Tom Lehrer Musical Genius

[motely36]

I love Tom Lehrer although I am really not old enough. A friend of my mom's turned me on to him in the mid-80's. It amazing how much of his stuff is still relevant.

Does anyone else here like him?

[bbernardini]

1. Absolutely.

The man's a genius. I've been a fan since I was a wee lad.

[tsakshaug]

2. yes

Funny I just sent this link to someone
http://www.privatehand.com/flash/elements.html
a flash animation with the elements song

[motely36]

7. That's cute

I wish someone would do one with the actual periodic table. I think that would be cool.

[SpiralHawk]

3. Hark the Herald Angels Cry

Time to go out and buy !


(It just takes a smidgen,
to go poisoning pidgeons
in the park)

[bloodyjack]

4. No.

I mean, yes.

Listen to Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, if you haven't yet, to consummate your love for him.

edit: Or The Vatican Rag

[motely36]

6. That's a great song

but I think of so many others like:

So Long Mom (I'm off the Drop the Bomb)
The Vatican Rag
National Brotherhood Week

He was very political. I wonder where he is today? Still teaching at Harvard? Although he'd probably have to be retired by now. I'm pretty sure he is still alive.

[Squeech]

18. He left Harvard in the '60s

He was a junior professor in math. Every time he was considered for tenure, he'd release one of his records, and the trustees would have conniptions. After the third such episode, he figured it was a lost cause, and he transferred to UC Santa Cruz, where in addition to his math classes, he also taught an occasional seminar on the history of the American popular song.

But I think he's retired by now. He'd be in his 80s.

Rhino Records reissued the music he personally retained the rights for on CD, and has an informative web page about him.

I think he's brilliant. I don't know anybody with a better command of rhyme. He's rather too bitter and misanthropic for some people, however.

[trillian]

8. I am old enough.......

.....but I haven't thought of him in years.

"There once was a man named Oedipus Rex" Another classic!

[motely36]

9. you may have heard about his odd complex

[trillian]

10. He loooooooooved his mother!!!!!!

OEDIPUS REX
(Tom Lehrer)
Tom Lehrer


From The Bible to the popular songs
There's on theme that we find all along
With all the things we hail as good
The most sublime is motherhood

There once was an whom so it seems
Once carried this ideal to extremes
He loved his mother and she loved him
And yet his story is rather grim

There once was a man named Oedipus Rex*
You may have heard about his odd complex
His name appears in Freud's index
Cause he loved his mother

His rivals used to say quite a bit
That as a monarch he was quite unfit
But still in all they had to admit
That he loved his mother

Yes, he loved his mother like no other
He daughter was his sister
And his son was his brother
One thing on which you can depend is
He sure knew who a boy's best friend is

When he found what he had done
He tore his eyes out one-by-one
A tragic end for a loyal son
Who loved his mother

So be sweet and and kind to mother
Now and then have a chat
About her candy-coloured blossoms
Or a brand new hat
But P'raps you'd better let it go at that

Or you might end up with a quite complex, Complex
And you may end up like Oedipus*
I'd rather marry a duck-billed platypus
Than end up like old Oedipus Rex*!

*Oedipus was a king who was created by the greek playwright Sophocles.
He was lost as a baby and when he grew up he killed a king and married
the kings widow Jocasta. Oedipus was however, unaware that the king
he'd killed was in fact his father, and his new wife was his mother!
When he found out the awful truth he gouged out his own eyes and died in poverty.

[mac56]

5. I love him.

Christmas time is here, by golly,
Disapproval would be folly.
Deck the halls with hunks of holly,
Fill the cup and don't say when.

Kill the turkeys, ducks and chickens,
Mix the punch, drag out the Dickens.
Even though the prospect sickens,
Brother, here we go again.

On Christmas Day you can't get sore,
Your fellow man you must adore.
There's time to rob him all the more
The other three hundred and sixty-four.

Relations, sparing no expense, will
Send some useless old utensil
Or a matching pen and pencil.
"Just the thing I need, how nice!"

It doesn't matter how sincere it
Is, nor how heart felt the spirit,
Sentiment will not endear it,
What's important is the price.

Hark, the Herald Tribune sings,
Advertising wondrous things.
God rest ye merry merchants,
May ye make the Yuletide pay.
Angels we have heard on high,
Tell us to go out and buy!

So, let the raucous sleighbells jingle,
Hail our dear old friend Kris Kringle,
Driving his reindeer across the sky.
Don't stand underneath when they fly by.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

11. Good God Yes!

Master of his craft. Rumor has it he retired when Nixon was elected President, stating "That's too funny. I can't top that!"

My contribution to this thread is this: for your lover to haunt you and taunt you and if at all possible, consume you with a kiss of fire.
This particular illustration of this genre is called...
The Masochism Tango.

I ache for the touch of your lips, dear,
But much more for the touch of your whips, dear.
You can raise welts
Like nobody else,
As we dance to the masochism tango.

