# Tom Lehrer appreciation thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2007, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-appreciation-thread/398960 "2007-04-06T07:39:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-appreciation-thread/398960/81 "2009-05-07T17:01:40Z")
> [@Small\_Clanger](#): > > The Wiener Schnitzel Waltz > > Mit Schlag (?) > > MLF Lullaby > > Wiegenliedig (?) > > Smut > > So Long Mom > > A la Cohan (?) Wienerschnitzel Waltz_Mit Schlage_ translates as “with cream”, a common instruction when placing an order in a Viennese coffeehouse. MLF Lullaby_Wiegenliedig_ roughly means “as a lullaby” _weigen_ = “weigh” (or heavy, as in eyelids); _liedig_ = “song style” So Long MomIn the style of George M. Cohan, e.g. “Yankee Doodle Dandy” Sorry I couldn’t figure out “Send the Marines”, but it is played in a sort of triumphal / martial tempo. I just couldn’t get that from the Babelfish translator. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-appreciation-thread/398960/82 "2009-05-07T17:04:49Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > By the by, a quick Youtube search turns up lots of clips of Tom, older and sadder, sitting at a piano and doing some of his more obscure songs a capella. Very good stuff…TRM Wait, you mean he’s sitting at the piano, singing his songs, but he’s not playing the piano? Weird. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-appreciation-thread/398960/83 "2009-05-07T17:13:31Z")
I grew up with Tom Lehrer records in the house. Several years ago I found all three in a thrift store for a dollar each-in unsealed but perfect condition. I know a science teacher who plays “The Elements” in class when the subject is covered. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-appreciation-thread/398960/84 "2009-05-07T17:47:01Z")
I was taken to a live performance by Tom Lehrer in Australia by my parents when I was a teenager, back in the late 1950s, and have relished his oeuvre ever since. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-appreciation-thread/398960/85 "2009-05-07T17:52:51Z")
“. . . where he majored in animal husbandry, until they caught him at it one day . . .” “. . . which tells the story of a young necrophiliac who realized his boyhood dream by becoming coroner.” [moderate laughter] “The rest of you can look it up when you get home.” [uproarious laughter] “Life is like a sewer: What you get out of it depends on what you put into it.” ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-appreciation-thread/398960/86 "2009-05-07T18:04:34Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Wait, you mean he’s sitting at the piano, singing his songs, but he’s not playing the piano? > > Weird. Smartass 🙂 I meant \*just \*him and his piano. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-appreciation-thread/398960/87 "2009-05-07T18:56:49Z")
“It’s a sobering thought to realize that when Mozart was my age, he had been dead for two years.” ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-appreciation-thread/398960/88 "2009-05-07T19:18:39Z")
At the very least, Lehrer was the most talented creator of clever rhymes since W.S. Gilbert. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-appreciation-thread/398960/89 "2009-05-07T19:30:59Z")
Lehrer didn’t lose his wit over the years. In the late 90’s he took part in a revue celebrating the career of London producer Cameron Mackintosh. In his introductory remarks, he mentioned that Mackintosh produced the original run of _Tomfoolery_, followed that with _Cats_, and “on the combined profits of those two shows, became very wealthy, indeed.” ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-appreciation-thread/398960/90 "2009-05-07T19:55:19Z")
If Larry Niven is to be believed, Lehrer’s music will [outlive modern civilization](http://www.amazon.com/World-Out-Time-Larry-Niven/dp/0345336968/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241726029&sr=8-1#reader). (drat - link didn’t work to search results… but you can search for “poisoning”). ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-appreciation-thread/398960/91 "2009-05-07T19:56:26Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Personally, I have a particular love of Smut. > > Although The Elements is damn good, too, and Masochism Tango will never go astray. Interesting that you should connect those three. Not long ago, I played The Elements for two of my untra-fundie cousins who teach mathematics and science at the high school and college level. They had never heard of Tom Lehrer (?!) but thought The Elements was funny and wanted a copy of it to play for their classes. What wit! How droll! Next, I played Smut. Their mood changed drastically and they decided it would corrupt the kids to play anything written by that dirty old man, even a list of the elements. So now they hate Tom Lehrer. Maybe it would have been better if they had never heard of him. Why, oh why, do I even try? ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-appreciation-thread/398960/92 "2009-05-07T20:00:37Z")
