"Political Satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize" - Tom Lehrer. I can't imagine how frustrating it was to see where the world was going in 1965, then spend the next 6 decades watching yourself proved correct over and over again.
"I BRING YOU PEACE. IT MAY BE THE PEACE OF PLENTY AND CONTENT OR THE PEACE OF UNBURIED DEATH. THE CHOICE IS YOURS." - COLOSSUS, _COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT (1970)_
@@GrassyVR Google will give you a fuller answer, but in essence he was a major driver of American Foreign policy in the mid 20th century that helped carry out just so many fucking war crimes. Just so so many war crimes. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating American withdrawal from Vietnam, but he had secretly helped prolong the Vietnam war to help Nixon win an election, leading to the deaths of millions. I also highly recommend the Behind the Bastards podcast episodes about him. He was just the most psychopathic monster.
Tom Lehrer is still alive! He turned 96 yesterday (April 9th). The man was brilliant. He had advanced degrees in mathematics, served as enlisted soldier in the army (with his master’s degree from Harvard), and taught at MIT, Harvard, Wellesley and UC Santa Cruz. He even worked for the NSA. All of it became fodder for his satirical songs. I even used his song “New Math” to teach my 3rd graders subtraction with borrowing. They loved it! They kept asking to do the “subtraction song”. Yes, they knew all the words and subtracted along to the song. It absolutely floored my principal. Her exact words were, “Only you would use Tom Lehrer to teach math to kids.” (Yes, she knew exactly who Tom Lehrer was. No, I never played his other songs for them.). I ran into one of them at Target about 14 years after she’d been in my class. She had her own kids with her. When she introduced me to them, she told them “This is the lady who taught Mommy the math song. That’s how Mommy learned to subtract.”
"For every great war, we have our great war songs. To commemorate the war, you understand. But, it occurred to me... if we are going to have any great songs for World War III, we had better start writing them *now..."*
@@shakilahmad8246 a hard sausage, a food that rhymes with "mommy" and "commie" and could reasonably go in a care package. Sometimes "salami" is used as a metaphor, but in this case I think it's just food.
@michaelmicek in WW2 Katz's Delicatessen in NYC encouraged people to send food to their children in the armed services with the slogan "send a salami to your boy in the Army". I'd assume that Mr. Lehrer was aware of this and set up the rhyme to specifically reference that, rather than just picking salami because it rhymed.
I appreciate his level of dedication to the pitch, "This is such a horrible idea and you're not listening, so how about A SONG to make this point sink in?"
This comment remains only for historical archive purposes. @@TheAdmiralMoses it would only be public domain if the author specifically gave away his rights; since it references the atomic bomb he had to be made after 1945. Public domain is only automatic for works that were published before 1926 or had some very specific circumstances.
The very first time my Spotify graced me with shuffling masochism tango in my playlist, I learned the words immediately. Idk WHAT this style is called (dark cabaret, domestic horror, satirical apocalyptic musical?) but I live for it 😂 makes me feel like I'm watching a good ol live pantomime
One of his records is a collection of songs from different genres. And he does oh my darling clementine as if it was written by several classical composers. So I guess you could call his style idiosyncratic.
@curtismartin2866 "I always like to make explicit the fact that before I went off not too long ago to fight in the trenches, I was a mathematician by profession. I don't like people to get the idea that I have to do this for a living. I mean, it isn't as though I had to do this, you know, I could be making, oh, 3000 dollars a year just teaching" Guess who
We still have that. Sounds really upbeat until you listen to the lyrics is my favorite genre, and there's plenty of it that's more modern. Jonathan Coulton's really good at this. He's got The Future Soon, Skullcrusher Mountain, Shopvac, RE: Your Brains, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some. He's also got some of the prettiest love songs.
Yeah with this song it's upbeat with horrifying lyrics because it's meant to be a satire pointing out how ridiculous warfare really is. That dichotomy in a song is not uncommon tho a lot of new songs have it as well but "new" and "old" are very vague definitions to begin with with "old" encompassing a lot more than what would be considered new so I don't fault you for thinking it's an old song thing.
