The original writer of the song, “Suicide is Painless” is Mike Altman, who at that time was fourteen and never imagined his song would be the theme song of his father, Robert Altman's film M*A*S*H (“M*A*S*H Theme Song Is Titled”). Altman wrote this song in ten minutes according to davesstrangeworld.com. Johnny Mandel ended up being the formal singer of the song. The rhythm of the song is slow and a bit depressing as it has a steady tone with no high notes or any break down. The first stanza of the song expresses how a person tries looking for a “way” to end all the pains in life as it says, “Through early morning’s fog I see, visions of the things to be. The pains that are withheld for me, I realize and I can see” (“Suicide is Painless” lyrics). In response to the first stanza, the second one introduces the chorus of the song, which talks about the “way” to end the pains in life. In this case is suicide introduced as suicide. It makes the whole idea of suicide seem to be the best choice as it is “painless” and you “can take it or leave it as you please.” (“Suicide is Painless” lyrics) It also describes it as a positive way of solving problems because it is one's choice and it comes along with many changes. When the song says, “I try to find a way to make all our little joys relate without that ever-present hate, but now I know that it's too late” (“Suicide is Painless” lyrics), it describes that even though he has tried to find the positive things in life, he has not been able to and convinces himself a bit more that suicide is his only choice left. consequentially, “The sword of time will pierce our skins, it doesn’t hurt when it begins but as it works its way on in the pain grows stronger, watch it grin” (“Suicide is Painless lyrics”) is a very analytical stanza because it can direct our thoughts to many conclusions. From my own point of view, this means that all the pain builds up to the point that it progresses continuously and when you finally notice how broken you are, it is way too deep in you that the only way to stop it is to actually end your life. The whole song expresses how depressing and miserable life is that it calls for an "escape". The only choice left is suicide because he thinks he is so sunk in pain and that he will never be able to get back up and enjoy life, therefore would be pointless to even try.