-From what I can gather...as this song has been of some interest to me for a   
   good period of time...there were actually four sets of lyrics associated to   
   the song before the Diamanda Galas version was made.  Diamond Galas'   
   performance is directly based on    
   the lyrics made by Desmond Carter.  The original lyrics were made by the   
   original composer of the song, Rezso Seress.  His lyrics had nothing to do   
   with suicide and were in fact a political statement about the despairs   
   associated with war and how it had    
   left his native country (Hungary) in shambles.  The song was titled "Vége a   
   világnak" (or "The World is Ending" in English).  These are his lyrics when   
   translated:   
      
   "It is autumn and the leaves are falling   
   All love has died on earth   
   The wind is weeping with sorrowful tears   
   My heart will never hope for a new spring again   
   My tears and my sorrows are all in vain   
   People are heartless, greedy and wicked...    
      
   Love has died!   
      
   The world has come to its end, hope has ceased to have a meaning   
   Cities are being wiped out, shrapnel is making music   
   Meadows are coloured red with human blood   
   There are dead people on the streets everywhere   
   I will say another quiet prayer:   
   People are sinners, Lord, they make mistakes...   
      
   The world has ended!"   
      
   -Later, poet Laszlo Javor rewrote the lyrics to the melody and crafted a story   
   about a man who's lover had committed suicide with the narrator wanting to   
   join his love in death.  The title of this version was called "Szomorú   
   vasárnap" (or "Sad Sunday" in    
   English).  The translation of Javor's lyrics are as follows:   
      
   "Gloomy Sunday with a hundred white flowers   
   I was waiting for you my dearest with a prayer   
   A Sunday morning, chasing after my dreams   
   The carriage of my sorrow returned to me without you   
   It is since then that my Sundays have been forever sad   
   Tears my only drink, the sorrow my bread...   
      
   Gloomy Sunday   
      
   This last Sunday, my darling please come to me   
   There'll be a priest, a coffin, a catafalque and a winding-sheet   
   There'll be flowers for you, flowers and a coffin   
   Under the blossoming trees it will be my last journey   
   My eyes will be open, so that I could see you for a last time   
   Don't be afraid of my eyes, I'm blessing you even in my death...   
      
   The last Sunday"   
      
   -After gaining notoriety for the context of the song, people were eager to   
   make an English version of it.  Hal Kemp was the first to record such a   
   version in 1936 with lyrics written by Sam M. Lewis, which is the version that   
   Billie Holiday would make    
   famous and go as follows:   
      
   "Sunday is gloomy, my hours are slumberless   
   Dearest the shadows I live with are numberless   
   Little white flowers will never awaken you   
   Not where the black coach of sorrow has taken you   
   Angels have no thought of ever returning you   
   Would they be angry if I thought of joining you?   
      
   Gloomy Sunday   
      
   Gloomy is Sunday, with shadows I spend it all   
   My heart and I have decided to end it all   
   Soon there'll be candles and prayers that are sad I know   
   Let them not weep let them know that I'm glad to go   
   Death is no dream for in death I'm caressing you   
   With the last breath of my soul I'll be blessing you   
      
   Gloomy Sunday   
      
   Dreaming, I was only dreaming   
   I wake and I find you asleep in the deep of my heart, here   
   Darling, I hope that my dream never haunted you   
   My heart is telling you how much I wanted you   
      
   Gloomy Sunday"   
      
   -In that same year, another English version was recorded and, again, new   
   lyrics were attributed to the melody.  This version was recorded by Paul   
   Robeson and featured the lyrics written by Desmond Carter, which is the   
   version Diamanda Galas chose to    
   perform.  The lyrics are as follows:   
      
   "Sadly one Sunday I waited and waited   
   With flowers in my arms for the dream I'd created   
   I waited 'til dreams, like my heart, were all broken   
   The flowers were all dead and the words were unspoken   
   The grief that I knew was beyond all consoling   
   The beat of my heart was a bell that was tolling   
      
   Saddest of Sundays   
      
   Then came a Sunday when you came to find me   
   They bore me to church and I left you behind me   
   My eyes could not see one I wanted to love me   
   The earth and the flowers are forever above me   
   The bell tolled for me and the wind whispered, "Never!"   
   But you I have loved and I bless you forever   
      
   Last of all Sundays"   
      
   I hope this has helped you for a better understanding of the song's history.    
   It is hauntingly beautiful and one of my favorites.   
      
   -Teamshlayer   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)