Editing Tom Lehrer

{{Short description|American musician and mathematician (born 1928)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| website            = {{URL|tomlehrersongs.com}}
| signature          = Signature of Tom Lehrer, 1982 (signature).svg
| name               = Tom Lehrer
| education          = [[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|AB]], [[Master of Arts|MA]])
| occupation         = {{hlist|Singer-songwriter|satirist|mathematician}}
| image              = Portrait of Tom Lehrer in c. 1957.jpg
| caption            = Lehrer {{circa|1957}}
| birth_name         = Thomas Andrew Lehrer
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1928|04|09}}
| birth_place        = [[Manhattan]], New York City, U.S.
| module             = {{Infobox musical artist|embed=yes
| background        = solo_singer
| genre             = {{hlist|[[novelty music|novelty]]|[[satire]]|comedy|science}}
| instrument        = {{hlist|Vocals|piano}}
| years_active      = {{hlist|1945–1973|1980|1998}}
| label             = {{hlist|TransRadio|Lehrer|[[Reprise Records|Reprise]]/[[Warner Bros. Records|Warner Bros.]]|[[Rhino Records|Rhino]]/[[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]]|[[Shout! Factory]]|[[Needlejuice Records]]}}
| associated_acts   = [[Joe Raposo]]
}}
}}

'''Thomas Andrew Lehrer''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|ɛər|ər}}; born April 9, 1928) is an American musician, [[singer-songwriter]], [[satirist]], and mathematician, who later taught mathematics and musical theater. He recorded pithy and humorous, often [[Music and politics|political songs]] that became popular in the 1950s and 1960s. His songs often parodied popular musical forms, though they usually had original melodies. An exception is "[[The Elements (song)|The Elements]]", in which he set the names of the [[chemical element]]s to the tune of the "[[Major-General's Song]]" from [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]'s ''[[Pirates of Penzance]]''.

Lehrer's early performances dealt with non-topical subjects and [[black humor]] (also known as dark comedy) in songs such as "[[Poisoning Pigeons in the Park]]". In the 1960s, he produced songs about timely social and political issues, particularly for the U.S. version of the television show ''[[That Was the Week That Was]]''. The popularity of these songs has far outlasted their topical subjects and references. Lehrer quoted a friend's explanation: "Always predict the worst and you'll be hailed as a prophet."<ref>{{cite episode|last=Ford|first=Andrew|title=Tom Lehrer|series=The Music Show|transcript=Interview transcript|transcript-url=http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/musicshow/tom-lehrer/3344656#transcript|date=July 8, 2006|station=[[Radio National]]|network=Australian Broadcasting Corporation}}</ref> In the early 1970s, Lehrer largely retired from public performance to devote his time to teaching mathematics and musical theater history at the [[University of California, Santa Cruz]].

