First saw this on reddit. Here's my eulogy from there: Oh, Tom. You gave me so many lovely memories. I was an actor at UC Santa Cruz in the 80s. Tom taught math half the year at Harvard and half...
First saw this on reddit. Here's my eulogy from there:
Oh, Tom. You gave me so many lovely memories.
I was an actor at UC Santa Cruz in the 80s. Tom taught math half the year at Harvard and half the year at UCSC, with an extra musical theater class for us in the Spring.
I was in a show that he came to see, and afterwards mutual friends told me he liked my performance and wanted me to audition for his class. I'm not much of a singer but you just don't say no to this kind of opportunity.
They were open auditions with a hundred hyperventilating college kids and Tom on the piano. He could sightread anything. I did my best Mack the Knife and I was in. The class was incredibly intense. UCSC is on quarters, I think 10 weeks each? We performed 8 musicals in those 10 weeks to huge crowds, script in hand.
He started us with Gilbert & Sullivan then up through operetta to Vaudeville, tin pan alley, then the golden age of American musicals into the 60s. He had no use for anything after that, despised Andrew Lloyd Webber, and was proudest of the fact in his life that he had once shared a cabin as like an 8 year old camp kid with Stephen Sondheim, whom he worshipped. Okay, I guess Sondheim was to him the only worthwhile modern creator of musicals. But this was the 80s and I don't know if he ever found anyone else to admire.
I recall we did Pal Joey and the Music Man but one of my greatest moments on stage my entire career was playing the MC in Cabaret with Tom fucking Lehrer as my backing musician. It was utterly magical. And then I introduced him to my parents and for the first time in my life I saw them truly starstruck and they allowed that maybe I could make something of this acting hobby. I was in heaven. Nowhere to go from there but down lol.
I recall him extolling Sondheim to us once, telling us that he only ever used perfect rhymes instead of cheap homophones, and he lost the love of about half the class when he said the worst offender of this was Stevie Wonder, who had just come out with "I Just Called To Say I Love You." Tom whined it out in a mocking tone, emphasizing the sloppy line ends and puerile sentimentality. That dark edge from his songs was who he was. He couldn't help but slash at the world. But it was because he loved beautiful things so much and he hated to see them ruined.
I think the last time I saw him was the end of that semester. I went over to his condo in faculty housing. I was producing my own play and it began with a man trapped in a small cage singing both parts of the duet All For The Best from Godspell, which becomes manic gibberish by the end. We sat at the keyboard and worked out the switches and had a wonderful time. I loved that he treated me as an equal. I've prized no man's esteem as much. RIP.
Most celebrity deaths are sad but don't really hit me. His death does. His work is a lot older than I am, but it was so sharp, fun, and clever that it still really connected with me and I listen...
Most celebrity deaths are sad but don't really hit me. His death does. His work is a lot older than I am, but it was so sharp, fun, and clever that it still really connected with me and I listen to it regularly. May he rest in peace.
It also makes me sad that no one really picked up the mantle of his kind of music. Sure we have some political and satirical songs still, but nothing that feels quite as biting while still remaining fun. Would love to hear if anyone has modern suggestions.
Bo Burnham is similarly biting in his commentary, but his focus is much more on the individual experience than the strictly political. I also would hesitate to call his work "fun," per se....
Bo Burnham is similarly biting in his commentary, but his focus is much more on the individual experience than the strictly political.
I also would hesitate to call his work "fun," per se. Depression and cynicism are major themes in his work. Carlin is a much more direct influence on his humor than Lehrer.
I enjoy Bo Burnham a lot too! Excellent recommendation. As much as I like his work too, I definitely agree it's often missing the "fun" aspect though. I think this is what makes Tom Lehrer's work...
I enjoy Bo Burnham a lot too! Excellent recommendation.
As much as I like his work too, I definitely agree it's often missing the "fun" aspect though. I think this is what makes Tom Lehrer's work stand out so well is that he somehow managed to be biting, humorous, political, clever, dark, topical, and fun all at once. There are some artists who hit a lot of these, but not many that hit them all. Bo Burnham is missing the fun, Weird Al is fun but isn't biting, Tim Minchin and Stephen Lynch are clever but aren't very topical/political. They're all great in their own rights, but Lehrer had a real talent in bringing it all together.
My parents had Lehrer's original albums, and had seen at least one of his live performances. My mother would break out into his songs in her operatic soprano while in the kitchen... memorable...
My parents had Lehrer's original albums, and had seen at least one of his live performances. My mother would break out into his songs in her operatic soprano while in the kitchen... memorable moments. I had terrible earworm weeks of "Lobachevsky", "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park", "National Brotherhood Week" and most of Lehrer's repertoire.
And speaking of "Lobachevsky", this week it was reported that Lehrer left at least one Easter egg in his papers.
Since I didn't see it mentioned in the article: several years ago he released everything he wrote into the public domain, and I really hope we get some good tributes from that act of generosity....
Since I didn't see it mentioned in the article: several years ago he released everything he wrote into the public domain, and I really hope we get some good tributes from that act of generosity. He truly was, as the kids say (said?) a real one.
An amazing performer, unequaled in his cleverness.
An amazing performer, unequaled in his cleverness.
When you attend a funeral,
It is sad to think that sooner o'
Later those you love will do the same for you.
