Review of "Tom Lehrer"

Tom Lehrer

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THE original satarist

THE original satarist

You could probably blame him indirectly for the existance of any bit of satire Fruvous ever did. For a mathematician, he had amazing command of the english language. Very funny (in a twisted sort of way), with brilliant wordplay. He wrote "topical" songs 50+ years ago that are still hysterical today.

Comical & before his time

Many people may not recognize some of the titles of his songs right away, but if you were a child in the 70s and watched "The Electric Company" you may have heard him sing "Silent E" and "L-Y."

base 8 is just like base 10, really..... if you're missing two fingers

while a lot of his material deals with the issues of the day (which was 1965 or so when a lot of it was written) some of his songs are just fun and silly. He is a master of the english language, even though his true area of expertise was math. His lyrics are extremely clever and very amusing.

"I have a friend in Minsk..."

I don't really, but I do have 2 Tom Lehrer CDs and they are about as satiricle and as funny as you can get. At least from a Math teacher. This man seriously has something to say and will let nothing, not even good taste, get in his way of saying it.

It constantly amazes me...

...that people know who this guy is. I thought that "poisoning pigeons in the park" was a unique moment of my childhood, that no one could understand or share with me. But it seems there are those who can sing along when I say, "I hold your hand in mine, dear; I press it to my lips. I take a healthy bite from your dainty fingertips. My joy would be complete, dear, if you were only here, but still I keep your hand as a precious souvenir."

Bitingly satirical

Bitingly satirical, political, and sometimes just plain silly songs, with incredible wordplay. Some of the directly topical (political, mostly) stuff is a little dated, but the general messages are still effective. Songs like "The Vatican Rag" and "So Long Mom" still have the power to offend, provoke, and make people laugh (and then, hopefully, think). And "The Folk Song Army" is hilarious.

The Apex and Epitome of musical satire

A formative influence: I used to listen to my mom's old vinyl copy of "That Was The Year That Was" before I got more than a third of the jokes. Remember: "Itdon'tmatterifyouputacoupleofextrasyl lablesintoaline" The man was a genius. And he wrote "Silent E" and "L-Y" for the Electric Company!

Sado-masachisic fun for the whole family!

Tom Lehrer has inspired a whole generation with his classic tunes like "Poisoning Piggeons in the park" and "Massochism Tango" His blend of Satire and Crooning will always put him up there with Weird Al and Spike Jones as a Dr. Demento alumni!

As Funny as they get.

Tom Lehrer is a math professor not something you usually associate with humor (unless you know me of course.) His humor is satire either of popular song styles or political. He stopped writing when Henry Kissenger won the Nobel Peace Prize. He said How canyou top that for satire?

One of my life goals is to memorize every Tom Lehrer song, thereby impressing... someone.

"Mr. Lehrer's muse is not inhibited by such factors as taste." Those, or words to that effect, were seen on one of his album covers as an, um, sales pitch. Tom Lehrer was ahead of his time, astute, thoughtful, thought-provoking, insightful, downright hilarious, and most of all, literate. MF's "Greatest Man in America" is a song that reminds me a lot of Lehrer's style. Buy the boxed set The Remains of Tom Lehrer and you'll pretty much have the complete recordings. Only the intellectually vapid and the very young are unlikely to dig his humor. If you've read and understood my review, you can probably handle it. :)

Go out and listen to "Poisoning Pidgeons in the Park," laugh a whole lot, and then listen to "Vatican Rag" and "National Brotherhood Week." If you're still laughing, then you've got the right idea. If you're considering calling him to tell him off, you need to broaden your lyrical horizons.

Genuis, genuis, genuis. Table of elements? Yeah, done that. He's got brainpower most people can't even comprehend and his songs are funny through decades. Anyone familiar with his show, "Tom Foolery?"