Editing Tom Lehrer (section)

===Departure from the music scene===
{{Infobox
| above        = L-Y
| image        = [[File:Tom Lehrer performs at a fundraising event for George McGovern at All Souls Church in Brattleboro, Vermont, 1972 (cropped).jpg|frameless|upright=0.77 |border |Black-and-white photograph of Lehrer]]
| caption      = Lehrer performing at a fundraising event for George McGovern in Brattleboro, Vermont, 1972
| below        =
{{listen
|type=music
| filename     = 3-19 L‐Y.mp3
| title        = L-Y
| description  = "L-Y", a song featured in ''[[The Electric Company]]''. 
| embed        = yes
}}
}}
In the 1970s, Lehrer concentrated on teaching mathematics and musical theater, although he also wrote ten songs for the educational children's television show ''[[The Electric Company]]''. His last public performance for many years took place in 1972, on a fundraising tour for Democratic US presidential candidate [[George McGovern]].<ref name=bensmith/>

When asked why he had abandoned his musical career in an interview for the booklet accompanying his CD boxed set, ''[[The Remains of Tom Lehrer]]'' (2000), Lehrer replied: "If an idea came to me, I'd write, and if it didn't I wouldn't&mdash;and, gradually, the second option prevailed over the first. Occasionally people ask 'If you enjoyed it'&mdash;and I did&mdash;'why don't you do it again?' I reply, 'I enjoyed high school but I certainly wouldn't want to do ''that'' again.{{'"}}<ref>[[Dr. Demento]], 2000, ''Too Many Facts About Tom Lehrer'', p. 15. Rhino Entertainment Company</ref>

Though Lehrer was "a hero of the anti-nuclear, civil rights left" and covered its political concerns in many of his songs and, even though he shared the [[New Left]]'s opposition to the [[Vietnam War]], and advocated for civil rights, he disliked the aesthetics of the [[counterculture of the 1960s]] and stopped performing as the movement gained momentum.<ref name="bensmith" />

Lehrer's musical career was relatively brief.  He once mentioned that he performed a mere 109 shows and wrote 37 songs over 20 years.<ref>{{cite web |last=Andrews |first=Dale |url=https://www.sleuthsayers.org/search/label/Tom%20Lehrer |title=Tom Lehrer |publisher=SleuthSayers |date=April 9, 2013 |access-date=October 27, 2015 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924102735/http://www.sleuthsayers.org/search/label/Tom%20Lehrer |url-status=live }}</ref>  Nevertheless, he developed a significant following in the United States and abroad.