And you may have thought it tragic,
Not to mention other adjec-
Tives, to think of all the weeping they will do.
But don't you worry.
No more ashes, no more sackcloth,
And an armband made of black cloth
Will some day never more adorn a sleeve:
For if the bomb that drops on you
Gets your friends and neighbors too,
There'll be nobody left behind to grieve.
And we will all go together when we go.
My grandmother recently passed away and always loved him. She would play some of his music when I was young and helped inspire me to learn piano. Rest in peace, legend.
My grandmother recently passed away and always loved him. She would play some of his music when I was young and helped inspire me to learn piano. Rest in peace, legend.
First saw this on reddit. Here's my eulogy from there:
Oh, Tom. You gave me so many lovely memories.
I was an actor at UC Santa Cruz in the 80s. Tom taught math half the year at Harvard and half the year at UCSC, with an extra musical theater class for us in the Spring.
I was in a show that he came to see, and afterwards mutual friends told me he liked my performance and wanted me to audition for his class. I'm not much of a singer but you just don't say no to this kind of opportunity.
They were open auditions with a hundred hyperventilating college kids and Tom on the piano. He could sightread anything. I did my best Mack the Knife and I was in. The class was incredibly intense. UCSC is on quarters, I think 10 weeks each? We performed 8 musicals in those 10 weeks to huge crowds, script in hand.
He started us with Gilbert & Sullivan then up through operetta to Vaudeville, tin pan alley, then the golden age of American musicals into the 60s. He had no use for anything after that, despised Andrew Lloyd Webber, and was proudest of the fact in his life that he had once shared a cabin as like an 8 year old camp kid with Stephen Sondheim, whom he worshipped. Okay, I guess Sondheim was to him the only worthwhile modern creator of musicals. But this was the 80s and I don't know if he ever found anyone else to admire.
I recall we did Pal Joey and the Music Man but one of my greatest moments on stage my entire career was playing the MC in Cabaret with Tom fucking Lehrer as my backing musician. It was utterly magical. And then I introduced him to my parents and for the first time in my life I saw them truly starstruck and they allowed that maybe I could make something of this acting hobby. I was in heaven. Nowhere to go from there but down lol.
I recall him extolling Sondheim to us once, telling us that he only ever used perfect rhymes instead of cheap homophones, and he lost the love of about half the class when he said the worst offender of this was Stevie Wonder, who had just come out with "I Just Called To Say I Love You." Tom whined it out in a mocking tone, emphasizing the sloppy line ends and puerile sentimentality. That dark edge from his songs was who he was. He couldn't help but slash at the world. But it was because he loved beautiful things so much and he hated to see them ruined.
I think the last time I saw him was the end of that semester. I went over to his condo in faculty housing. I was producing my own play and it began with a man trapped in a small cage singing both parts of the duet All For The Best from Godspell, which becomes manic gibberish by the end. We sat at the keyboard and worked out the switches and had a wonderful time. I loved that he treated me as an equal. I've prized no man's esteem as much. RIP.
Of the many older musicians who have passed recently, this is one of the ones I more expected and also one of the ones that saddens me most.
Most celebrity deaths are sad but don't really hit me. His death does. His work is a lot older than I am, but it was so sharp, fun, and clever that it still really connected with me and I listen to it regularly. May he rest in peace.
It also makes me sad that no one really picked up the mantle of his kind of music. Sure we have some political and satirical songs still, but nothing that feels quite as biting while still remaining fun. Would love to hear if anyone has modern suggestions.
Bo Burnham is similarly biting in his commentary, but his focus is much more on the individual experience than the strictly political.
I also would hesitate to call his work "fun," per se. Depression and cynicism are major themes in his work. Carlin is a much more direct influence on his humor than Lehrer.
I enjoy Bo Burnham a lot too! Excellent recommendation.
As much as I like his work too, I definitely agree it's often missing the "fun" aspect though. I think this is what makes Tom Lehrer's work stand out so well is that he somehow managed to be biting, humorous, political, clever, dark, topical, and fun all at once. There are some artists who hit a lot of these, but not many that hit them all. Bo Burnham is missing the fun, Weird Al is fun but isn't biting, Tim Minchin and Stephen Lynch are clever but aren't very topical/political. They're all great in their own rights, but Lehrer had a real talent in bringing it all together.
My parents had Lehrer's original albums, and had seen at least one of his live performances. My mother would break out into his songs in her operatic soprano while in the kitchen... memorable moments. I had terrible earworm weeks of "Lobachevsky", "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park", "National Brotherhood Week" and most of Lehrer's repertoire.
And speaking of "Lobachevsky", this week it was reported that Lehrer left at least one Easter egg in his papers.
Since I didn't see it mentioned in the article: several years ago he released everything he wrote into the public domain, and I really hope we get some good tributes from that act of generosity. He truly was, as the kids say (said?) a real one.
I sing his songs every single day. Just this morning I was humming We Will All Go Together When We Go! One of my formative favorites. Rest in peace.
An amazing performer, unequaled in his cleverness.
LFTL: We Will All Go Together When We Go
My grandmother recently passed away and always loved him. She would play some of his music when I was young and helped inspire me to learn piano. Rest in peace, legend.
Related video from Periodic Videos:
RIP Tom Lehrer (The Elements Song) - Periodic Table of Videos