↑ “Interview with Johnny Mandel”. JazzWax.com. 24 tháng 10 năm 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. 24 tháng 10 năm 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. 24 tháng 10 năm 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. 24 tháng 10 năm 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 lyrics 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.
