"Gloomy Sunday" is a song composed by Hungarian pianist and composer Rezső Seress and published in 1933. Lyrics were written 1932 by László Jávor, in his melancholy love poem "Szomorú vasárnap" (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈsomoruː ˈvɒʃaːrnɒp]) ("Sad Sunday"), after his beloved has left him. The song was first recorded in Hungarian by Pál Kalmár in 1935. During the World War II Seress wrote an alternate text to the song: "Vége a világnak" ("End of the world").,^[1] that was published in 1946, and lamented the horribleness of the war and the lost of all humanity.
"Gloomy Sunday" was first recorded in English by Hal Kemp in 1936, with lyrics by Sam M. Lewis,^[2] and was recorded the same year by Paul Robeson, with lyrics by Desmond Carter. It became well known throughout much of the English-speaking world after the release of a version by Billie Holiday in 1941. Lewis's lyrics referred to suicide, and the record label described it as the "Hungarian Suicide Song". There is a recurring urban legend that claims that many people committed suicide with this song playing.^[3]