Tom Lehrer, Musical Satirist With a Dark Streak, Dies at 97

New York times ^ | 27th July 2025 | Richard severe, Peter Keepnose

[Cronos]

fan favourites include The Masochism Tango, in which the singer extols his beloved's violent passions with the lyrics, "I ache for the touch of your lips, dear / But much more for the touch of your whips, dear..."

[InkStone]

All these accolades : NONE of this matters now !!

He’s made his decision, but

WHERE will YOU spend eternity?

[Nateman]

Duplicate post
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4331069/posts

[P.O.E.]

First Tom Lehrer song I ever heard was on the old "Bob and Ray" radio show.

Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky

Daniel Radcliffe ("Harry Potter") also does a version of "The Elements" song

[Celtic Conservative]

And just what the hell does that have to do with this post? Anyone?

CC

[jmacusa]

‘’... fracture my spine and swear that mine...’’ RIP Tom Leher.

[jmacusa]

‘’... fracture my spine and swear that your mine...’’ RIP Tom Leher.

typo.

[ifinnegan]

Super lefty academic.

I loved him when I was a kid into comedy records.

Ivy League liberal.

[nopardons]

BTTT

[faithhopecharity]

well, a bigt of a dark streak when commenting on modernity is not entirely lacking in relevancy

but at any event, yes... he could be very entertaining and we will surely miss him

[mairdie]

>>‘’... fracture my spine and swear that you're mine...’’ RIP Tom Lehrer.

typo.

Love, M

[mairdie]

Duplicate, agreed, but he was so wonderful I’d be happy to see this thread repeated for days.

His laughter made the world a better place. Thank goodness recordings let his memory never die.

So many great people left us before that invention. I wanted to actually HEAR Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Or SEE an original Shakespeare play. Or HEAR 5th great grandfather reciting a new poem to his family.

At least we still have Tom Lehrer lightening our world for all the time to come. I’m so grateful for that.

[HerrBlucher]

We are the folk song Army
every one of us cares
we all hate poverty War and Injustice
unlike the rest of you squares

RIP TOM!

[musicman]

“We’ll All Go Together When We Go” is another favorite!!!

[thegagline]

I played “That was the Year that Was” relentlessly. In third grade, my friend Larry and I would sing songs off the album to our teacher.

First we got the bomb and that was good,
'Cause we love peace and motherhood.
Then Russia got the bomb, but that's O.K.,
'Cause the balance of power's maintained that way!
Who's next?

[Ezekiel]

I don’t know what’s in the rest of the article — it’s blocked — but I do recall that several few years ago he put all of his work into the public domain.

Vatican Rag just might be a real cult classic “up there”.

Meanwhile, how about the best works of the religious merchants? Will they make it through the screening process?

How many “acts of God” weather catastrophes are due to all that toxic stuff (along with its peddlers) being heaved out by security at the gates of heaven, only for it to come raining back down on Earth. Not all of it burns up on reentry..

[Vaquero]

“Vut goes up….must also come down….where? Is not my problem” says Werner Von Braun

[P8riot]

We'll try to stay serene and calm,
When Alabama gets the bomb.

[trebb]

He had a TV show called, “That Was the Week That Was”
I watched it in 62-63 as a 10 - 11 year old and loved it.

He also put out an Album called “That Was the Year That Was” in 65 - I found it out on Newsgroups and downloaded it.

He was a prescient comic.....and maybe the Godfather of memes with his lyrics.

[pingman]

My fave!