Tom Lehrer passed away on Saturday July 26 at the age of 97.
He worked in both of my fields of interest: Parody Songs and Mathematics.
1) He got a BA in Mathematics from Harvard, Magna Cum Laude, in 1946.
2) While he was an undergraduate he wrote an performed the song Fight Fiercely Harvard which was a gentle football fight song. IDEA: Use the melody to write a song about Harvard's current fight with the Trump Administration.
3) He wrote some political songs. Some were performed by Nancy Ames on the British Satirical Show That was the week That Was. Tom L didn't like that probably because they cut some of the more controversial lyrics. He later wrote and performed songs for another political satire show, The Frost Report Here are some of his political songs and comments on them:
Who's Next - about which countries have or will have nuclear weapons. IDEA: Update it.
The Vatican Rag- about the Catholic Church- controversial now, rather tame now. If you heard it now you won't understand why it was ever controversial. Such is the nature of biting satire. I noticed this in an earlier post, see here. As such, I view old political novelty songs as entertaining history.
4) He went to graduate school for Math at Harvard. He worked on it on-and-off and had other jobs but left Harvard in 1965 (see his Wikipedia entry here for the full story).
5) One of the things he was doing while he was at Harvard was compose, sing, and record songs. Here are the some of particular interest to my readers:
New Math - I was actually a victim or beneficiary of the new math.
Lobachevsky- Historically inaccurate but funny.
The Elements- This might be Tom L's best known song. Its to the tune of I am the very model of a Modern Major General; however, some of the songs that use that Tune seem to be parodies of The Elements.I have a website of parodies of Modern Major General here. Unfortunately the song that is most clearly a parody of The Elements, Dr Jane's The Muscles of the Kitty Cat, seems to have disappeared from You Tube. It is not on Spotify. (Spellcheck thinks that Spotify is not a word.) I can't find it anywhere on the web. I DO have it on CD.
The Decimal Song- About using base 10. This was on The Frost Report. Not on any album so you might not know this one, though it is on you tube.
That's Mathematics- Originally written to be the theme song for a PBS math show now titled Square One Television. They did not use it. He later added a lyric about Andrew Wiles. Square One Television often features math songs. Here are my favorites: The Mathematics of Love, 8% of my love,That's Combinatorics, Polka Patterns (by Weird Al).
That's Mathematics sung by Mathematicians A nice tribute to him. It was done a few years ago. Tom L knew about it and was delighted.
The Derivative song I could not find on line. It is not on any album. Oh well.
6) A few years ago Tom L put his songs in the public domain, see here. That website also includes lyrics for songs that were never recorded. IDEA: Record them!
7) Tom L claims to have invented Jello Shots as a way to get around alcohol-free requirements. The Great Luke Ski wrote a song about Tom L in the style of Tom L. Its not on You Tube but it is at FUMP (FUnny Music project) here (click on play on second song)
8) His singing career was fairly short. Three albums, a few tours, a few other songs. Weird Al has 14 albums, Alan Sherman has 10 albums (Alan Sherman was born four years earlier than Tom L but died in 1973). However, the percent of great song on Tom L's albums is around 90%, whereas for Weird Al and Alan Sherman its around 60% (this is just my opinion). Also, Tom L had a day job. He has said he never really retired from singing, he wrote when he felt like it, and over time didn't feel like it. For what he said about retiring from singing, see his Wikipedia page here.
9) There are two stories about Tom L I bring up - one seems to be TRUE though I thought it was FALSE, and the other IS FALSE.
a) He stopped political satire because:
Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize.
I have the following (possibly false) memory:
Tom L has denied this and points out that he had pretty much stopped many years earlier. And I'll point out that he wrote non-political novelty songs as well (that is Tom L did, not Henry K).
BUT- Wikipedia and other sources say that its true. Who am I do disagree with the Google Gods?
b) He was sued by Wernher Von Braun's family for his song about Wernher. This is false and the web says that it is false. Tom L denied it in a 2003 interview. I have a (possibly false) memory of reading that he wished it was true because it would mean people are still listening to his music.
9) On Jan 1, 2025 he became one of the rare people who:
-- Lived during two square years (1936 and 2025).
-- Was of age and mental ability to appreciate that they had done this
I had a blog on people who lived through 2 square years here.
10) I end with what might have been his last song
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