Today I am sad. I learned that Tom Lehrer passed away recently. I have loved his songs for decades. He passed away a few days ago at the age of 97 on 26th July in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Here’s a brief introduction (edited from an AI answer.)
Tom Lehrer was an American musician, singer-songwriter, satirist, and mathematician. Born in New York City to a secular Jewish family in April 1928, he was considered a child prodigy and entered Harvard College at the age of 15. As a mathematics undergraduate student at Harvard College, he began to write comic songs to entertain his friends.
He recorded pithy and humorous songs that often parodied popular musical forms, though they usually had original melodies. Lehrer’s early performances dealt with non-topical subjects and black humor in songs such as “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park”. In the 1960s, he produced songs about timely social and political issues.
The popularity of these songs has far outlasted their topical subjects and references. Lehrer quoted a friend’s explanation: “Always predict the worst and you’ll be hailed as a prophet.”
In the early 1970s, Lehrer largely retired from public performance to devote his time to teaching mathematics and musical theater history at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Lehrer got his BA in mathematics from Harvard University, magna cum laude, in 1946. He taught mathematics and other classes at MIT, Harvard, Wellesley, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. Lehrer was drafted into the U.S. Army from 1955 to 1957, working at the National Security Agency (NSA). Lehrer has stated that he invented the Jello shot during this time, as a means of circumventing a naval base’s ban on alcoholic beverages.
In 1972, Lehrer joined the faculty of the University of California, Santa Cruz, teaching an introductory course entitled The Nature of Mathematics to liberal arts majors—”math for tenors”, according to Lehrer. He occasionally performed songs in his lectures.
In the second volume of his autobiography Isaac Asimov recounted seeing Lehrer perform in a Boston nightclub on October 9, 1954. “I haven’t gone to nightclubs often,” said Asimov, “but of all the times I have gone, it was on this occasion that I had by far the best time.”
Alright, time to listen to a few of my favorite Tom Lehrer songs. Let’s begin with “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park.”
Next up: The Elements. Fun fact: Daniel Radcliffe (of Harry Potter fame) sang “The Elements” on The Graham Norton Show in 2010
Another favorite. It’s about the former-Nazi rocket scientist Wernher von Braun who built the V-2 rockets for Hitler and then designed the Saturn V that powered the Apollo space program.
Goodbye dear Tom Lehrer. You have delighted millions with your wit and your songs. I will raise a glass to your memory. RIP.
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Today I am sad. I learned that Tom Lehrer passed away recently. I have loved his songs for decades. He passed away a few days ago at the age of 97 on 26th July in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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