==Early life==
[[File:Tom Lehrer in 1943 Loomiscellany.jpg|thumb|upright|Lehrer in [[Loomis Chaffee School|Loomis School]]'s 1943 yearbook]]
Thomas Andrew Lehrer was born on April 9, 1928, to a secular Jewish family and grew up on [[Manhattan]]'s [[Upper East Side]].<ref name=bensmith>{{cite news|last=Smith|first=Ben|title=Looking For Tom Lehrer, Comedy's Mysterious Genius|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/tom-lehrer|access-date=April 12, 2014|newspaper=[[BuzzFeed]]|date=April 9, 2014|author-link=Ben Smith (journalist)|archive-date=November 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129061734/https://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/tom-lehrer|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Celebrities in Hell|year=2002|publisher=ChelCpress|isbn=9781569802144|page=72|author=Warren Allen Smith|chapter=Tom Lehrer|quote=He responded: No one is more dangerous than someone who thinks he has The Truth. To be an atheist is almost as arrogant as to be a fundamentalist. But then again, I can get pretty arrogant.}}</ref> He is the son of Morris James Lehrer (1897–1986) and Anna Lehrer (née Waller; 1905–1978) and older brother of Barry Waller Lehrer (1930–2007).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Spotlight: 1960s satirist Tom Lehrer resurfaces|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18835086.spotlight-1960s-satirist-tom-lehrer-resurfaces/|access-date=February 12, 2022|website=HeraldScotland|date=November 2020 |language=en|archive-date=February 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212072525/https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18835086.spotlight-1960s-satirist-tom-lehrer-resurfaces/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=May 31, 2000|title=Tom Lehrer: An equal opportunity offender|url=https://www.jta.org/2000/05/31/lifestyle/tom-lehrer-an-equal-opportunity-offender|access-date=February 12, 2022|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|archive-date=February 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212072523/https://www.jta.org/2000/05/31/lifestyle/tom-lehrer-an-equal-opportunity-offender|url-status=live}}</ref> He began studying classical piano at the age of seven, but was more interested in the popular music of the age. Eventually, his mother sent him to a popular-music piano teacher.<ref name="Songs 1997">Liner notes, ''Songs & More Songs By Tom Lehrer'', Rhino Records, 1997.</ref> At this early age, he began writing [[show tune]]s, which eventually helped him as a satirical composer and writer in his years of lecturing at [[Harvard University]] and later at other universities.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tom Lehrer: The Political Musician That Wasn't|author=Jeremy Mazner|url=http://www.casualhacker.net/tom.lehrer/jmazner/lehrhtml.html|website=Casualhacker.net|access-date=October 25, 2019|archive-date=September 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930102441/http://www.casualhacker.net/tom.lehrer/jmazner/lehrhtml.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lehrer attended the [[Horace Mann School]] in the [[Riverdale, New York]], part of [[the Bronx]].<ref name=bensmith/><ref name=toobin>{{cite web |first=Jeffrey R |last=Toobin |author-link=Jeffrey Toobin |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1981/11/9/tom-lehrer-pbrbumors-to-the-contrary/ |title=Tom Lehrer |work=The Harvard Crimson |date=November 9, 1981 |access-date=April 14, 2012 |archive-date=August 7, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130807114423/http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1981/11/9/tom-lehrer-pbrbumors-to-the-contrary/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He also attended [[Camp Androscoggin]], both as a camper and a counselor.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.summercore.com/ronin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201005628/http://www.summercore.com/ronin/ |archive-date=February 1, 2012 |title=The Elements by Tom Lehrer |access-date=May 23, 2013}}</ref> Lehrer was considered a child prodigy and, at the age of 15 after graduating from [[Loomis Chaffee School|Loomis School]], he entered [[Harvard College]], where one of his professors was [[Irving Kaplansky]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mtarchive.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-song-about-pi.html|title=MTArchive: A Song about Pi|website=Mtarchive.blogspot.com|date=September 22, 2013|access-date=October 25, 2019|archive-date=October 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191025142856/http://mtarchive.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-song-about-pi.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=kapslecture/><ref name=bensmith/> As a mathematics undergraduate student at Harvard College, he began to write [[comic song]]s, to entertain his friends, including "[[Fight Fiercely, Harvard]]". Those songs were later named collectively the "Physical Revue",<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ww3.haverford.edu/physics/songs/lehrer/physrev.htm |title=The Physical Revue, by Tom Lehrer |publisher=Ww3.haverford.edu |date=October 22, 2003 |access-date=October 27, 2015 |archive-date=September 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923032040/https://ww3.haverford.edu/physics/songs/lehrer/physrev.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> a joking reference to a leading scientific journal, the ''[[Physical Review]]''.

==Academic and military career==
[[File:Tom Lehrer in The Harvard Album 1947–1948.jpg|thumb|upright|Lehrer in [[Harvard University]]'s 1947–1948 yearbook]]
[[File:Tom Lehrer, Robert H. Welker, David Z. Robinson, and Lewis M. Branscomb perform on Arbor Day at Harvard University, 1951.jpg|thumb|upright|(From left) Lehrer, Robert H. Welker, David Z. Robinson, and [[Lewis M. Branscomb]] perform a hymn for the Harvard Spring rites on Arbor Day, 1951. The quartet performed songs for ''The Physical Revue''.]]
Lehrer graduated [[bachelor of arts]] in mathematics from [[Harvard University]], ''[[magna cum laude]]'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Toobin |first=Jeffrey R. |author-link=Jeffrey Toobin |date=November 9, 1981 |title=Tom Lehrer |work=The Harvard Crimson |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1981/11/9/tom-lehrer-pbrbumors-to-the-contrary/ |access-date=October 22, 2020 |archive-date=October 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022215849/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1981/11/9/tom-lehrer-pbrbumors-to-the-contrary/ |url-status=live }}</ref> in 1946.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dmdb.org/lehrer/bio.html |title=Tom Lehrer Biography |publisher=Dmdb.org |access-date=October 27, 2015 |archive-date=October 31, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031114929/http://dmdb.org/lehrer/bio.html |url-status=live }}</ref> At Harvard, he was the roommate of the Canadian theologian [[Robert Crouse]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Burton |first=Anthony |author-link=Tony Burton (bishop) |date=Easter 2011 |title=In Memoriam: The Revd. Dr. Robert Crouse |url=http://prayerbook.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/PBSC-Newsletter-Easter-2011.pdf |magazine=The Prayer Book Society of Canada Newsletter |page=1 |access-date=October 22, 2020 |archive-date=August 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824054739/http://prayerbook.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/PBSC-Newsletter-Easter-2011.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> He received his [[Master of Arts|MA]] degree the next year and was inducted into [[Phi Beta Kappa]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lynch |first=Peter |date=September 17, 2018 |title=Tom Lehrer: a comical, musical, mathematical genius |language=en |newspaper=The Irish Times |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/tom-lehrer-a-comical-musical-mathematical-genius-1.3632032 |access-date=October 22, 2020 |archive-date=October 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020012058/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/tom-lehrer-a-comical-musical-mathematical-genius-1.3632032 |url-status=live }}</ref>  He later taught mathematics and other classes at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]], Harvard, [[Wellesley College|Wellesley]], and the [[University of California, Santa Cruz]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-may-26-ca-34112-story.html |title=Tom Lehrer's Playful Satire Still Delivers a Musical Punch |first=Richard |last=Cromelin |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=May 26, 2000 |access-date=October 23, 2019 |archive-date=October 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023135728/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-may-26-ca-34112-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
Lehrer remained in Harvard's doctoral program for several years, taking time also for his musical career and to work as a researcher at the [[Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory]].<ref name=sf>{{cite web |url=https://archives.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/that-was-the-wit-that-was/Content?oid=2138455 |title=That Was the Wit That Was |first=Jack |last=Boulware |work=[[SF Weekly]] |date=April 19, 2000 |access-date=November 27, 2018 |archive-date=November 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128164739/https://archives.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/that-was-the-wit-that-was/Content?oid=2138455 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Lehrer was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1955 and served until 1957, working at the [[National Security Agency]] (NSA). Lehrer once stated that he invented the [[Jello shot]] during this time, as a means of circumventing the naval base's ban on alcoholic beverages.<ref name=sf/> 
Despite holding a master's degree in an era when American conscripts often lacked high school diplomas, Lehrer served as an [[enlisted soldier]], achieving the rank of [[Specialist (rank)|specialist third class]], which he described as being a "corporal [[Minister without portfolio|without portfolio]]".<ref>Monologue self-introduction on ''[[Tom Lehrer Revisited]]''.</ref> These experiences became fodder for songs, such as "The Wild West is Where I Want to Be" and "It Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1U2fpzw4qNI | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/1U2fpzw4qNI| archive-date=November 18, 2021 | url-status=live|title=The Wild West is Where I Want to Be: spoken introduction |first=Tom |last=Lehrer |work=[[The Remains of Tom Lehrer]] |date=May 23, 2000 |access-date=August 15, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 2020 Lehrer publicly revealed that he had been assigned to the NSA; since the mere fact of the NSA's existence was classified at the time, Lehrer found himself in the position of implicitly using nuclear weapons work as a cover story for something more sensitive.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bernstein|first=Jeremy|author-link=Jeremy Bernstein|title=Quantum Profiles|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2020|edition=2|isbn=978-0-190-05686-5}}</ref>

