The Hungarian Suicide Song, a.k.a. Gloomy Sunday, is notorious for the sudden cause of suicide amongst many people who have listened to the song. No one really knows why this song has such an impact on a person to drive them to thoughts of suicide. Is it the chilling music? The echoing vocals? The haunting lyrics? Maybe it is the combination of all three that gives the song such power.
There have been many cases that this song is linked to suicides all around the world. A teenage girl in Vienna had drowned herself, clutching the piece of sheet music from Gloomy Sunday. A shopkeeper in Budapest killed himself and left behind a note with the lyrics written on it. A woman in London overdosed on drugs, having Gloomy Sunday playing on repeat on
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One day, his girlfriend left him and he decided to compose Gloomy Sunday for her, to get some use out of his depression he felt after her leaving. They got back together for a short while, until his girlfriend killed herself by jumping out of a window. Seress tried to commit suicide in the same fashion as his girlfriend later into his life, but was unsuccessful. He succeeded in killing himself by intentionally choking himself with a wire while in a hospital bed, recovering from injuries from his first suicide attempt. It is alarming that the composer of this “suicide song” killed himself, as well as the girlfriend who the song was intended for, but is it really linked to over 100 …show more content…
How can we identify a sad song with a happy song just by the instrumental music? It is all in cultural conditioning: “When we listen to tunes, we rely heavily on our memory for the body of music we 've heard all our life. Constantly touching base with our musical memory back catalogue helps to generate expectations of what might come next in a tune, which is an important source of enjoyment in musical listening” (NME Blog). If we hear a flat note as one of the first few notes in a song, we can usually depict it as a sadder, more mellow song. If we hear a sharp note as one of the first few notes, we usually depict it as happier, more peppy song. It mostly has to relate to what we were taught was sad and what we were taught to be
...from a piece of music are, without actually feeling them. This means that even though you listen to sad songs, you might enjoy it rather than get depressed. For perceived emotions, this is the emotions that we feel when listening to music. For example, when we listen to hard rock music, we feel adrenaline rushing through our veins even if there is no real threat or danger around us at that time.
I think music has a way of explaining something or telling a story. Music can bring up happy times, it can also bring up sad times as well. Certain songs can remind someone of troubling issues from a past, can be the reminder of someone you have lost, it can also be a reminder of many happy times; such as weddings, high school dances, or even just hanging out with friends in the back
The calm and soothing feel of this song enforces the use of Pathos. The song choice creates an emotional response by causing you to care for the children. The song begins to build up all the way up to the chorus when it stops abruptly. It is at this point that the car flips over the wall killing the children. The song then comes back in a moment before the narrator says “Shame on You.” Bringing the song back in at this moment enforces the guilt previously
...ide of people, which is generally excited by happiness in the central case (Matravers 174). Music is not the whole part of the feeling; it just causes it (Matravers 174). When the volume from the music goes up, emotions will rise (Matravers 174). As the music goes down, the emotions decline as well (Matravers 174). The connection between music and emotions are similar to a mirror (Matravers 174). Whatever happens to the music, the human feelings will follow.
...hing to turn help his friend around from the path he is on. Knowing that there are people out there, like my teacher and Slade, that are willing to take time out of their busy schedule to sit down and talk to another person is a very uplifting feeling. Depression can be cured by a small amount of attention to detail. Having a positive attitude and paying attention to other people around you can make a world of difference. Sitting down and listening to someone when they have had a rough day could possibly be the difference between life and death. This song has been an anthem for people suffering from depression, and given them hope to keep fighting for that silver lining. This song may not have the deepest meaning for everyone, but to the affected people it can symbolize their life. It will help them search out their loved ones and God who will get them through this.
One aspect of suicide is the impact it has on other people. When someone commits the act people who were close to the person are always affected somehow. In the book, 13 Reasons Why, Clay says, “I’m starting to understand. I’m starting to see what Hannah means. And that opens up a black hole in the pit of my stomach (pg.52).” When Clay is listening to the tapes he can’t help but feel guilt for what people did to Hannah. He can’t help but feel sorry for her. While a suicide could cause people to sleep uneasy it can also inspire copycat behavior. According to “13 Reasons Why and Suicide Contagion” the author states, “Research has shown that excessive media coverage of suicides of celebrity figures actually has led to an increase in suicide attempts
Suicide and death are huge topics today, as well as in times long before today in literature, as well as all types of music, even classical music and jazz! This subject is present in both the book 13 Reasons Why and the song You Feel So Lonely You Could Die. In the depressing and lonely book, 13 Reasons Why, the author, Jay Asher conveys that when a person feels lonely, it makes them do unthinkable and life-altering things because they don’t feel loved or worth anything to anyone. In the lonely and morbid song, You Feel So Lonely You Could Die, David Bowie also portrays that loneliness can make a person feel helpless and not want to live. Both works include similar themes, and they also share similar topics, such as suicide.
