RIP Tom Lehrer -Satirical composer, age 97

[Wacka]

Tom Lehrer, 97 died in Cambridge, MA Saturday 7/26. He was well known for his satirical and political songs in the 50s and 60s, with his two best known being "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" and "The Elements".

The Elements took the periodic table of the elements and put it to the tune of  "Major-General's Song" from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance. 

 

[Greybeard]

   I remember seeing him on TV in either the late 50's or early 60's.  The Elements triggered the recall. 

[Poleshifter]

So many great songs from Tom Lehrer:

 

So Long Mom, I’m Off to Drop the Bomb

The Vatican Rag (“genuflect, genuflect, genuflect”)

and many more...

 

Such a wit - much needed in the 1960s.  He was a great one, pulling out those impossible rhymes, like “contrapuntally” with “Brinkley and Hunt-a-ly”.

 

[US Egg]

…..and here I thought Dr. Sheldon Cooper made this song up: