Gloomy Sunday - Billie Holiday

Ah, another Billie Holiday classic.  For more info about Billie, check out our review of Strange Fruit.

There is apparently a lot of myth and controversy surrounding the song Gloomy Sunday, also ominously known as The Hungarian Suicide Song.  The original song was titled Vége a világnak (The world is ending) and written by Hungarian composer Rezsö Seress in 1933 and was written about the sadness and despair of war.  Another Hungarian, László Jávor kept the melody but wrote his own lyrics and called it Szomorú vasárnap (Sad Sunday) and tells of lover wanting to commit suicide after their sweetheart's death.  The song was translated into English and in 1936 was recorded by Paul Robeson, but the it is said that Billie Holiday's is THE version.  It became popular and controversial - BBC Radio banned it during the war because it negatively affected morale (the ban was lifted in 2002) and it was also said that people would commit suicide because of/whilst listening to the song.  Probably the most twisted bit of irony surrounding the song is that the original Hungarian composer, Reszö Seress committed suicide in 1968.  In its lifespan, the song has been covered multiple times, from artists such as the smooooooth as butter Lou Rawls (here),  and inexplicably attractive, oily french munchkin Serge Gainsbourg (beware of hot sax solo here!) to international weirdo Bjork and local yodeller Sarah McLaughlan.

Holly:

Gloomy Sunday (Billie Holiday): I didn’t know about this song before this listening. It’s creepy, and sad, and haunting, and has a bizarre history and plenty of weird coincidences associated with it. I’ve already talked about how much I enjoy Billie Holiday’s voice and interpretation, so I’ll just recap with “I love Billie Holiday’s voice and interpretation”! But really, she has such a great, understated way of conveying lyrics. You can tell she really put a lot of thought and consideration into the words she was singing. I also really like this orchestration behind her. What a great song. 5/5

Kelly:

I also was unaware of this song before listening to it.  I really like it!  What a great melody, and I love that most of the orchestration sounds like it's a dirge of a clarinet choir, and then some trumpet stylings towards the end.  As said before, Billie is a great singer so of course this version is a classic, and having had the tragic life she did, she probably really felt this song when she was singing it.  Also, I really love that morbid, nefarious subject matter and all the weird stuff that went along with the creation of the song.  5/5

Gloomy Sunday - Billie Holiday