless-the-mash/). The instrumental, paired with the shot of helicopters over the hills, became the series' signature, and the show's eleven-year run carried the song deep into popular culture[2](https://www.mash4077tv.com/music/) • [1](https://themashhistorian.com/2022/12/09/mishmash-14/).
## Royalties and afterlife
The song's earnings became part of its legend. In a 1980s interview, Robert Altman said his son had made more than a million dollars in royalties while Altman's own fee for directing the film had been $70,000[5](https://apps.lib.umich.edu/online-exhibits/exhibits/show/altman/altmanesque-sound---music/songs---rights). IMDb's trivia entry gives slightly different figures, a $75,000 directing fee and about $2 million in royalties for the son, with payments continuing as the series remained in worldwide syndication[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066026/trivia/). In 1994, Altman bought the rights back from his son; the archive holds the correspondence and draft agreements[5](https://apps.lib.umich.edu/online-exhibits/exhibits/show/altman/altmanesque-sound---music/songs---rights).
The melody has been recorded in many styles, including a jazz piano version by Ahmad Jamal[12](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2019/05/13/cinq-refrains-inoubliables-qui-ont-marque-le-festival-de-cannes_5461300_3246.html). In the [American Film Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-film-institute)'s "100 Years…100 Songs," it ranked #66[5](https://apps.lib.umich.edu/online-exhibits/exhibits/show/altman/altmanesque-sound---music/songs---rights). Mandel, who also wrote the Oscar-winning "The Shadow of Your Smile" for *[The Sandpiper](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-sandpiper)*, died at his home in [Ojai, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/ojai-california), on June 29, 2020, at age 94[14](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/johnny-mandel-composer-who-gave-mash-its-theme-song-dies-at-94/2020/06/30/9cf2f5ea-bac5-11ea-8cf5-9c1b8d7f84c6_story.html).
## References
1. [MishM*A*S*H 14: "Song from M*A*S*H", The M*A*S*H Historian](https://themashhistorian.com/2022/12/09/mishmash-14/)
2. [Music of M*A*S*H, MASH4077TV.com](https://www.mash4077tv.com/music/)
3. [M*A*S*H (1970) Trivia, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066026/trivia/)
4. [Theme From M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless) (The Mash), Jon Kutner](https://www.jonkutner.com/theme-from-mash-suicide-is-painless-the-mash/)
5. [Songs & Rights, Robert Altman exhibit, University of Michigan Library](https://apps.lib.umich.edu/online-exhibits/exhibits/show/altman/altmanesque-sound---music/songs---rights)
6. [Suicide is Painless, Monster M*A*S*H (Fandom)](https://mash.fandom.com/wiki/Suicide_is_Painless)
7. [An Interview with Johnny Mandel, The Note (Al Cohn Memorial Jazz Collection, East Stroudsburg University), Summer/Fall 2019](https://www.esu.edu/jazz_at_esu/alcohn/documents/19-20/NoteSummerFall2019.pdf)
8. [Johnny Mandel oral history transcript, Smithsonian National Museum of American History](https://mads.si.edu/mads/id/NMAH-AC0808_Mandel_Johnny_Transcript)
9. [Altman: MASH (1970), cinematelevisionmusic](https://cinematelevisionmusic.com/2019/05/02/altman-mash-1970/)
10. ['M*A*S*H': Something New in Soundtrack LPs, Record World, March 28, 1970](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/70/RW-1970-03-28.pdf)
11. [Theme from M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless), by The Mash, The UK Number Ones Blog](https://number1sblog.com/2021/10/13/459-theme-from-mash-suicide-is-painless-by-the-mash/)
12. [Cinq refrains inoubliables qui ont marqué le Festival de Cannes, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2019/05/13/cinq-refrains-inoubliables-qui-ont-marque-le-festival-de-cannes_5461300_3246.html)
13. [Music Breakdown: M*A*S*H – The Pilot, MASH4077TV.com](https://www.mash4077tv.com/music/breakdowns/mash-pilot/)
14. [Johnny Mandel, composer who gave 'M.A.S.H.' its theme song, dies at 94, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/johnny-mandel-composer-who-gave-mash-its-theme-song-dies-at-94/2020/06/30/9cf2f5ea-bac5-11ea-8cf5-9c1b8d7f84c6_story.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Compositions and songs › Musical-theater, film, television, and game songs › Film songs and themes › Live-action soundtrack songs*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license