In 1960, Lehrer returned to full-time math studies at Harvard.<ref name=toobin/> From 1962 he taught mathematics in the [[political science]] department at MIT.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419200709/ |title=Tom Lehrer |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709231900/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419200709/ |archive-date=July 9, 2012 |last=Longley |first=Eric |encyclopedia=[[St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture]] |publisher=CBS Interactive Resource Library |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1965 he gave up on his mathematics dissertation on [[Mode (statistics)|modes]] in statistics, after working on it intermittently for 15 years.<ref name=bensmith/>

In 1972, Lehrer joined the faculty of the [[University of California, Santa Cruz]], teaching an introductory course entitled "The Nature of Mathematics" to liberal arts majors—"math for tenors", according to Lehrer. He also taught a class in [[musical theater]]. He occasionally performed songs in his lectures.<ref name=kapslecture>Lehrer performance excerpt, {{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/lehrer |title=Irving "Kaps" Kaplansky's 80th Birthday Celebration|date=1997 |access-date=October 27, 2015}}</ref>

In 2001, Lehrer taught his last mathematics class, on the topic of [[infinity]], and retired from academia.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://spectator.org/33723_whatever-happened-tom-lehrer/ |title=Whatever Happened to Tom Lehrer? |work=The American Spectator |date=April 1, 2013 |first=Alan |last=Reynolds |access-date=October 27, 2015 |archive-date=May 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518145545/http://spectator.org/33723_whatever-happened-tom-lehrer/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He has remained in the area, and in 2003 said he still "hangs out" around the University of California, Santa Cruz.<ref name="smh">{{cite news|date=March 1, 2003|title=Stop clapping, this is serious|newspaper=smh.com.au|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/stop-clapping-this-is-serious-20030301-gdgcoz.html|access-date=October 27, 2015|archive-date=August 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814184002/https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/stop-clapping-this-is-serious-20030301-gdgcoz.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Musical career==
===Style and influences===
{{Infobox
| above            = When You Are Old&nbsp;and&nbsp;Gray
| image            = [[File:Portrait of Tom Lehrer in c. 1958 (3).jpg|frameless|upright=0.77 |border |Black-and-white photograph of Lehrer]]
| caption          = Lehrer {{circa|1958}}
| below            = {{listen
|type=music
| filename     = 1-10 When You Are Old and Gray.mp3
| title        = When You Are Old and Gray
| description  = "When You Are Old and Gray", a satirical song about love. Studio recording from ''[[Songs by Tom Lehrer]]'' (1953). 
| embed        = yes
}}
}}