This made me begin to think about what other elements of music can affect the mood. The most prevalent factors I came up with were lyrics, key, and tempo. Lyrics are maybe the most obvious, although possibly the most powerful as well. Since lyrics portray a specific message through spoken language, having knowledge of their content and meaning can drastically change the listener’s interpretation of a song. Many people enjoy being able to relate to the subject matter, and often find comfort in the way the songwriter is able to describe a specific feeling or experience in ways more eloquent than the average person might be able
Furthermore, it is not hard to relate depression with suicide. Because of depression which causes students to negate the beauty of life and themselves, have difficulties to be happy and fit in the society, lose interest and life goals, and give themselves up as hopeless, they are more likely to give their lives up and attempt to end their mental suffering by suicide. In the article "Suicide Ideation Among College Students Evidencing Subclinical Depression” by Kelly C. Cukrowicz, a Doctor of Philosophy, “the relation between negative life events and suicide ideation was mediated by depressive symptoms and that depression was more strongly associated with suicide ideation than hopelessness” (576). After experiencing negative circumstances,
The song opens up with the chorus, saying “Carry on my wayward son/ For there’ll be peace when you are done” (Kansas). This line foreshadows some sort of issue that the protagonist is having trouble either getting through or finishing. “Lay your weary head to rest/ Don’t you cry no more” (Kansas) almost seems to foreshadow sleep or even eternal sleep in death. The a capella format of the beginning also adds a haunting element before the song proceeds to present both the main theme from the song and also the triplet ‘breakdown’ for lack of better words.
Philosopher Thomas Szasz goes further, arguing that suicide is the most basic right of all. If freedom is self-ownership - ownership over one's life and body - then the right to end that life is the most fundamental right of all. The belief that death by one`s own hand is always an option and frequently more honorable than a life of protracted misery is held by Stoics. Stoicism accepts that suicide was permissible for the wise in circumstances that may have prevented leading a virtuous life. The common denominator in the previously mentioned organizations is the concurrence that although death may be the most effective method of escaping suffering, whether suicide is the best way is certainly questionable. Florida State University psychologist
Emotions are easily affected by outside forces. Music can provoke emotions of sadness, grief, joy, and even ecstasy. There are several different aspects of music that change how a song is interpreted. From these interpretations come emotions. Among them is the tempo, which is the speed of the song. If a song is sad, the tempo is often slower. If a song is meant to be happy, the tempo is quick and light. If the intention of a song is to bring about fear, it is either extremely slow and eerie or quick and adrenaline pumping. Another factor of interpretation is the key it is in. A key is, “a particular scale or system of tones” (Dictionary.com). There are 24 different keys that are separated into two categories. These categories are major and minor. The major are made up of more sharps, and the minor of more flats. The major key is used to express feelings of joy and happiness. The minor key however, is used to express feelings of sadness, depression, and regret. When the two are awkwardly combined, the key of the music changes to neither minor or major, and is referred to as a dissonance. A dissonance is defined as, “a simultaneous combination of tones conventionally accepted as being in a state of unrest and needing completion” (Dictionary.com). When a passage of music uses a dissonance, the ultimate goal is to create ...
No matter how bad my day could end up, it is helpful to keep moving forward in life. If someone goes through life taking himself or herself too seriously, they cannot get the most out of daily life. After a childhood event, the fear of expressing myself has loomed on me, but l must not let this bring me down. Life is not always full of sunshine and happiness, sometimes clouds of gloom start to cover up the sun from view. I don’t know much about Daniel Powter, mostly because this is the only song l listen to that he wrote. Despite this, the tone is the opposite of what the title suggests, as it is uplifting to listen to. While the song is cheerful, there is another song that is related to my past life troubles that l buried for my own good and is mostly left
With the song title being the number to the American suicide hotline , according to CNN[https://www-m.cnn.com/2017/08/25/health/logic-suicide-hotline-vma-18002738255/index.html] the amount of calls made to the hotline has spiked after Logics VMA performance. Meaning that this song has influenced many to reach out for help. According to John Draper, director of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, "The impact has been pretty extraordinary. On the day the song was released, we had the second-highest
Let yourself just drift off and listen to the lyrics. Demons, a very well known song by this group, is one of the most powerful song I have ever heard. This whole song mirrors the our existence so immaculately that it is terrifying. The overall meaning of the song can be boiled down to this: We all hold demons within ourselves whether it’s depression or a different kind of disorder and when we fall into our ‘demons’ sometimes it can seem almost impossible to go back to who you used to be. They try to put on a mask, but occasionally the real them will slip out. The ones we look up to are just the same as us on the inside. These demons can corrupt everything that we hold dear and can turn this world into a place that no one wants to live in anymore. However, there will always be a shred of hope no matter how small it may seem or what form it comes in. No matter the song each one has their own specific meaning and all seem to deal with problems that we face