RIP Tom Lehrer

[omahaaudio]

"Tom Lehrer, Musical Satirist With a Dark Streak, Dies at 97"

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/27/arts/music/tom-lehrer-dead.html

 

[jdl57]

I was introduced to Tom Lehrer by a high school student teacher 1974. He taught choir. I'm fairly sure I have all of Tom Lehrer's albums. My favorite song? "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park".

 

[Deeve]

Vatican Rag & Pollution - my folks owned & played the LP That Was the Year That Was (do I remember the title right?)

RIP, Tom

 

[Peegoo]

Sad news. Tom was primo entertainment AND quality education all rolled into one guy.

Rest in peace, Professor.

97 is a hell of a run!

 

[stxrus]

I enjoyed Tom Leher’s humor. Sick, dark and just downright funny.
RIP

 

[43mmNut]

RIP

 

[canteytoque]

Thanks for the memories. Selected IMDB quotes:

Well, what I like to do on formal occasions like this is to take some of the various types of songs that we all know and presumably love and, as it were, to kick them when they're down. I find that if you take the various popular song forms to their logical extremes, you can arrive at almost anything from the ridiculous to the obscene or, as they say in New York, sophisticated.

I went from adolescence to senility, trying to bypass maturity.

The whole idea that freedom of speech means you can say 'f***' on television is an anathema to me. That's not what freedom of speech is about. It's about saying stuff. Now that you can say anything, why don't you? But they don't.

You had to admire these folk singers. It takes courage to get up in a coffee house or a student auditorium and come out in favor of the things everyone else is against, like peace and justice and brotherhood, and so on.

 

[P Thought]

Gosh, I thought he'd left us a long time ago. RIP, funny man

 

[Rich_S]

What a coincidence. Just last week our keyboard player, Rick and I were standing at the bar getting our between-sets drinks. Something somebody said prompted the barmaid to bring up Tom Lehrer. She and I were shocked to learn that Rick had never heard of him. We explained who and what Lehrer was. To illustrate, I sang him a verse of “National Brotherhood Week”.

RIP Mr Lehrer. The world needs more like you.

 

[dented]

Pretty sure I started listening to him around 1971 in LA. He was always on Dr Demento. RIP, totally loved your songs.

 

[bumnote]

Loved him, every time I went to church as a kid I'd hear "fiddle with your rosary and...genuflect....genuflect....genuflect" in my head.

 

[Mowgli]

What a coincidence. Just last week our keyboard player, Rick and I were standing at the bar getting our between-sets drinks. Something somebody said prompted the barmaid to bring up Tom Lehrer. She and I were shocked to learn that Rick had never heard of him. We explained who and what Lehrer was. To illustrate, I sang him a verse of “National Brotherhood Week”.

RIP Mr Lehrer. The world needs more like you.

My favorite Tom L. song. Thank you for mentioning it!

“Sheriff Clark and Lena Horne are dancing cheek-to-cheek…”

Sarcasm and irony colliding together doesn’t get any better than that emanating from the wit of Tom Lehrer!

RIP indeed.

 

[clydethecat]

In 1963-65, NBC had a show called "That Was The Week That Was", which did musical satires of the previous week's news. Imagine David Frost singing and dancing... Tom Lehrer was one of the writers.

 

[MisterZ]

Thanks for the memories. Selected IMDB quotes:


View attachment 1400661

I have this - hand-painted art, etc.

Back when I was in college someone did an Off-Broadway revue of Tom Lehrer songs called "Tomfoolery". My roommate and I went. Hilarious!

 

[trapdoor2]

I first heard TL on Dr. Demento, back in the early 70s. A friend and I were lucky enough to score original LPs of his stuff from the used record stores.

Yah, "Poisoning Piegons In The Park" is my top fave.

RIP

 

[MainLine Florida]

My favorite was his jab at Werner von Braun.."Deutschland uber Alles" opening & check the accent:

 

[MisterZ]

"Lobachevsky" is my favorite.

"I am never forget the day..."

 

[archetype]

I listened to my sister's TM records in the mid-60s. I was listening to National Brotherhood Week in the car, today.

Sometime in the last couple of years he put all of his music in the public domain. It was available for a 'limited time' as .rar files for download from his Web site, but I don't know if the files are still available.

 

[omahaaudio]

Before he died Tom Lehrer put all his music and lyrics into the public domain (https://tomlehrersongs.com/) and downloads of his albims are available for free from the website (https://tomlehrersongs.com/albums/).
Enjoy.

 

[acoustic rob]

"Lobachevsky" is my favorite.

"I am never forget the day..."

So back in the '50s (after he released his first record) he got drafted and was assigned to work for the National Security Agency, which at the time was so confidential that the mere existence of the agency was classified. While he was there he wrote a few papers, and he snuck a Lobachevsky reference into one of them.