Tom Lehrer, aged 92, has decided to put all his lyrics and sheet music into the public domain

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:
Brian Edwards
@brianftang
Pretty extraordinary - Tom Lehrer, aged 92, has decided to put all his lyrics and sheet music into the public domain, before he passes away.
Home
Songs and Lyrics by Tom Lehrer DISCLAIMER STATEMENTI, Tom Lehrer, and the Tom Lehrer Trust 2000,
tomlehrersongs.com
11:26 AM · Oct 20, 2020

[PCIntern]

1. National Brotherhood Week!

[rurallib]

3. o gawd yes. As a young Catholic "The Vatican Rag" had me rolling the

first time I heard it and still does. Can still sing it from heart:

"first get down upon your knees......."

[dflprincess]

35. "fiddle with your rosaries"

"bow your head with great respect and
genuflect, genuflect genuflect!"

[crimycarny]

36. Make a cross on your abdomen

When in Rome do as a Roman;
Ava Maria,
Gee it’s good to see ya.
Gettin ecstatic an’ sorta dramatic an’
Doin the Vatican Rag!

LOVE Tom Lehrer!

[lapfog_1]

8. here... I grew up listening to this on the National Lampoon Radio Hour

[catrose]

24. Celebrate National Brotherhood Week...and be glad it doesn't last all year

[PJMcK]

2. The Vatican Rag

(Sung to a Ragtime feel)

First you get down on your knees.
Fiddle with your Rosaries.
Bow your head in great respect and
Genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!

[Grasswire2]

7. Genius. That's my favorite.

Pure genius.

I read recently that he was a fan of Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas. (Which also had some pretty snazzy lyrics)

[PJMcK]

9. There are terrific videos of Mr. Lehrer on YouTube

He was quite a cabaret act in his time.

Surprisingly, many of his songs are topical still. Sadly.

[Grasswire2]

11. I know.

I also have a CD.

I often hum "We Will All Go Together When We Go" these last few years.

[link:http://

|

[PJMcK]

12. I have a music book of his famous songs!

Over the years, I've often pulled it out and played some of the songs for my friends. Most of them had never heard of Mr. Lehrer so it was usually pretty successful.

[catrose]

28. I learned that while I was in Catholic high school. Made it hard not to laugh in Mass.

[LisaM]

4. New Math!

That's the one I remember.

[Paladin]

5. Tom Lehrer is a national treasure.

Very gracious of him to release his lyrics and music. So glad he's lived a good long life.

If you're not familiar with this man's work, these dismal times are a good opportunity for you to get acquainted with it.

[TheCowsCameHome]

6. He made learning the chemical elements a fun thing.

[Mister Ed]

20. 'Twas...elementary, really.

(Sung, I believe, to the tune of "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General", from Gilbert & Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance".)

[catrose]

27. Yep, the G&S modern major general

[Dirty Socialist]

10. Here's a Tom Lehrer song

I Wanna Go Back to Dixie:
https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=AwrJ6OKzh49fGiAAS2u3mWRH;_ylu=c2VjA3NyBHNsawN2aWQEdnRpZANCODY5MARncG9zAzE-?p=i+wanna+go+back+to+dixie&vid=21cd5a7020361938cab0430fc2027531&turl=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOVP.Q040NB3Y7gZhIihLDnaacAHgFo%26pid%3DApi%26h%3D150%26w%3D250%26c%3D7%26rs%3D1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DI7CJovhhVq8&tit=Tom+Lehrer+-+I+Wanna+Go+Back+To+Dixie+-+LIVE+FILM+from+Copenhagen+in+1967&c=0&h=150&w=250&l=128&sigr=FOTpodq9i0zp&sigt=OS9zxAO9l13D&sigi=10qgr9M2.InK&age=1333440000&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av&fr=yfp-hrmob&tt=b

[Maeve]

38. One of his most cutting!

Have a boxed set of his albums on CD

[Tom Kitten]

13. "Pollution"

"Pollution" was the one I remember plus seeing this cartoon on tv!

