Killing me softly.

Tom Robinson charts the story of the song 'Gloomy Sunday', a song which supposedly led to a number of suicides. The song was originally written in 1933 in Hungary and has been performed by various artists including Billie Holiday, Marianne Faithful, Elvis Costello and The Associates. In 1937 the BBC banned the song following a series of stories that claimed the song had led to at least 18 suicides. The song is analysed here by experts in music and psychology and we hear the sad story of Billy MacKenzie of the Associates who commited suicide some time after recording the song.