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Original poster

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:
LuckyHare · 27/07/2025 23:36

Aww I love his songs though I hadn't realised was still alive

DorotheaDiamond · 27/07/2025 23:51

Listening now…very tearful :-(

RedRec · 27/07/2025 23:52

I always think of him when there is a chemical elements question on Pointless. And every single time go "there's antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium, and hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium", in my head. And antimony has been a pointless answer at least once!
Absolute musical/comedy genius. Rest in peace.

ErrolTheDragon · 28/07/2025 00:03

My older brother was a good pianist, he used to play these songs (and Flanders and swan) and we’d join in. That was in the 60s/70sShock

SisyphusDad · 28/07/2025 00:04

A genius. RIP.

In spite of the fact that 'The Elements' completely destroyed my ability to remember the names of the elements in their Periodic Table order 😁.

FloofyKat · 28/07/2025 00:11

Brilliant man. RIP, Tom …

HotAsSatansBalls · 28/07/2025 00:16

Smut! Give me smut and nothing but!

Thank you for the laughter Mr Lehrer.

gillybombilly · 28/07/2025 00:20

Oh this is such sad news and what a huge loss.

It's always been one of my goals to memorise The Elements song - years later I’m still only halfway there!

socialdilemmawhattodo · 28/07/2025 00:21

Thank you for letting us know. I used to play my parents record collection and absolutely loved Tom Lehrer. Until my parents realized what I was listening to and the record was removed. Mid-1970s - I'd have been about 10.

slimshady18 · 28/07/2025 00:22

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.

This is absolutely hilarious

OP posts:
heldinadream · 28/07/2025 08:30

We should all do a twirl to the 'Masochism Tango' today.
You caught my nose
In your left castanet, love,
I can feel the pain yet, love,
Every time I hear drums...(drum sounds).

Chapeau, Mr Lehrer. Often imitated, never surpassed. 😂💖

LaMarschallin · 28/07/2025 09:06

Amazingly talented man.
RIP Mr Lehrer.

ChiefCakeTestertoMaryBerry · 28/07/2025 09:14

My dad used to play his songs - they were so funny and many of the lines seem just as relevant today.
RIP Tom.

Igmum · 28/07/2025 09:18

Wonderful man, so funny. I passed my pleasure in his comedy on to DD19 which has enlightened many a long car journey. RIP Tom, you will be missed.

Cynic17 · 28/07/2025 11:43

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.

Genius.

Also love Vatican Rag, Masochism Tango, Oedipus, Poisoning Pigeons in the Park..... so many!

PerkingFaintly · 28/07/2025 11:56

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 28/07/2025 08:23

@PerkingFaintly, all so much simpler in Aristotle's time!

GrinGrinGrin

TooBigForMyBoots · 28/07/2025 11:57

Brilliant, comic genius. RIP Tom, you had us in stitches.❤️

MySocalledPseudonym · 28/07/2025 12:08

Grew up loving his songs, and didn't meet anyone else who'd heard of him until well into my twenties! Where were you all? 😁

My dad recently gave my son a pile of basically crap (they're moving and decluttering!) but amongst it was my dad's handwritten lyrics to The Elements 💜 have attached photo for a bit of nostalgia for you all.

Tom Lehrer's died
Original poster
Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 28/07/2025 12:13

Nice bit of old-fashioned computer paper there.

OP posts:
Almahart · 28/07/2025 12:21

Ha ha I'd forgotten the Oedipus Rex one. What a guy.

MySocalledPseudonym · 28/07/2025 12:22

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 28/07/2025 12:13

Nice bit of old-fashioned computer paper there.

I know! I miss that stuff 😂My dad was a programmer so my brother and I always had a boxful of it as our drawing paper.

MissMarplesNiece · 28/07/2025 12:33

I first came across him years and years ago when I was at school and teachers did a variety show for pupils (can you imagine that happening these days?). Our chemistry teacher mimed The Elements. Loved it then and love it now.

Pianoaholic · 28/07/2025 12:37

I heard a few of his songs on radio 3, my favourite was probably 'poisoning pigeons' (because I have a cat who is always pilfering pigeons, and I always think of that song!)
Off to listen to some now.

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