Tom Lehrer: Prophet? "National Brotherhood Week"

Album: "That Was The Year That Was" by Tom Lehrer ^ | 1965 | Tom Lehrer

[Reaganesque]

My favorite line: "I know there are people in the world that do not love their fellow human beings and I hate people like that." What was once a joke in 1965 is now reality for modern Liberals. Being intolerant of the intolerant is now considered a rational and reasoned position. The whole segment now serves as an indictment of modern liberalism. Its funny and sad at the same time.

[Reaganesque]

Click here for video of "National Brotherhood Week"

[Don Corleone]

"I wanna put my white sheet on again, and talk with southern gentlemen....I haven't seen a good lynchin' in years..."

Tom Leherer parody

[Reaganesque]

I’ve got most of his recordings.

[trad_anglican]

I can’t help but think that Tom would be having lots of fun at the expense of the global warming/climate change crowd if he were still around.

[wouldilie]

I still enjoy poisoning pigeons in the park.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

Ummm, he *is* still around (he doesn’t seem to age) and has a severe case of BDS to boot.

[ssaftler]

I can’t help but think that Tom would be having lots of fun at the expense of the global warming/climate change crowd if he were still around.

Last I knew he was still alive and kicking in Cambridge and Santa Cruz. I think he's retired now. And, for a committed leftist, he is/was pretty funny.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

OK who can remember (without googling) who Frank Fontaine was?

[ArrogantBustard]

I’m not at all surprised by the BDS ... even in his heyday, he leaned “left”.

[CarolTX]

A great classic of satire. Thanks for the post.

[antiRepublicrat]

He’s still around, just not doing the music anymore.

I grew up listening to Tom, and I’ve never heard better intelligent satire. He’s a lib, but you can’t deny the quality of the songs. It probably helps that I don’t have any sacred cows and can laugh to good jokes even when they’re making fun of my side.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

Dittos - me two. Vunz ze rockets go up who cares vhere zey komm down? Zat’s not my department, says Werner Von Braun.

[Maceman]

Among other things, he played the drunk (forget his name) on the Joe the Bartender scenes on the Jackie Gleason show.

[Charles Henrickson]

OK who can remember (without googling) who Frank Fontaine was?

Crazy Guggenheim (Mentally Challenged Guggenheim?) on the Jackie Gleason Show.

[NTHockey]

Another good one is:”It is a sobering thought to think that, when Mozart was my age, he had been dead two years”.

[SE Mom]

Whoa...bring me back to my mis-spent youth! Now I’ll have the tune running through my head all day..

Laughter cures:)

[Charles Henrickson]

I grew up listening to Tom, and I’ve never heard better intelligent satire.

Tom Lehrer (along with Allan Sherman and Stan Freberg) was one of my main early influences as a parodist. He's great.

[ctdonath2]

Can’t post that without this:

“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.”
- Folk Song Army, Tom Lehrer

[Moiraine]

One of my all-time favorites!