Lehrer was mainly influenced by [[musical theater]]. According to [[Gerald Nachman (journalist)|Gerald Nachman]]'s book ''Seriously Funny'',<ref>{{cite book |last1= Nachman |first1=Gerald |author-link1= Gerald Nachman (journalist) |title=Seriously Funny: The Rebel Comedians of the 1950s and 1960s|url=https://archive.org/details/seriouslyfunnyre00nach |url-access= registration |location=New York, NY |publisher=Pantheon Books |publication-date=2003 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/seriouslyfunnyre00nach/page/659 659] |isbn=  9780375410307 <!-- 0375410309 --> |oclc=50339527  |year= 2004}}</ref> the Broadway musical ''[[Let's Face It!]]''  made an early and lasting impression on him. Lehrer's style consists of [[Parody music|parodying]] various forms of [[popular song]]. For example, his appreciation of [[list song]]s led him to write "[[The Elements (song)|The Elements]]", which lists the [[chemical element]]s to the tune of [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]'s "[[Major-General's Song]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gasdisc.oakapplepress.com/mdlehrer.htm|title=Tom Lehrer's 'The Elements' and 'Clementine' (1959) The Gilbert and Sullivan Discography|access-date=18 November 2023|archive-date=October 12, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012064103/http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/mdlehrer.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In author and [[Boston University]] professor [[Isaac Asimov]]'s second autobiographical volume, ''In Joy Still Felt'', Asimov recounted seeing Lehrer perform in a [[Boston]] nightclub on October 9, 1954. Lehrer sang a song about Jim getting it from Louise, and Sally from Jim, "...and after a while you gathered the 'it' was [[venereal disease]]. Suddenly, as the combinations grew more grotesque, you realized he was satirizing every known [[sexual perversion|perversion]] without using a single naughty phrase. It was clearly unsingable outside a nightclub." (The song was likely "[[Songs & More Songs by Tom Lehrer|I Got It From Agnes]]".) Asimov also recalled a song that dealt with the [[Boston subway]] system, making use of the stations leading into town from Harvard, observing that the local subject-matter rendered the song useless for general distribution. Lehrer subsequently granted Asimov permission to print the lyrics to "The Subway Song" in his book. "I haven't gone to nightclubs often," said Asimov, "but of all the times I have gone, it was on this occasion that I had by far the best time."<ref>Asimov, Isaac, ''In Joy Still Felt: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1954–1978''. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1980, p. 15.</ref>

===Recordings===
{{Infobox
| above        = We Will All Go Together When&nbsp;We&nbsp;Go
| image        = [[File:Portrait of Tom Lehrer in c. 1958 (retouched).jpg|frameless|upright=0.77 |border |Black-and-white photograph of Lehrer]]
| caption      = Lehrer {{circa|1958}}
| below        =
{{listen
|type=music
| filename     = 1-23 We Will All Go Together When We Go.mp3
| title        = We Will All Go Together When We Go
| description  = "We Will All Go Together When We Go", a song about [[nuclear holocaust]] leading to [[human extinction]]. Studio recording from ''[[More of Tom Lehrer]]'' (1959). 
| embed        = yes
}}
}}

Lehrer was encouraged by the success of his performances, so he paid $15 ({{Inflation|US|15|1953|fmt=eq}}) for some studio time in 1953 to record ''[[Songs by Tom Lehrer]]''. The initial pressing was 400 copies. Radio stations would not air his songs because of his controversial subjects, so he sold the album on campus at Harvard for $3,  {{Inflation|US|3|1953|fmt=eq|cursign=$}}, while "several stores near the Harvard campus sold it for $3.50, taking only a minimal markup as a kind of community service. Newsstands on campus sold it for the same price."<ref name=barryhansen>
{{Cite AV media |author=Dr. Demento |author-link=Dr. Demento |title=''"Too Many Facts About Tom Lehrer"'' |work=The Remains of Tom Lehrer |publisher=Warner Bros Records | medium=CD liner notes |year=2000}}</ref> After one summer, he started to receive mail orders from all parts of the country, as far away as San Francisco, after the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' wrote an article on the record.<ref name="Bernstein1984">{{Cite journal |last=Bernstein |first=Jeremy |author-link=Jeremy Bernstein |date=1984 |title=Out of My Mind: Tom Lehrer: Having Fun |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41211046 |journal=The American Scholar |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=295–302 |issn=0003-0937 |jstor=41211046 |access-date=October 22, 2020 |archive-date=October 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027051436/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41211046 |url-status=live }}</ref> Interest in his recordings spread by word of mouth. People played their records for friends, who then also wanted a copy.<ref name="Jim Bessman 1997">Jim Bessman. "Rhino Reissues Lehrer's Seminal 'Songs' Albums". ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''. June 21, 1997.</ref>  Lehrer recalled, "Lacking exposure in the media, my songs spread slowly. Like [[herpes]], rather than [[ebola]]."<ref>Maslon, Laurence, ''Make Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America'', Hachette Book Group, 2008, pg. 81</ref>