Oh - and I remember VERY clearly when and where I first heard of Tom. It was a couple of weeks after college started, my freshman year. **Typo Knig** had dropped by my dorm room because my dorm had air-conditioning. Chatting, he decided to see if I’d heard of this performer named Tom Lehrer. “Lehrer? L- E-H-R-E-R?” said I, to make sure I’d heard him correctly. “Yeah!” (doubtless thinking he’d met a fellow afficionado). “Never heard of him!”. And I hadn’t, I really hadn’t - I was just good at figuring out spelling of names. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-appreciation-thread/398960/93 "2009-05-07T20:05:54Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Wienerschnitzel Waltz_Mit Schlage_ translates as “with cream”, a common instruction when placing an order in a Viennese coffeehouse. > > MLF Lullaby_Wiegenliedig_ roughly means “as a lullaby” _weigen_ = “weigh” (or heavy, as in eyelids); _liedig_ = “song style” Really close, but [quote=“kaylasdad99, post:81, topic:398960”] _Wienerschnitzel Waltz[spoiler]Mit Schlage translates as “with cream”, a common instruction when placing an order in a Viennese coffeehouse._ Schlag is whipped cream - schlagen is to strike, hit or whip[/spoiler] _Wiegenliedig roughly means “as a lullaby” weigen = “weigh” (or heavy, as in eyelids); liedig = “song style”_ Wiegen, not weigen. Wiegen is a cradle - the famous lullaby by Brahms is known as a Wiegenlied. ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-appreciation-thread/398960/94 "2009-05-07T20:08:23Z")
Great timing for a Zombie Thread! I’ve had the phrase “two game wardens, seven hunters, and a cow” going through my head for several days now. 😃 I’m heading up to see my mom in a couple of weeks, and she has something waiting for me to bring back home: my late father’s copy of The Remains of Tom Lehrer. Yay! ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-appreciation-thread/398960/95 "2009-05-07T20:41:19Z")
One of my faves. > [@](#): > > (intro) It takes a certain amount of courage to get up in a coffee-house or a college auditorium and come out in favor of the things that everybody else in the audience is against like peace and justice and brotherhood and so on. The nicest thing about a protest song is that it makes you feel so good… > > (song) We are the Folk Song Army. > Every one of us CARES! > We all hate poverty, war, and injustice, > Unlike the rest of you squares. > > There are innocuous folk songs. > Yeah, but we regard 'em with scorn. > The folks who sing 'em have no social conscience. > Why they don’t even care if Jimmy Crack Corn. ---
**Author:** ![JBENZver2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e36b37/32.png) [@JBENZver2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBENZver2)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-appreciation-thread/398960/96 "2009-05-07T22:44:12Z")
“The moment had come, I swallowed my gum, We knew there’d be blood on the sand pretty soon. The crowd held its breath, Hoping that death Would brighten an otherwise dull afternoon.” and the immortal: “Soon we’ll be out, Amidst the cold world’s strife. Soon we’ll be sliding doooowwn… The razor blade of life.” … Ready? ---
**Author:** ![sco3tt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@sco3tt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sco3tt)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-appreciation-thread/398960/97 "2009-05-08T00:31:14Z")
[QUOTE=Tom Lehrer] I am reminded at this point of a fellow I used to know whose name was Henry, only to give you an idea of what an individualist he was he spelled it “H-e-n-3-r-y”. The 3 was silent. [/QUOTE] This inspired my username. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-appreciation-thread/398960.md?page=4)