In the introduction to this song on the That Was The Year That Was album, he talks about WWI and WWII songs, then says, "I figure if any songs are going to come out of World War 3, we better start writing them now."
“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” - Albert Einstein That’s a fun song
ww3 was fought with 50 years of spending trillions on nasty glares and stealing each other's secrets; ww4 will be fought with young edgelords getting paid salary + benefits to cyberhack, shitpost, and gameplay real drone warfare against billions of civvies 8,000 miles away who are just trying to escape the middle of the globe being on fire most of the year
@@purp4168The longest anyone has survived ina (mostly) closed environment is under 2 years. The "nuclear winter" that would follow a small conflict resulting in the detonation of some 100 medium sized nuclear devices over cities would last 10 years or more. This would prevent photosynthesis, resulting in the collapse of food supplies, oxygen levels and the inevitable extinction of most extant plant and animal species. Hoping that this will not occur in a World War on a planet with over 15,000 known nuclear devices and components available to rapidly produce In excess of some 50,000 more seems more than a trifle optimistic
@@mainstreetsaint36 I believe him that he came up with it on his own, but I also would believe it was invented by several people around the same time. You're telling me no one from 1897 to 1955 thought to combined jello powder with a liquid other than water, especially to get fucked up?
What I'm told is it was to prevent falling debris from the shockwave. If you were close enough to the bomb to worry about stopping the explosion directly, you were just dead.
@@MunchKINGWhatever the reason, when we practiced it in first grade, I didn’t feel liked I was increasing my safety. Either they explained too much or too little…
A couple of things apply here - Duck and cover was imagined when we still had atomic bombs and not the h-bomb. Unfortunately, the H-bomb can be tens to thousands of times more powerful. If the 20 kiloton a-bombs they dropped on Japan fell half a mile from you, but you ducked and covered, you might survive. If the eight hundred kiloton standard W59 Minuteman warhead fell half a mile from you, that's forty times more powerful, and you are probably dead. Now the standard Soviet R-36 warhead had eight thousand to twenty thousand kilotons of warhead. You can maybe duck and cover if the bomb falls more than four miles away, but if you're any closer, you are just dead. Numbers taken from NUKEMAP.
@@nimue325 it actually does make you safer in the event of an explosion or earthquake. The Shockwave from a nuke can blast out windows and you really don't want the glass, ceiling tiles, or lights hitting you. It also makes kids get out of the way of the light, which can help prevent sunburn and blindness.
@@thedudeamongmengs2051 I hear you. Except that those tiny desks on spindly legs don’t feel like much protection from any of those things except a broken lightbulb or ceiling tile coming directly down from above. Shockwaves, window glass, light from the windows, all felt like they were coming our way after seeing a couple movies ….
The soundtrack of my 70s & 80s childhood - my dad had all Tom Lehrer's stuff, much of it on 78s. It was only as I became a teenager that I really appreciated his biting wit.
@@Webmetz_Watches well if country roads that was in fallout 76 came out in 1971 and the nuclear war was a very known thing in the universe that was going to happen I don't see why not it wouldn't fit in.
Ma'am I just wanna say, your hair, your lovely face, your whole vintage look, just makes me smile thinking of my Mom! I do hope this is your everyday style cause if so you must a bright light in your world!
Lehrer was very influential and very ahead of his time. So he both sounded way out there in the 60's, plus 60 years of musicians have been taking little piece of inspiration here and there from Lehrer's work.
I have been listening to Tom Lehrer since i was 13, and I am now 76. Poisoning Pigeons in the Park is my favorite. Amazed to learn he is still with us at 96!
I didn't grow up with Tom Lehrer, but one of my English teachers bought his record into school for us to listen to , "That Was The Year That Was". I became a fan then and there, and I still am. A unique performer and a very funny comedian.
"Political Satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize" - Tom Lehrer. I can't imagine how frustrating it was to see where the world was going in 1965, then spend the next 6 decades watching yourself proved correct over and over again.
"I BRING YOU PEACE.
IT MAY BE THE PEACE OF PLENTY AND CONTENT OR THE PEACE OF UNBURIED DEATH.
THE CHOICE IS YOURS."
- COLOSSUS, _COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT (1970)_
he's still alive to witness it happening, but at least kissinger isn't.
Tom Lehrer outliving Kissinger gives me at least some hope in this version of the multiverse
im sorry, but whos henry kissinger and what did he do.
@@GrassyVR Google will give you a fuller answer, but in essence he was a major driver of American Foreign policy in the mid 20th century that helped carry out just so many fucking war crimes. Just so so many war crimes. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating American withdrawal from Vietnam, but he had secretly helped prolong the Vietnam war to help Nixon win an election, leading to the deaths of millions.
I also highly recommend the Behind the Bastards podcast episodes about him. He was just the most psychopathic monster.
Tom Lehrer is still alive! He turned 96 yesterday (April 9th). The man was brilliant. He had advanced degrees in mathematics, served as enlisted soldier in the army (with his master’s degree from Harvard), and taught at MIT, Harvard, Wellesley and UC Santa Cruz. He even worked for the NSA. All of it became fodder for his satirical songs.
I even used his song “New Math” to teach my 3rd graders subtraction with borrowing. They loved it! They kept asking to do the “subtraction song”. Yes, they knew all the words and subtracted along to the song. It absolutely floored my principal. Her exact words were, “Only you would use Tom Lehrer to teach math to kids.” (Yes, she knew exactly who Tom Lehrer was. No, I never played his other songs for them.).
I ran into one of them at Target about 14 years after she’d been in my class. She had her own kids with her. When she introduced me to them, she told them “This is the lady who taught Mommy the math song. That’s how Mommy learned to subtract.”
Gosh that's great to know! I love his work! My father would play the recordings from time to time.
Wow cool story!
I wonder what Dr Tom would say if he saw the actual "new math" as taught in public schools today.
Excellent.
k i'm crying but thank you
I still love the "hour and a half from now"
The delivery was perfect lol
Considering how many nukes both sides of the Cold War had, it would have been close to that.
As I recall... an hour and a half from now referred to the length of the news shows on TV. Makes you think
@@marybethsanford3541 they weren't an hour?
It's a great payoff line. 🤣
In the spoken introduction he says such a song had to be written then because when the war started it would be too late.
"For every great war, we have our great war songs. To commemorate the war, you understand. But, it occurred to me... if we are going to have any great songs for World War III, we had better start writing them *now..."*
This song really loses something without the introduction.
what is "Salami"
@@shakilahmad8246 a hard sausage, a food that rhymes with "mommy" and "commie" and could reasonably go in a care package.
Sometimes "salami" is used as a metaphor, but in this case I think it's just food.
@michaelmicek in WW2 Katz's Delicatessen in NYC encouraged people to send food to their children in the armed services with the slogan "send a salami to your boy in the Army". I'd assume that Mr. Lehrer was aware of this and set up the rhyme to specifically reference that, rather than just picking salami because it rhymed.
I appreciate his level of dedication to the pitch, "This is such a horrible idea and you're not listening, so how about A SONG to make this point sink in?"
That’s half of Tom’s shtick.
I must point out outkast Mrs. Jackson was such a bop, so when people said they loved it, outkast made hey ya.
“I’m off to get a Commie” (communist) remember it was mid the Cold War. I’m still looking to see if you have done who’s next by Leher.
I think it might have been censorship for youtube
It was posted yesterday (04/02), try looking for it
Is he wrong though?
I thought it meant Kami as in the firsr part of Kamikaze
"Who's Next" is a wonderful song
I'm waiting for this song to show up in a Fallout game.
Yea it would fit right in
They referenced his work in fallout NV with the quest "we will all go together."
That sounds like it would be perfect!
@@ShakirahIbaad it's public domain now so they could totally do it
This comment remains only for historical archive purposes.
@@TheAdmiralMoses it would only be public domain if the author specifically gave away his rights; since it references the atomic bomb he had to be made after 1945. Public domain is only automatic for works that were published before 1926 or had some very specific circumstances.
I love Tom Lerher. Masochism tango, poisoning pigeons in the park, and the elements song.
The very first time my Spotify graced me with shuffling masochism tango in my playlist, I learned the words immediately. Idk WHAT this style is called (dark cabaret, domestic horror, satirical apocalyptic musical?) but I live for it 😂 makes me feel like I'm watching a good ol live pantomime
The man was an Ivy League professor
One of his records is a collection of songs from different genres. And he does oh my darling clementine as if it was written by several classical composers. So I guess you could call his style idiosyncratic.
@curtismartin2866 "I always like to make explicit the fact that before I went off not too long ago to fight in the trenches, I was a mathematician by profession. I don't like people to get the idea that I have to do this for a living. I mean, it isn't as though I had to do this, you know, I could be making, oh, 3000 dollars a year just teaching"
Guess who
@@curtismartin2866 Mathematician...also taught at UC Santa Cruz (I think).
A lot of older songs have dark lyrics but just in an upbeat tune. It's giving dystopian/domestic horror vibes.
We still have that. Sounds really upbeat until you listen to the lyrics is my favorite genre, and there's plenty of it that's more modern. Jonathan Coulton's really good at this. He's got The Future Soon, Skullcrusher Mountain, Shopvac, RE: Your Brains, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some. He's also got some of the prettiest love songs.
They Might be Giants has some good ones.
Yeah with this song it's upbeat with horrifying lyrics because it's meant to be a satire pointing out how ridiculous warfare really is. That dichotomy in a song is not uncommon tho a lot of new songs have it as well but "new" and "old" are very vague definitions to begin with with "old" encompassing a lot more than what would be considered new so I don't fault you for thinking it's an old song thing.
@@hollycat6654Lehrer is like the OG Burnam
He’s a satirist
In the introduction to this song on the That Was The Year That Was album, he talks about WWI and WWII songs, then says, "I figure if any songs are going to come out of World War 3, we better start writing them now."
“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” - Albert Einstein
That’s a fun song
ww3 was fought with 50 years of spending trillions on nasty glares and stealing each other's secrets; ww4 will be fought with young edgelords getting paid salary + benefits to cyberhack, shitpost, and gameplay real drone warfare against billions of civvies 8,000 miles away who are just trying to escape the middle of the globe being on fire most of the year
"If we want any great songs to come out of WW3, we'd better start writing them now." -- Tom Lehrer (opening dialog for this song)
And it'll likely be between a couple of rich people in the only bunker left, over who gets to eat the other
Unlikely that there will be any survivors of WW IIi to fight anyone.
@@purp4168The longest anyone has survived ina (mostly) closed environment is under 2 years. The "nuclear winter" that would follow a small conflict resulting in the detonation of some 100 medium sized nuclear devices over cities would last 10 years or more. This would prevent photosynthesis, resulting in the collapse of food supplies, oxygen levels and the inevitable extinction of most extant plant and animal species. Hoping that this will not occur in a World War on a planet with over 15,000 known nuclear devices and components available to rapidly produce In excess of some 50,000 more seems more than a trifle optimistic
My favorite fun fact is that Tom Lehrer is believed to have invented the Jell-O shot. At the very least a contender
he did WHAT now?
@@justanotherhumanperson9424 according to sources, it was so he could past the alcohol ban on the base he was stationed at.
@@mainstreetsaint36 I believe him that he came up with it on his own, but I also would believe it was invented by several people around the same time. You're telling me no one from 1897 to 1955 thought to combined jello powder with a liquid other than water, especially to get fucked up?
@@warweasel2832 It's highly probable, but Tom seems to be the only one to get the credit.
They should have put this song in a fallout game! 😂
Now that it's in the public domain, they can in future installments!
I've never heard this on any Fallout game but it's so perfect. Like.. that entire franchise is based on this game.
*based on this song
(Do you mean? )
Tom lehrer is shuch a good songwriter fr, the very first time I ever heard him I was so surprised to find out how old the song was
Ahhh yes, the old duck and cover, because that school desk would definitely save you from a bomb!
What I'm told is it was to prevent falling debris from the shockwave. If you were close enough to the bomb to worry about stopping the explosion directly, you were just dead.
@@MunchKINGWhatever the reason, when we practiced it in first grade, I didn’t feel liked I was increasing my safety. Either they explained too much or too little…
A couple of things apply here -
Duck and cover was imagined when we still had atomic bombs and not the h-bomb. Unfortunately, the H-bomb can be tens to thousands of times more powerful.
If the 20 kiloton a-bombs they dropped on Japan fell half a mile from you, but you ducked and covered, you might survive. If the eight hundred kiloton standard W59 Minuteman warhead fell half a mile from you, that's forty times more powerful, and you are probably dead.
Now the standard Soviet R-36 warhead had eight thousand to twenty thousand kilotons of warhead. You can maybe duck and cover if the bomb falls more than four miles away, but if you're any closer, you are just dead.
Numbers taken from NUKEMAP.
@@nimue325 it actually does make you safer in the event of an explosion or earthquake. The Shockwave from a nuke can blast out windows and you really don't want the glass, ceiling tiles, or lights hitting you. It also makes kids get out of the way of the light, which can help prevent sunburn and blindness.
@@thedudeamongmengs2051 I hear you. Except that those tiny desks on spindly legs don’t feel like much protection from any of those things except a broken lightbulb or ceiling tile coming directly down from above. Shockwaves, window glass, light from the windows, all felt like they were coming our way after seeing a couple movies ….
My dad and I would listen to Tim Lehrer together. We loved his songs!
The Vatican Rag!
I love this actress...
A real song.....made by a still living but long since retired political satirist.
He's still alive. He also wrote "Silent E" for the PBS show, "Electric Company."
He's still alive!?
Edit: 96 and still going! Amazing!
@@karkigann Really?? Oh my god, I grew up with that
@@Secretgeek2012 And a few years ago he put all his music in the public domain.
In his math class, the unspoken rule was to NEVER mention his songs
I feel like we need clean recordings of Tom Lehrer for the next Fallout game's radio.
I agree. It would be perfect.
The soundtrack of my 70s & 80s childhood - my dad had all Tom Lehrer's stuff, much of it on 78s. It was only as I became a teenager that I really appreciated his biting wit.
Could you please do Poisoning Pigeons in the Park? It's a family favorite. Thank you!😂
I think she already did
She already did yes
You mean your family like poisoning pigeons, or is it just the song they like?
Love her your reaction and expression makes it all.
this song NEEDS to be in fallout!!
Unfortunately it doesn't fit the timeline of the games
@@Webmetz_Watches well if country roads that was in fallout 76 came out in 1971 and the nuclear war was a very known thing in the universe that was going to happen I don't see why not it wouldn't fit in.
The song is funny and all, but HER FACE EXPRESSIONS are the reason I really love this videos. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂.
Fallout 4 vibes
Oh man, I grew up listening to Tom Lehrer. My mom taught me The Irish Ballad as a children's song!
The era of "Duck and cover!" sure has aged well
I'm old enough to remember when Tom Leher would play on PBS in the 90s. I was a little kid.
Usually, your transcribing is excellent, but I think you got a line wrong "I'm off to get a Commie".
One of my favourite lines in the song!
Regardless of the verse this woman is lovely🌹💕
Tom lehrer is turning 96 this year!
Nice "duck and cover" at the end there.
My dad used to tell me about those.
tom lehrer my beloved 😭😭
I love Tom 😂 your facial expressions are so good. I play his stuff at work and enjoy the reactions from coworkers
That's dark.
She’s so good at going from looking super happy to totally horrified. 😂
I think he said commie, not call me
I think it’s A.I interpreting subtitles, not her :)
@@mariscardiganactually I think it might be for censoring that she put 'call me'. yk how RUclips gets
@@x_ddityy true, that as well
Yes, he did.
@@x_ddityy Why would the word "commie" need to be censored? Is commie a swear word now?
Sincerely, tho.. your smile is so stunning
Of course it's Tom Lehrer. Love this dude.
Her facial expression is marvelous.
I can't believe we haven't gotten this one on Fallout
I used to have this song on an old Dr. Demento cassette when I as a kid. Haven't heard it in at least 20 years and still remember it..
"A hour and a half from now"
💀💀💀
These songs are crazy for it's time lol
TOM LEHRER IS THE BEST
"We go together when tou go" is another blast!
Wow, that's a bit much. Accurate but a bit much
Her smiling happy face rapidly deteriorates
Sounds like it could have been a Country Joe and the Fish tune.
Ma'am I just wanna say, your hair, your lovely face, your whole vintage look, just makes me smile thinking of my Mom! I do hope this is your everyday style cause if so you must a bright light in your world!
Fallout series be like:
LOVE LOVE LOVE Betsy, her facial expressions are fire!!! Brava!!
Why does this have fallout 3 -4 vibes?
Because this is from the nuclear era...
I appreciate Johnny's confidence.
Pretty accurate 😂
Another excellent performance Ms. Betsy. And the duck & Cover was a great finish.
"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” - Albert Einstein
The way my mouth fell at "I'm off to drop the bomb." Did not really expect that 😭😭😭
Tom Lehrer!!
And while you swelter down there in your shelter...you can see me...on your TV. Love me some Tom Lehrer.
This feels almost modern to me?
That's what we, dear sir, call 🎶timeless
Lehrer was very influential and very ahead of his time. So he both sounded way out there in the 60's, plus 60 years of musicians have been taking little piece of inspiration here and there from Lehrer's work.
Listen to the spoken intro to "New Math".
Tom Lehrer is evergreen.
8 years old, a friend's father had "That Was The Year That Was". Live album by Tom Lehrer.
We wore it out.
I dont think that one was a comedy, folks
The duck and cover at the end is priceless!
Off to get a commie, not "a call me"
Holy crap, I really like funny lyrics songs, and this channel seems to be a gold mine 🤣
No burnham
The *duck and cover* bit at the end was extremely well timed 👌😂
Im surprised Fallout has never used a Tom Lehrer song
This is awesome I had no idea there were songs like this , thank you 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
yeah, Al Yankovic had several predecessors, Lehrer perhaps being the most "educated" of them.
@@Lonnie.Stoudt thank you I'm going to be checking more out🤣😎
My god
“I look for you when the war is over,” the thing about war is that it never changes.
the songs are so funny. but I'm here for your videos! keep that smile pasted on and slide under the piano. lol
That man is a national treasure!
Fuck, Tom Leher songs just have great vibes. This is going in the playlist
I used to listen this all the time when I was a kid!
Oh, the memories from the Dr Demento show!
I've been hoping you'd do this song ! Dark humor at its satirical finest !
This belongs on a Diamond City radio
That one I'd actually heard before. Years ago.
I'm glad to know there are so many more.
Thanks
You shift expressions so well. I always love these.
This one is actually pretty good!
Tom Lehrer was a GENIOUS! The preamble explains this song.
Such a pretty smile. ❤❤
I have been listening to Tom Lehrer since i was 13, and I am now 76. Poisoning Pigeons in the Park is my favorite. Amazed to learn he is still with us at 96!
Fekkin love Tom Lehrer. My favorite song of his is "Smut"!
One of my favorite Lehrer songs though the 'send me a salami' line was a bit weak
There was an ad campaign "send a salami to your boy in the army". Probably before your time but people alive in '65 would have known about it.
I love this song. So dark yet so amusing
Hits a little close to home right qbout now.
This is one of my favorite Tom Lehrer songs.
I'll have you know I sang along with that. One of my favorite shower songs. I've had people applaud at the gym. No joke.
tom lehrers song the masochism tango absolutely eats
I love 'Masochism Tango' such a vibe, this is great too
Love the hat and pearls. Classic.
Love this dudes music
Listen to him when making lunch
I didn't grow up with Tom Lehrer, but one of my English teachers bought his record into school for us to listen to , "That Was The Year That Was".
I became a fan then and there, and I still am. A unique performer and a very funny comedian.
I haven't heard that song in years. It was one of my uncle's favorites. He used to play it all the time roughly 50+ years ago.
Great song..and I do remember this.
I'm so mad i hadn't heard of tom leher before last week but I'm glad he keeps popping up in my feed 😂