http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUCyjDOlnPU "Angels have no thought of ever returning you. Would they be angry if I thought of joining you?" Also known as the Hungarian Suicide Song, Gloomy Sunday was written by a Hungarian composer called Rezso Seress while he was living in Paris in 1932. This was during the Great Depression and political upheaval in Hungary. The lyrics called for an end to man's inhumanity to man and a plea for God for justice. Poet Laszlo Javor, who had just broken up with his fiancee, rewrote the lyrics as a lament for a deceased love one and a pledge to be together with them in the afterworld. The song, recorded by Paul White, was very popular in Hungary but was linked to a rash of suicides. Hordes of people were jumping into the Danube carrying the sheet music. The authorities in Hungary were sufficiently concerned to ban public performances of the song. The whole world jumped on the bandwagon of this notorious Hungarian Suicide Song. It was translated into Russian, French and Japanese. Many different versions existed in the English speaking world but the one we all know and love today was sung by Billie Holiday in 1941. Urban legends abound with this song with stories of suicides and bannings of the song. It was actually banned for a while during World War Two by the BBC as it was thought it was detrimental to public wellbeing and morale. A terrific song to put on and cry your eyes out to if you have just been dumped, Gloomy Sunday is also an anthem for the suicidal and deeply depressed. Few other songs will make such a morbid impact on you (unless you listen to death metal) and a little tear might fall from your eye...
My first film watched was Carrie aged 2 on my dad's knee. Educated at The University of St Andrews and Trinity College Dublin. Fan of Arthouse, Exploitation, Horror, Euro Trash, Giallo, New French Extremism. Weaned at the bosom of a Russ Meyer starlet. The bleaker, artier or sleazier the better!