My parents had the “An Evening Wasted With…” album.
6 thoughts on “Tom Lehrer”
Sad. Even though he didn’t think much of us who could count backward from 10… But I give him a lot of cred for explaining “New” Math. He will be missed.
I have three Tom Lehrer albums, all (some time since) ripped to MP3’s: “An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer,” “Tom Lehrer Revisited,” and “Tom Lehrer – The Year That Was.” My faves: “The Elements,” “The Wild West Is Where I Want To Be,” “National Brotherhood Week,” and “Wernher Von Braun.” (“‘Za rockets go up…who knows vere zey come down…zat’s not my department,’ says Wernher Von Braun!”)
Back in the 90’s? I saw him playing at UCSB…worth a drive up from WLA.
I may not agree with his politics but his songs were funny. My backseater would sing “So Long Mom” when we were training to drop a bomb on eastern Europe.
In high school, the little social circle of which I was part would gather for weekend parties at one another’s homes and listening to Tom Lehrer albums was pretty much a mandatory part of these affairs. Absolutely wonderful stuff which holds up very well decades later. I am particularly enamored of ‘In Old Mexico,’ which is delightfully non-PC and couldn’t possibly have gotten published much later than it actually was.
Mr. Lehrer had a good long run, but he will be missed all the same. Fortunately, he public domained all of his works a few years back so there will be no “estate managers” to restrict access or bowdlerize his songs.
Sad. Even though he didn’t think much of us who could count backward from 10… But I give him a lot of cred for explaining “New” Math. He will be missed.
I have three Tom Lehrer albums, all (some time since) ripped to MP3’s: “An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer,” “Tom Lehrer Revisited,” and “Tom Lehrer – The Year That Was.” My faves: “The Elements,” “The Wild West Is Where I Want To Be,” “National Brotherhood Week,” and “Wernher Von Braun.” (“‘Za rockets go up…who knows vere zey come down…zat’s not my department,’ says Wernher Von Braun!”)
Oh, and…Riders in the Sky did a terrific rendition of “The Wild West Is Where I Want To Be.”
Had every song on TWTYTW memorized in my teen years. Can probably still sing half of them from memory in my late 60s.
Back in the 90’s? I saw him playing at UCSB…worth a drive up from WLA.
I may not agree with his politics but his songs were funny. My backseater would sing “So Long Mom” when we were training to drop a bomb on eastern Europe.
In high school, the little social circle of which I was part would gather for weekend parties at one another’s homes and listening to Tom Lehrer albums was pretty much a mandatory part of these affairs. Absolutely wonderful stuff which holds up very well decades later. I am particularly enamored of ‘In Old Mexico,’ which is delightfully non-PC and couldn’t possibly have gotten published much later than it actually was.
Mr. Lehrer had a good long run, but he will be missed all the same. Fortunately, he public domained all of his works a few years back so there will be no “estate managers” to restrict access or bowdlerize his songs.