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Tom Lehrer's died

60 replies

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 27/07/2025 22:14

I love his songs. Will have a good listen tomorrow. He was 97. A good innings. Thank you, Tom.

BBC News - American musical satirist Tom Lehrer dies at 97, US media report
www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpv02yd2714o

OP posts:
medianewbie · 27/07/2025 22:18

Ah. RIP Mr Lehrer. Wonderful guy.

PerfectTuesday · 27/07/2025 22:23

Has given me many a chuckle - RIP.

PurpleSaladPotatoes · 27/07/2025 22:23

Oh, that’s so sad. He was a genius.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 27/07/2025 22:23

Agreed. This one might be my favourite. He renounced all copyright, so here it is in full.

When you attend a funeral,
It is sad to think that sooner or
Later those you love will do the same for you.
And you may have thought it tragic,
Not to mention other adjec-
Tives, to think of all the weeping they will do.
But don't you worry.
No more ashes, no more sackcloth.
And an armband made of black cloth
Will some day never more adorn a sleeve.
For if the bomb that drops on you
Gets your friends and neighbors too,
There'll be nobody left behind to grieve.
And we will all go together when we go.
What a comforting fact that is to know.
Universal bereavement,
An inspiring achievement,
Yes, we all will go together when we go.
We will all go together when we go.
All suffuse with an incandescent glow.
No one will have the endurance
To collect on his insurance,
Lloyd's of london will be loaded when they go.
Oh we will all fry together when we fry.
We'll be french fried potatoes by and by.
There will be no more misery
When the world is our rotisserie,
Yes, we will all fry together when we fry.
Down by the old maelstrom,
There'll be a storm before the calm.
And we will all bake together when we bake.
There'll be nobody present at the wake.
With complete participation
In that grand incineration,
Nearly three billion hunks of well-done steak.
Oh we will all char together when we char.
And let there be no moaning of the bar.
Just sing out a te deum
When you see that i.c.b.m.,
And the party will be "come as you are."
Oh we will all burn together when we burn.
There'll be no need to stand and wait your turn.
When it's time for the fallout
And saint peter calls us all out,
We'll just drop our agendas and adjourn.
You will all go directly to your respective valhallas.
Go directly, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dolla's.
And we will all go together when we go.
Ev'ry hottenhot and ev'ry eskimo.
When the air becomes uranious,
And we will all go simultaneous.
Yes we all will go together
When we all go together,
Yes we all will go together when we go.

OP posts:
Almahart · 27/07/2025 22:24

I've just been listening to all my old faves. Amazing songwriter. My kids loved poisoning pigeons when they were little too

TheElementsSong · 27/07/2025 22:26

So sad, he was absolutely brilliant, talented and funny. RIP Flowers

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 27/07/2025 22:28

This news makes me irrationally sad. I've loved his songs for years.
(Although to be honest if anyone had asked me I think I would have assumed he'd died years ago anyway...)

PerkingFaintly · 27/07/2025 22:30

He renounced all copyright, so here it is in full.

Seriously? How marvellous! How Tom Lehrer!

RIP a wonderful songwriter. Thank you for everything.

BlueyNeedsToFuckOff · 27/07/2025 22:31

Oh, that’s sad. Loved a lot of his songs for years.

little0miss0mac · 27/07/2025 22:31

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 27/07/2025 22:28

This news makes me irrationally sad. I've loved his songs for years.
(Although to be honest if anyone had asked me I think I would have assumed he'd died years ago anyway...)

Same. I vividly remember hearing Poisoning Pigeons in the Park when I was about 8, laughing until it hurt, and it feeling like it was from another era. I’m 53 now. What an absolute genius he was. RIP.

sesquipedalian · 27/07/2025 22:32

Oh no - they don’t make them like him any more. He gave up writing comic songs in 1973, because “political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize.” RIP, Tom - you brought much pleasure to many people.

PerkingFaintly · 27/07/2025 22:33

Also, thank you for helping me pass my Chemistry O-level.

We had to learn the periodic table, so I took a leaf out of Lehrer's book and set it (in the correct order with some creative scansion) to "I am the very model of a Modern Major General."

Though perhaps without the closing:
These are the only ones of which the news has come to Har-vard.
There may be many others but they haven't been discar-verd.

glittercunt · 27/07/2025 22:35

I only discovered he existed a few weeks ago, bought a digital copy of an album, and boom - he's gone. Damn. The songs are wonderful. My 17 year old who got me into him is devastated.

stayathomegardener · 27/07/2025 22:35

Backdrop to my childhood on the radio.

Genius.

Yellowsubmarineunderthesea · 27/07/2025 22:38

Loved his stuff, stuff of my teens so many years ago still gives such great pleasure. sleep easy Mr Lehrer

PerkingFaintly · 27/07/2025 22:39

I feel his Wernher von Braun is a song for this age...

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 27/07/2025 22:40

The records are brilliant because they included his hilarious lengthy intros to each song. I still sometimes claim a 'silent seven' in my name (no, my real name isn't Hen7ry)

RedNine · 27/07/2025 22:43

Awwww, I feel quite sad at the loss of a comic genius.

RavenLaw · 27/07/2025 22:46

sesquipedalian · 27/07/2025 22:32

Oh no - they don’t make them like him any more. He gave up writing comic songs in 1973, because “political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize.” RIP, Tom - you brought much pleasure to many people.

I think he did continue to write to some extent - his song "Sociology" is definitely post 1973!

Summeriscumin · 27/07/2025 22:49

Absolute genius. Grew up to his music. Father a huge fan.

PerkingFaintly · 27/07/2025 22:53

Having surprised myself by being organised and on top of things last week, for once, I found myself humming Be Prepared.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoEVPtVk9nE

BuntyBeaufort · 27/07/2025 22:54

Poisoning Pigeons in the Park is one of my little dgs favourite songs.
Brilliant, funny man - loved his mad, clever humour. RIP Tom

Plinketyplonks · 27/07/2025 23:15

Genius man. I’m 43 and my parents played a lot of his songs. I remember the one about the girl who dispatched her whole family, poisoning pigeons and the Boy Scouts marching song - ‘don’t solicit for your sister, it’s not nice, unless you get a fair percentage of her price.’

PrincessFiorimonde · 27/07/2025 23:31

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 27/07/2025 22:28

This news makes me irrationally sad. I've loved his songs for years.
(Although to be honest if anyone had asked me I think I would have assumed he'd died years ago anyway...)

Me too.

Perpetuallywondering · 27/07/2025 23:34

Brilliant man. My children will enjoy the excuse to re-listen to Poisoning Pigeons.