Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Suicide Is Painless" in English language version.
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.'
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.'
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.'
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.