[cureautismnow]

14. So long, Mom. I'm off to drop the bomb.

So don't wait up for me.

[link:

|

[albacore]

41. When I taught history to seniors in high school...

... I featured Lehrer songs.
This one... of course...for the Cold War. And "We Will All Go Together", and "Werner von Braun". And "Who's Next".
"Send the Marines" for US Imperialism.
"National Brotherhood Week" for the civil rights era.

The kids rolled their eyes, but the sting in Lehrer's lyrics got them discussing the various topics.

[edbermac]

15. Saw a play in Boston years ago called Tomfoolery.

Set to the lyrics of his songs. Growing up a Catholic, the Vatican Rag just killed me.

[WVGal1963]

16. Childhood Flashback

Awwww......growing up in rural WV.....my Mom and Dad played TL LP’s all the time. I know all of his songs, and good on him for doing this.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

17. I wish he would come out of retirement and

write more songs.

[The Genealogist]

18. I wasn't aware he was still alive!

The song I most associate with him is "The Masochism Tango."

[sweetloukillbot]

19. He did some songs for Sesame Street or Electric Company

I remember one about adverbs "-LY"

[eShirl]

39. ah yes

[Hekate]

21. Extraordinary indeed!

[AllyCat]

22. I love Tom Lehrer!

Have a piano book of his music. It is almost the time of year for the Hunting Song!

[csziggy]

23. My husband's favorite is "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park"

Now this is a guy who grew up with parents who started the Audubon Society chapter in their town, and thought the Christmas Bird Count was a normal part of the holiday season. So his enjoyment of the song had nothing to do with a dislike of any avians.

But his Dad was an engineer with a serious security clearance and whose brother was also an engineer whose children's births were registered at a post office box in Albuquerque because Los Alamos did not officially exist when they were born. Both brothers were into jazz and knew Tom Lehrer (possibly personally) long before he became popular for his music.

[Paladin]

40. "And maybe we'll do in a SQUIRREL or two....."

Love it, love it, love it. After all these many years.

[csziggy]

42. My husband inherited his father's vinyl collection

I bet all the Tom Lehrer records are in there. He's the one who introduced Lehrer to me and I love it.

[BobTheSubgenius]

25. My personal favourites:

Once the Germans were warlike and mean

But that couldn't happen again

We taught them a lesson in 1918

And they've hardly bothered us since then.

A lyric that always cracked up my wonderful friend Marc (RIP)

The rocket goes up, who knows where it comes down

That's not my department, says Werner von Braun.

[roamer65]

34. MLF Lullaby...the first 4 lines of your post.

[Turbineguy]

26. Certainly one of the funniest people in the history of the universe.

[niyad]

29. Was it he who announced that he retired from political satire when Kissinger was awarded a

Nobel Peace Prize?

[Liberal In Texas]

30. Man, I loved his stuff back in my teens and into college.

His work was a real reflection of how we felt (at least everybody my age that I knew.) It was a turbulent time with social change erupting all over the place. And Lehrer was one of it's minstrels.

I'm glad he's giving his genius to the world and posterity.

[Paladin]

43. His albums were sold under-the-counter in Austin, back then.

J.R. Reed Music Co., Congress Avenue. There was the questionable taste aspect, of course. But looking back on it, I think it had more to do with Lehrer's open-and-obvious alignment with the civil rights movement in his songs. The Austin of the 50's and 60's wasn't particularly happy with such sentiments.

[catrose]

31. I'm spending Hanukkah in Santa Monica

[link:

|]

[burrowowl]

32. Good on him!

[Nitram]

33. Love his stuff.

[VA_Jill]

37. Wow!

I was introduced to his stuff at age 14 by a neighbor I babysat for. Later on in college I was a rock-solid devotee. I had friends who loved it and even parodied it, if you can imagine that. And still later, my kids sang along with things he wrote for The Electric Company without even knowing who he was.

Bravo, Tom Lehrer!

[struggle4progress]

44. The Irish Ballad