Let our love be a flame, not an ember,
Say it’s me that you want to dismember.
Blacken my eye,
Set fire to my tie,
As we dance to the masochism tango.

At your command
Before you here I stand,
My heart is in my hand. ecch!
It’s here that I must be.
My heart entreats,
Just hear those savage beats,
And go put on your cleats
And come and trample me.
Your heart is hard as stone or mahogany,
That’s why I’m in such exquisite agony.

My soul is on fire,
It’s aflame with desire,
Which is why I perspire
When we tango.

You caught my nose
In your left castanet, love,
I can feel the pain yet, love,
Ev’ry time I hear drums.
And I envy the rose
That you held in your teeth, love,
With the thorns underneath, love,
Sticking into your gums.

Your eyes cast a spell that bewitches.
The last time I needed twenty stitches
To sew up the gash
That you made with your lash,
As we danced to the masochism tango.

Bash in my brain,
And make me scream with pain,
Then kick me once again,
And say we’ll never part.
I know too well
I’m underneath your spell,
So, darling, if you smell
Something burning, it’s my heart.
Excuse me!

Take your cigarette from it’s holder,
And burn your initials in my shoulder.
Fracture my spine,
And swear that you’re mine,
As we dance to the masochism tango.

[JohnKleeb]

12. hah we saw his periodic table song in chemistry

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

13. National Brotherhood Week..one of the best songs ever written about bigots

Love the guy! That Was the YEar That Was is probably his best

[Coventina]

14. Don't forget his stellar work for "The Electric Company"

He had at least two songs on it
"Silent E" and "L-Y"

[Midlodemocrat]

15. "The Lord's our shepherd says the psalm"

...but just in case, we better get a bomb.

The man is a genius. His stuff is available on CDs too, for us old timers that were listening via record albums.

[motely36]

17. Luxembourg is next to go and who knows maybe Monaco

will try to stay serene and calm......

When Alabama gets the bomb!

Sorry for the mispellings!

[CO Liberal]

16. "The Vatican Rag"

First you get down on your knees,
Fiddle with your rosaries,
Bow your head with great respect,
And genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!

Do whatever steps you want, if
You have cleared them with the Pontiff.
Everybody say his own
Kyrie eleison,
Doin' the Vatican Rag.

Get in line in that processional,
Step into that small confessional,
There, the guy who's got religion'll
Tell you if your sin's original.
If it is, try playin' it safer,
Drink the wine and chew the wafer,
Two, four, six, eight,
Time to transubstantiate!

So get down upon your knees,
Fiddle with your rosaries,
Bow your head with great respect,
And genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!

Make a cross on your abdomen,
When in Rome do like a Roman,
Ave Maria,
Gee it's good to see ya,
Gettin' ecstatic an'
Sorta dramatic an'
Doin' the Vatican Rag!

http://www.vlyrics.com/t/tomlehrer3903/thevaticanrag185506.html

[mcscajun]

19. You're Old Enough If You "Get" Lehrer... :)

That's all the requirement necessary.

One of his I keep hanging onto these days is "Send the Marines"

When someone makes a move
Of which we don't approve,
Who is it that always intervenes?
U.N. and O.A.S.,
They have their place, I guess,
But first send the Marines!

We'll send them all we've got,
John Wayne and Randolph Scott,
Remember those exciting fighting scenes?
To the shores of Tripoli,
But not to Mississippoli,

What do we do? We send the Marines!
For might makes right,
And till they've seen the light,
They've got to be protected,
All their rights respected,
'Till somebody we like can be elected.

Members of the corps
All hate the thought of war,
They'd rather kill them off by peaceful means.
Stop calling it aggression,
O we hate that expression.
We only want the world to know
That we support the status quo.
They love us everywhere we go,
So when in doubt,
Send the Marines!

[Dr Ron]

20. I would have answered earler

but I was busy poisoning pigeons in the park

[MrModerate]

21. First comic artist I ever listened to, at age 8 or so . . .

And his brand of humor formed (twisted?) mine and made me the really funny guy I am today.

Not only that, he was the person who taught me what "necrophilia" is, a concept without which over 7 percent of my jokes would fall flat.

(Not to mention, I used his songs -- without royalties, but always with attribution -- in just about every talent show I entered from age 10 to age 18, and always brought the house down. To this day, I think I still know almost all the lyrics and can sing them at least as well Tom could.)

Funniest guy of the 20th century, and deeply influenced by (i.e., stole a lot of his material from) W.S. Gilbert, the funniest guy of the 19th century. Don't know who the funniest guy of the 21st century is, but given the current crop of humorists, it's pretty sure he isn't working now!

Last I heard, Lehrer was professor emeritus from UC Davis, having taught in their mathematics and theatre departments for years.

[sleepyhead]

22. Love him.

Hard to pick a favorite song, but as a former chemist I have a soft spot in my heart for the element song.

Also:
Vatican Rag
So Long Mom (I'm Off to Drop the Bomb)
Masochism Tango

Very snide and funny.