Suicide Is Painless - Cover Versions

Cover Versions

• Grady Tate recorded a soul-jazz version of the song in April 1970 that appears on his second album, After the Long Drive Home (Skye).
• Al De Lory recorded a jazz piano version of the tune (as "Song from MASH") that became an adult contemporary hit a few months after the movie was released in 1970.
• Henry Mancini recorded an easy listening version of the song for his 1970 album Mancini Plays the Theme from Love Story.
• Fung Bo Bo recorded a female-vocal version (in English) on a Malaysian EP (MMI Top 21006) in 1970.
• Ahmad Jamal recorded an instrumental jazz-funk version of the song (as "Theme from M*A*S*H") on his 1974 release Jamalca. This version was included on some re-releases of the soundtrack album. Jamal recorded another version of the tune for his 1985 album Digital Works.
• Roy Ayers recorded an instrumental version of the theme for his 1974 album Change Up the Groove.
• Paul Desmond recorded an instrumental version on his 1974 album Pure Desmond.
• Kerstin Forslund and Small Town Singers released a version in 1975. The single made the Top 100 chart in Australia.
• Ray Conniff recorded an easy listening version on his 1976 album Theme from S.W.A.T. and Other TV Themes.
• Bill Evans recorded a jazz piano trio version of the song for You Must Believe in Spring, an album posthumously released in 1980, having made it a staple of his live sets for some years. Evans' version modulates through all 12 keys. The song is also recorded in a jazz piano trio version on the CD Bill Evans Trio, recorded live in Buenos Aires in 1979.
• Cal Tjader recorded a version on his album The Shining Sea (1981).
• Jimmy Smith recorded a version on his album Off the Top (1982).
• Art Of Noise perform a short instrumental interpolation on their 1984 track "A Time for Fear (Who's Afraid)", featured on both Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise? and Daft.
• Royal Trux recorded a version for the BBC John Peel radio show in 1993. It was released in 1997 on a Royal Trux compilation called Singles, Live, Unreleased. On the compilation the song is titled "Theme from M.A.S.H."
• Killarmy sampled the music for their 1997 track "5 Stars" from the Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars album.
• Edgar Cruz recorded an instrumental cover of the song for his 1997 album Reminiscence titled "M*A*S*H Theme".
• Jay-Jay Johanson performed a version of this song on France Inter in 1997, later released on a promotional CD. In 2011 it appeared on his CD Spellbound.
• Marilyn Manson did a version for the soundtrack of Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 in 2000.
• Barði Jóhannsson and Keren Ann recorded a version on their album Lady and Bird (2003).
• Stewie Griffin sang a part of it on Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story in 2005.
• Matt Costa, singer-songwriter from Huntington Beach, California, USA covered the song on his six-track The Elasmosaurus EP in 2005.
• Kelis does her own interpretation of the song in her single "Lil Star" (with Cee-Lo), released in 2007.
• The Drones performed an acoustic version in 2008 on Triple J in Australia.
• Ania Dąbrowska recorded a version of this song on her album Ania Movie (2010).
• Amanda Lear recorded an acoustic and a dance version of this song on her 2009's cd Brief Encounters.
• Tripod did a short acoustic rendition of the theme in the song "Lingering Dad" (additionally, portions of the theme were later used in the song "Theme from Mash Guy" - a song about acquiring the rights to play the theme from M*A*S*H).