music

Johnny Mandel's work on the soundtrack largely involved arranging period tunes and effect music (especially military and football-related themes), although he also wrote a memorable main title theme. "Song from M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless)" is written by Johnny Mandel (music) and Mike Altman (lyrics), which was the theme song for both the movie and TV series M*A*S*H. Mike Altman is the son of the original film's director, Robert Altman, and was 14 years old when he wrote the song's lyrics.