이 곡은 세이드먼 일병 역을 맡은 배우 켄 프라이머스가 영화 '마지막 만찬' 장면에서 월터 '무통 폴' 발도스키(존 쇼크)의 가짜 자살 사건 때 부르기 위해 작곡한 곡이다.[1][2]로버트 알트먼 감독은 작곡가 조니 맨델의 곡에 대해 "자살은 고통스럽지 않다"라는 두 가지 규정을 두었는데, 이 곡은 "역대 가장 고통스러운 곡"이어야 했다.[3]알트먼은 직접 작사를 시도했지만 '45세 뇌'가 '거친' 것을 쓰기가 너무 어렵다는 것을 알고는 5분 만에 작사를 한 것으로 알려진 14세 아들 마이클에게 과제를 안겼다.[4][5][6][7]
Altman은 후에 이 노래가 너무 잘 작동해서 맨델의 초기 반대에도 불구하고 이 노래를 영화의 주요 테마로 사용할 것이라고 결정했다.[8]이 더 합창 버전은 무보증이 된 세션 가수 존 바울러, 톰 바울러, 론 히클린, 이안 프리베언-스미스가 불렀고, '매쉬'의 영향을 받은 싱글곡으로 발매되었다.앨트먼은 이 영화를 감독한 대가로 7만 달러밖에 벌지 못했지만, 그의 아들은 이 곡을 공동 작곡한 대가로 100만 달러 이상을 벌었다고 말했다.[9]
^"Interview with Johnny Mandel". JazzWax.com. October 24, 2008. Bob said to me, 'You know, I need a song for the film. It's that Last Supper scene, after the guy says he'd going to do himself with a pill because his life is over, because couldn't get it up with the WAC the night before.'
^Michael L. LaBlanc. "Gale Musician Profiles: Johnny Mandel". The Gale Group. The Theme for M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless) wasn’t intended to be the theme of the motion picture. It was written in 1970 for the "Last Supper" scene and was actually intended to be played by one of the actors. It had to be written before the movie was actually shot.
^"Interview with Johnny Mandel". JazzWax.com. October 24, 2008. Bob also said the song had to be called 'Suicide Is Painless'. 'Since [Capt.] Painless commits suicide with a pill, that would be a good title,' he said. Then he said, 'It's got to be the stupidest song ever written.'
^"Interview with Johnny Mandel". JazzWax.com. October 24, 2008. Bob was going to take a shot at the lyrics. But he came back two days later and said, 'I'm sorry but there's just too much stuff in this 45-year-old brain. I can't write anything nearly as stupid as what we need.'
^"Interview with Johnny Mandel". JazzWax.com. October 24, 2008. Bob said, "All is not lost. I've got a 15-year-old kid who's a total idiot." So Michael Altman, at age 15, wrote the lyrics, and then I wrote the music to them.
^Michael L. LaBlanc. "Gale Musician Profiles: Johnny Mandel". The Gale Group. His 14-year-old son, Mike Altman, was enlisted and wrote the lyric in five minutes to which Mandel later added the melody.
^Michael L. LaBlanc. "Gale Musician Profiles: Johnny Mandel". The Gale Group. Later when the movie was being edited, Mandel heard the song being played over the film's title in the helicopter scene and protested, saying, 'It was the stupidest thing I have ever seen,' and angrily walked out, insisting it didn't fit. The studio ignored his protest.