Here was my impression of MASH, being born in 1982:

I thought it was about Vietnam.

It took me a long time to learn the name of the song, because I never thought of the question. I assumed it was a theme jingle, not a song. Nor did i know about the movie, or any of it frankly. Just now I found out the lyric writer was only 14~

Was my life better off? I do feel enriched -- knowing I was ignorant and no harm came of it - and that one day, i had a chance to learn, and I took it.

The End.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Is_Painless

"Suicide Is Painless" is a song written by Johnny Mandel (music) and Mike Altman (lyrics), which is best known for being featured as the theme song for both the movie and TV series M*A*S*H. The actual title, as it appears on the sheet music, is "Song From M*A*S*H (Suicide is Painless)."

Mike Altman is the son of the original film's director, Robert Altman, and was 14 years old when he composed the song's lyrics.

Of course M*A*S*H was about Vietnam, they just couldn't be that overt about it.

MASH was the first TV show that I watched at my young age that made me laugh and think. It reinforced the ideals of loyalty and honesty that I was raised with. I used to watch it every day after school on re-runs. I am pretty much a huge M*A*S*H nerd.

One of my mom's favorite TV shows, so I got to see a lot of it growing up. And am a better person for it. I highly recommend picking up the Medicine and Martinis boxset if you get a chance.

Actually, if you employ a Glock .45 21C to eliminate yourself, it would hurt significantly.