posted
I just found that there are lots of videos of him performing his songs on YouTube. I never realized that videos of his performances existed.
This one is precious, I think, because it gives an idea what it must have been like to have him as a math teacher. I wonder how many of his songs have never seen the light of day outside of a math class.
Posts: 3735 | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
No!!!! It cuts off at secant squared!!! I love the videos and the songs... many happy hours...
Posts: 1550 | Registered: Jun 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
I love Tom Lehrer. I used to have the math AND the elements songs memorized. Actually, elements still is.
Posts: 7877 | Registered: Feb 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
"So long Mom, I'm off to drop the bomb" and "Who's next?" are some of my favorite Lehrer songs but they probably aren't nearly as funny if you didn't live through Vietnam and the Cold War.
The Vatican Rag is also hilarious.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
| IP: Logged |
quote:"So long Mom, I'm off to drop the bomb" and "Who's next?" are some of my favorite Lehrer songs but they probably aren't nearly as funny if you didn't live through Vietnam and the Cold War.
quote:"So long Mom, I'm off to drop the bomb" and "Who's next?" are some of my favorite Lehrer songs but they probably aren't nearly as funny if you didn't live through Vietnam and the Cold War.
They are.
I think those songs may be like the old Bugs Bunny cartoons. In those cartoons there are some jokes that are accessible to 5 year olds, there is another layer of humor directed at adults and there is yet another layer of political and social satire that you only understand if you know the history of the era. I suspect those jokes are funnier to the people who actually remember that era than they are to those of us who've only read about it. I think the same is true of many of Tome Lehrer's songs.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
I've also always wanted to see what his face looks like when he says "yechh!" in Masochism Tango. Actually, I'm not sure I've ever seen an actual photo of his face, just the caricature on the cover of "songs by Tom Lehrer."
Posts: 3735 | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
"There are people in this world who do not love their fellow human beings and I hate people like that!" (National Brotherhood Week commentary)
Given the choice between his songs played in a studio versus recorded live, I prefer the live ones. The songs I've heard from studio recording don't have those comments, just the music, and I think it's better with the comments.
But it's all good - it's Tom Lehrer.
Posts: 2034 | Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged |