24 replies to this topic

[Roger Clark]

Today is Tom Lehrer's 85th birthday. He has no known connection with, nor interest in, motor racing.

[Alan Cox]

http://www.bbc.co.uk...rammes/b01rqb1w

[fuzzi]

Thanks Roger and Alan, we need something to cheer us up.

The BBC offered this on Saturday: http://www.bbc.co.uk...rammes/b01rqb1w

[Sharman]

When they see us coming the birdies all try and hide
But they still go for peanuts when coated with cyanide!

and on a motoring note:-

I hadn't had so much fun since my brother's dog Rover, got run over..

Rover was killed by a Pontiac, and, it was done with such grace and artistry that the bystanders awarded the driver both ears..and the tail.

[Vitesse2]

It could of course be argued that "We will all go together when we go" is a good philosophy for drivers waiting on the grid. There is also a passing reference to the racing driver Davy Jones in "The Irish ballad" (sing ricketty-ticketty-tin).

Two car- (although not racing-) related lyrics come to mind. From "In Old Mexico":

For I hadn't had so much fun since the day
My brother's dog Rover
Got run over.

(Rover was killed by a Pontiac, and it was done with
Such grace and artistry that the witnesses awarded the
Driver both ears and the tail - but I digress.)

And, sliding down the razor blade of life, from "Bright College Days":

To the girls young and sweet,
To the spacious back seat
Of our roommate's beat up Chevrolet.

[Allen Brown]

He has no known connection with, nor interest in, motor racing.

The perfect TNF thread then.

[275 GTB-4]

Today is Tom Lehrer's 85th birthday. He has no known connection with, nor interest in, motor racing.

Whew!! that's a relief

[Doug Nye]

Splendid thread! One of my very few non-racing/non-military/non-aviation/non-Naval heroes.

One man deserves the credit,
One man deserves the blame,
And Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky is his name.
Hi! Nicolai ivanovich lobach-

I never forget the day I first met the great Lobachevsky.
In one word he told me secret of success in mathematics:
Plagiarize!

Plagiarize,
Let no one else’s work evade your eyes,
Remember why the good Lord made your eyes,
So don’t shade your eyes,
But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize -
Only be sure always to call it please ’research’.

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 09 April 2013 - 15:18.

[Roger Clark]

When You Are Old and Grey:

An awful debility,
A lessened utility,
A loss of mobility
Is a strong possibility.
In all probability
I'll lose my virility
And you your fertility
And desirability,
And this liability
Of total sterility
Will lead to hostility
And a sense of futility,
So let's act with agility
While we still have facility,
For we'll soon reach senility
And lose the ability.

Gets us all in the end.

[alansart]

My father was a big fan and I have a few Tom Lehrer songs in my iTunes play list. I must get a few more.

Apart from Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, The Elements Song and New Maths, The Vatican Rag is one that I remember as a kid....just brilliant!

Get in line in that processional,
Step into that small confessional,
There, the guy who's got religion'll
Tell you if your sin's original.
If it is, try playin' it safer,
Drink the wine and chew the wafer,
Two, four, six, eight,
Time to transubstantiate!

So get down upon your knees,
Fiddle with your rosaries,
Bow your head with great respect,
And genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!

etc, etc.

[alansart]

Roger, is your signature a Tom Lehrer quote?

[Vitesse2]

Roger, is your signature a Tom Lehrer quote?

I've always assumed so. It's a line from the closing stanza of "Bright College Days":

Oh, soon we'll be out amid the cold world's strife.
Soon we'll be sliding down the razor blade of life.

[Roger Clark]

Roger, is your signature a Tom Lehrer quote?

It is, as Vitesse says. I did think of changing it to another:

Life is like a sewer;
What you get out of it depends on what you put into it

but perhaps we shouldn't be constrained by inhibiting factors such as taste.

[Doug Nye]

[Henri Greuter]

I learned about Tom Lehrer 2.5 years ago thanks to a friend of me who was one of the world's experts on the Titanic

(yes mr Nye, I know, when you're interested in the Novi, then it is easy to predict that the ship that interests you most of all is the nautical equivalent version of the Novi..... )

Because of my profession he believed I would like Lehrer's performance about "the Elements"



My friend died a little more than 2 years ago. On his funeral he had selected his own music and I was one of the few who knew him well enough by then to know that if Tom Lehrer had a suitable song dealing with live and deat it would be played..

"And we will all go together when we go....."

Not exactly something anyone else should have selected for his funeral. But I was one of the few who understood why my friend had selected this song for that occasion.


Henri

Edited by Henri Greuter, 09 April 2013 - 18:20.

[h4887]

As a (former) chemist, and therefore having a head start, I sometimes wondered how long it would take me to learn 'The Elements' but decided life was too short...

'These are all the ones of which the news has come to Harvard
There may be many others but they haven't been discarvard'

Classic! Perhaps an updated version is due as they seem to have got up to No. 117 now

[David McKinney]

Splendid thread! One of my very few non-racing/non-military/non-aviation/non-Naval heroes.

One man deserves the credit,
One man deserves the blame,
And Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky is his name.
Hi! Nicolai ivanovich lobach-

I never forget the day I first met the great Lobachevsky.
In one word he told me secret of success in mathematics:
Plagiarize!

Plagiarize,
Let no one else’s work evade your eyes,
Remember why the good Lord made your eyes,
So don’t shade your eyes,
But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize -
Only be sure always to call it please ’research’.

DCN

Good old Nicolai Ivanovich! I think that was the first Lehrer track I heard, around 1960. On the other side of the 78, if memory serves, was The Hunting Song

[Henri Greuter]

As a (former) chemist, and therefore having a head start, I sometimes wondered how long it would take me to learn 'The Elements' but decided life was too short...

'These are all the ones of which the news has come to Harvard
There may be many others but they haven't been discarvard'

Classic! Perhaps an updated version is due as they seem to have got up to No. 117 now

Have you ever seen the TV show in which Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) does a live instant performance of the song?
Wondered where and when at Hogwarths he had learned that....

I'm glad that I still know the first 25 still out of the top of my head in my own language. I won't even dare to dream on taking on mr. Lehrer's list

Henri

[Vitesse2]

Have you ever seen the TV show in which Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) does a live instant performance of the song?
Wondered where and when at Hogwarths he had learned that....

I'm glad that I still know the first 25 still out of the top of my head in my own language. I won't even dare to dream on taking on mr. Lehrer's list

Henri

Henri: in the BBC iPlayer link above Tom himself gives the answer. While Daniel Radcliffe was performing in 'Equus', his last scene involved him lying still under a sheet on stage, playing dead. He used that time to learn and practise it!

[Henri Greuter]

Henri: in the BBC iPlayer link above Tom himself gives the answer. While Daniel Radcliffe was performing in 'Equus', his last scene involved him lying still under a sheet on stage, playing dead. He used that time to learn and practise it!

Perfect time for something like that ..... Thanks!


Henri

[Svend Seegert]

Love Tom Lehrer

The morbid "When I hold your hand in mine, I wish you were here" - thing - can't remember the right title - and sorry for the inacurate quoting. I do remember though that he gets blodstaints on his tie when he holds it to to his lips...

And there's the lovely story of Werner von Braun...

And there is the Irish Ballad:

About a maid I'll sing a song,
Sing rickety-tickety-tin,
About a maid I'll sing a song
Who didn't have her family long.
Not only did she do them wrong,
She did ev'ryone of them in, them in,
She did ev'ryone of them in.

One morning in a fit of pique,
Sing rickety-tickety-tin,
One morning in a fit of pique,
She drowned her father in the creek.
The water tasted bad for a week,
And we had to make do with gin, with gin,
We had to make do with gin.

Her mother she could never stand,
Sing rickety-tickety-tin,
Her mother she cold never stand,
And so a cyanide soup she planned.
The mother died with a spoon in her hand,
And her face in a hideous grin, a grin,
Her face in a hideous grin.

She set her sister's hair on fire,
Sing rickety-tickety-tin,
She set her sister's hair on fire,
And as the smoke and flame rose high'r,
Danced around the funeral pyre,
Playin' a violin, -olin,
Playin' a violin.

She weighted her brother down with stones,
Rickety-tickety-tin,
She weighted her brother down with stones,
And sent him off to davy jones.
All they ever found were some bones,
And occasional pieces of skin, of skin,
Occasional pieces of skin.

One day when she had nothing to do,
Sing rickety-tickety-tin,
One day when she had nothing to do,
She cut her baby brother in two,
And served him up as an irish stew,
And invited the neighbors in, -bors in,
Invited the neighbors in.

And when at last the police came by,
Sing rickety-tickety-tin,
And when at last the police came by,
Her little pranks she did not deny,
To do so she would have had to lie,
And lying, she knew, was a sin, a sin,
Lying, she knew, was a sin.

My tragic tale, I won't prolong,
Rickety-tickety-tin,
My tragic tale I won't prolong,
And if you do not enjoy the song,
You've yourselves to blame if it's too long,
You should never have let me begin, begin,
You should never have let me begin.

Edited by Svend Seegert, 09 April 2013 - 23:17.

[Marc Sproule]

My brother probably exposed me to TL, sometime in the '60s. TL has been a favorite of mine since then.

Thank you all for the great lyrics and links.

Let's hope he makes like a Timex and keeps on ticking for a lot more years.

[kento11]

Ah, listen, not a single pigeon is cheering

[Doug Nye]

Oooh yes - we should never offend the bird community.

DCN

[John Brundage]

He was one of my favorites as a kid listening to Dr Demento