# What do you think the quintessential Tom Lehrer song is? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 14, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493 "2008-01-14T17:35:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493/21 "2008-01-14T20:34:06Z")
Too many good ones to possibly pick a favorite, but let me throw some props out for _When You’re Old and Grey_, with it’s amazing string of “-ility” rhymes. ---
**Author:** ![Olive\_The\_Other\_Reindeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Olive\_The\_Other\_Reindeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olive_The_Other_Reindeer)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493/22 "2008-01-14T22:29:00Z")
Might I add “Fight Fiercely Harvard”? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493/23 "2008-01-14T22:44:05Z")
As a member of the Audobon Society I adore “Poisoning the Pigeons in the Park”. I’d never _do_ it, see, but it lets you\* pretend\* to be a villain. But I can’t really rank one song above the other, I like them all for different reasons. National Brotherhood Week and Alma are right up there though. Alma Schindler really was a beautiful woman. [http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://members.aol.com/quentncree/lehrer/alma.jpg&imgrefurl=http://members.aol.com/quentncree/lehrer/alma.htm&h=500&w=319&sz=24&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=Pu\_UTlW17D9SKM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=83&prev=/images%3Fq%3DAlma%2BMahler%2BGropius%2BWerfel%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://members.aol.com/quentncree/lehrer/alma.jpg&imgrefurl=http://members.aol.com/quentncree/lehrer/alma.htm&h=500&w=319&sz=24&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=Pu_UTlW17D9SKM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=83&prev=/images%3Fq%3DAlma%2BMahler%2BGropius%2BWerfel%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493/24 "2008-01-14T23:08:03Z")
Gotta plug “Oedipus Rex,” for his comic patter about movie theme songs you can _hum_, and because this makes the second time today I get to reference Oedipus on The Dope. Seriously, though, for sheer black comedy, there’s no topping his making light of nuclear war in “We Will All Go Together When We Go”. _“Go directly, do not pass ‘GO,’ do not collect 200 dollars…”_ ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493/25 "2008-01-14T23:16:12Z")
[QUOTE=athelas] So Long Mom (I’m Off to Drop the Bomb) [/QUOTE] Another vote for this one, although I have obviously not heard enough of his songs for this to be a definitive choice. I’ll work on it. (Is he on itunes?) ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493/26 "2008-01-14T23:39:09Z")
If forced at gunpoint I’d pick “Vatican Rag” – I have to get up and dance around the room, cackling madly, whenever I play that – but there’s way too many great songs to name just one. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493/27 "2008-01-14T23:45:41Z")
Vatican Rag for its manic energy and pithy ripping of Catholicism, and We’ll All Go Together etc for its nihilistic joi de vivre. Hell, I like most of his stuff, and found myself singing The Old Dope Peddler the other while making cookies. It seemed right, somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493/28 "2008-01-15T00:41:17Z")
For me, it’s “Masochism Tango”, followed by “Vatican Rag” and “Lobachevsky”. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493/29 "2008-01-15T00:46:04Z")
[QUOTE=akira5822] My wife (then girlfriend) sang this song to each other in a resturant to get a reaction from others [/QUOTE] How many girls are in there? Sounds like fun! ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493/30 "2008-01-15T00:47:22Z")
Poisning Pigeons in the Park is still the one I think of first, even though I agree with those who think it’s not his best work. For me, it’s either Oedipus Rex or The Elements. PS… would Lehrer have been a great Doper, or what??? ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493/31 "2008-01-15T00:51:41Z")
Two of my favorites, not yet mentioned: _In Old Mexico_ for bullfight fans, and the sweet sentimental _I Hold Your Hand In Mine_. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493/32 "2008-01-15T01:32:06Z")
**Vatican Rag** for its timeless exposure of the essential silliness of religious ritual, and **Wernher von Braun** as the single most vicious, excoriating evisceration of anyone anywhere in any medium. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493/33 "2008-01-15T02:52:06Z")
I played my Tom Lehrer CD for my then 11-year-old son, forgetting about some of the choicer bits in the songs. My, what an experience that was! “Don’t solicit for your sister! That’s not nice.” Pause…“Mom, what does it mean to solicit?” “Now there’s a charge for what she used to give for free.” Pause…“Mom, what did she give for free?” A few nights later, he said, “Mom, I love you…but not the way Oedipus LO-O-O-O-VED his mother!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493/34 "2008-01-15T02:59:12Z")
I’d pick _National Brotherhood Week_, but I love them all. Lobachevsky, Elements, Alma–oh, _Smut_ isn’t a favorite because it gets stuck in my head for days and nothing is that funny. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493/35 "2008-01-15T04:45:47Z")
[QUOTE=NoCoolUserName] My favorite: “We’ll try to stay serene and calm When Alabama gets the bomb!” [/QUOTE] Or the way they changed it for Tomfoolery “When Jerry Falwell gets the bomb” But I think I prefer “Smut” “When correctly view anything is lewd I can tell you things about Peter Pan And the Wizard of Oz, There’s a dirty old man.” But it’s a real hard question to answer. ---
**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:** [January 15, 2008, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493/36 "2008-01-15T05:27:38Z")
“National Brotherhood Week”. But my favorite is “So Long Mom (I’m Off to Drop the Bomb)”. I’d love to see it performed (ideally by myself) as a vaudeville song. Absolutely straight, which is the way to maximize the satiric impact. I also like “Folk Song Army”: > [@](#): > > We are the folk song army, > And every one of us CARES, > We’re all against poverty, war and injustice, > Unlike the rest of you squares. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493/37 "2008-01-15T06:52:04Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] What, no mention of “Be Prepared”- _…If you’re looking for adventure of a new and different kind- and you come across a girlfriend who is similiarly inclined, don’t be nervous, don’t be flustered, don’t be scared- BE PREPARED!_ [/QUOTE] A pair of friends of mine did this song as a brother and sister act- he sang and she played the piano. In their old scout uniforms. After one particular line, she threw her glass of water all over him. _Don’t solicit for your sister, that’s not nice, Unless you get a good percentage of her price_ ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493/38 "2008-01-15T08:15:40Z")
I don’t know what song it is from but Rich Caparella, a local classical music DJ, quoted Lehrer’s Open up the spigot, Pour a glass and swig it And sing “Gaudiamus igit- ur”. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493/39 "2008-01-15T09:24:25Z")
[QUOTE=movingfinger] I don’t know what song it is from but Rich Caparella, a local classical music DJ, quoted Lehrer’s Open up the spigot, Pour a glass and swig it And sing “Gaudiamus igit- ur”. [/QUOTE] That would be [Bright College Days](http://www.iankitching.me.uk/humour/lehrer/an-evening.html#BrightCollege) I agree that it’s really hard to choose one song, since he had so many quality ones, and I wonder if the shortness of his career had something to do with that; he didn’t perform or compose long enough to get jaded and repetitive, and therefore almost everything he sang was genius. ---
**Author:** ![Surok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Surok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surok)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493/40 "2008-01-15T09:37:33Z")
The first Tom Lehrer song I encountered was the ‘Irish Ballad’, which my grandmother occasionally sang to me. I suspect my parents tried to discourage her from turning me on to Tom Lehrer in order to avoid awkward questions and comments like those that **freckafree** got from her son. Favourites when I grew up and actually understood the songs were ‘It Makes a Fellow Proud to be a Soldier’, ‘Be Prepared’ and ‘Lobachevsky’. And in slow moments at work I repeatedly return to this lovely [flash animation](http://www.privatehand.com/flash/elements.html) of ‘The Elements’. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-quintessential-tom-lehrer-song-is/433493.md?page=3)