Vale Tom Lehrer

[Bramblethorn]

Tom Lehrer has died at age 97. Brilliant satirist, banned in Queensland, inventor of the Jell-O shot, generous with permissions for his own work - he authorised 2 Chainz to sample "The Old Dope Peddler" and later released all his songs into the public domain, years before he died.

 

[Trionyx]

I have to confess I was unaware of him. Watched several of his YouTube vids and read up on him. He was a unique and interesting person. He also embodied the mathematics/music connection. I’ll drop a few of his better songs onto my playlist. Thanks for letting us know.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Something maybe relevant to writing: one of the unusual things about Lehrer's work is how well it ages.

Political satire rarely does. A couple of months back I was re-watching some Australian satire from the 1980s/1990s, and most of it falls flat today. The things it's satirising are long in the past; if I wrack my memory I can just about conjure up "oh yes, people were Really Concerned about XYZ back then for some reason". But so much of Lehrer's work is still quotable and relevant today.

Wernher von Braun died in 1977, and Lehrer's song about him is mostly about his crimes during WWII. But the "not my department!" line resurfaces in my mind pretty regularly when I'm reading the news, because Lehrer wasn't just singing about one man, he was singing about a pattern.

 

[MrPixel]

My favorite:

 

[SimonDoom]

This is sad news. I've enjoyed his music for, well, it seems like forever. I actually did not know he was still alive.

He was extremely talented -- knew how to spin a tune and his satire was dead on. And I agree it has a timeless quality. "Poisoning Pigeons In the Park" and "Fight Fiercely, Harvard!" will never die.

 

[mirafrida]

A friend who was big on retro novelties of all sorts tuned me into Tom Lehrer. The song that has stuck with me is "We'll all go together when we go"

 

[SimonDoom]

Appropriate for the occasion and this forum:

 

[Bramblethorn]

Appropriate for the occasion and this forum:

My kid, who was born long after Lehrer gave up performing, can sing that one word-perfect. It makes me both proud and alarmed.

 

[jehoram]

Appropriate for the occasion and this forum:

You beat me to it, Simon. A favorite of my college days, when even Playboy was seen as irredeemably pornographic and banned on many news stands.

 

[SimonDoom]

You beat me to it, Simon. A favorite of my college days, when even Playboy was seen as irredeemably pornographic and banned on many news stands.

This song was released in 1965, so it's 60 years old, almost as old as I am. Which is amazing, and dismaying.

And the "smut wars" are just as vital and strange now as they were then, except perhaps a bit weirder because as a practical matter "smut" has become completely normalized and absorbed into modern society. But many people refuse to see it that way.

 

[ElectricBlue]

This is sad news. I've enjoyed his music for, well, it seems like forever. I actually did not know he was still alive.

He was extremely talented -- knew how to spin a tune and his satire was dead on. And I agree it has a timeless quality. "Poisoning Pigeons In the Park" and "Fight Fiercely, Harvard!" will never die.

Same, I thought he died decades ago.

I think I discovered him in the mid seventies, when I was in high school. It's highly possible I have a record my dad would have bought, I'll have to check. It'll be with the record of Beyond the Fringe, with an equally brilliant take on the bomb. "We'll all be as safe as houses."

 

[Bramblethorn]

Same, I thought he died decades ago.

He pretty much quit performing by the end of the 1960s, apart from doing some songs for children's TV in the 70s, and settled down to a quiet life as a university professor. I understand he occasionally treated his students to a song.

I think he got disillusioned with satire; he didn't see it as an effective force for change and he was getting too angry about political developments to feel like writing songs about it.

I think I discovered him in the mid seventies, when I was in high school. It's highly possible I have a record my dad would have bought, I'll have to check. It'll be with the record of Beyond the Fringe, with an equally brilliant take on the bomb. "We'll all be as safe as houses."

"And what will happen to the houses?"

 

[yowser]

Perhaps I'm an outlier but my favorite was his periodic tables recitation...

My take-away as a writer is that if you can make an amusing song out of the periodic table, there's no reason you can't write a story about ANYTHING.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

So very, very clever. It’s amazing how well his stuff endured, compared to other humour of his day. I think my favorite was New Math.

Vale, indeed!

 

[Noor]

my parents played his music. One of my favorite songs is,” I held your hand in mine.” it seemed appropriately, gruesome enough when I was younger.
One of my friends, dad’s knew for Von Braun, and we used to sing that song to him to be obnoxious, especially the what goes up must come down part.
I guess there’s pretty much a Tom Lehrer song for any occasion.
Most, if not all, of the songs are pretty accurate.

 

[Levorotatory]

So very, very clever. It’s amazing how well his stuff endured, compared to other humour of his day. I think my favorite was New Math.

Vale, indeed!

I'd suggest that is one of the ones that didn't age well. The "new math" he talks about is just the standard place value algorithm for hand computation of arithmetic operations with large numbers. How else would you do it, other than pulling out a calculator now that everyone has one in their pocket?

 

[NoTalentHack]

Man, I loved Tom Lehrer. His albums were perpetually on my playlists for years. I should throw them back on for nostalgia's sake.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

One of my all-time favorite couplets, by anyone, is this from "So Long Mom, I'm off to Drop the Bomb:"

And this is what he said on
His way to Armageddon

 

[MetaBob]

My favorite:

Lasting cultural impact. Probably eternal.

 

[AlexBailey]

A slow clap for Tom pass it around.


Another Lit themed song.