The album included the macabre "I Hold Your Hand in Mine", the mildly risqué "Be Prepared", and "[[Lobachevsky (song)|Lobachevsky]]" regarding plagiarizing mathematicians. It became a [[Cult following|cult success]] by word of mouth, despite being self-published and without promotion. The limited distribution of the album led to a knock off album by Jack "Enjal" (a pseudonym of Jack Nagel) being released in 1958 without Lehrer's approval, where some of the lyrics were mistranscribed.<ref name="CrazyCollege">{{cite web|url=http://www.crazycollege.org/lehrer.html|title=An Interview with Tom Lehrer|publisher=Crazy College|access-date=May 8, 2023|archive-date=May 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230508123320/http://www.crazycollege.org/lehrer.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lehrer embarked on a series of concert tours and recorded a second album in 1959. He released the second album in two versions: the songs were the same, but ''[[More of Tom Lehrer]]'' was a studio recording and ''[[An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer]]'' was recorded live in concert.  In 2013, Lehrer recalled the studio session for "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park", which referred to<!--the cited ref. doesn't say this--> the practice of controlling pigeons in Boston with [[strychnine]]-treated corn:<ref name="faulkner">{{Cite journal |last=Faulkner |first=Clarence |date=May 1, 1999 |title=As It Was in Region 5, 1949–1964 |url=https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1045&context=icwdmprobe |journal=The Probe |volume=200 |pages=7 |via=DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln, "City-wide pigeon control in Boston, MA using strychnine-treated whole corn" |access-date=March 2, 2020 |archive-date=March 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200331095921/https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1045&context=icwdmprobe |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{Blockquote|The copyist arrived at the last minute with the parts and passed them out to the band... And there was no title on it, and there was no lyrics.  And so they ran through it, "What a pleasant little waltz".... And the engineer said, {{"'}}Poisoning Pigeons in the Park,' take one," and the piano player said, "What?" and literally fell off the stool.<ref name=bbc>{{cite web |title=Tom Lehrer at 85 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rqb1w |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407021530/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rqb1w |archive-date=April 7, 2013 |url-status=dead |publisher=[[BBC Radio 4]] |date=April 6, 2013 |access-date=September 24, 2019 |via=The [[Public Radio Exchange]] }} [https://beta.prx.org/stories/104334 Alt URL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925023544/https://beta.prx.org/stories/104334 |date=September 25, 2019 }}</ref>}}

===Touring===
[[File:Tom_Lehrer_has_become_an_honorary_student_in_the_Studenterforeningen_(Copenhagen_Student_Union).jpg|thumb|left|upright|Lehrer as an honorary member of the Copenhagen Student Union, 1967]]
Lehrer had a breakthrough in the United Kingdom on December 4, 1957, when the [[University of London]] awarded a [[doctor of music]] degree ''[[honoris causa]]'' to [[Princess Margaret]], and the public orator, Professor J. R. Sutherland, said it was "in the full knowledge that the Princess is a connoisseur of music and a performer of skill and distinction, her taste being catholic, ranging from Mozart to the [[Calypso music|calypso]] and from opera to the songs of Miss [[Beatrice Lillie]] and Tom Lehrer."<ref>{{cite book |title=East Africa and Rhodesia |year=1957 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h64qAAAAMAAJ |page=493 |access-date=September 17, 2017 |archive-date=April 26, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426165710/https://books.google.com/books?id=h64qAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/51200645/|title=The Kansas City Times from Kansas City, Missouri · Page 4|date=December 5, 1957|work=The Kansas City Times|agency=[[Associated Press]]|location=Kansas City, Missouri|page=4|access-date=February 29, 2016|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304125752/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/51200645/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7KVCLZuC58| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/V7KVCLZuC58| archive-date=November 18, 2021 | url-status=live|title=British Pathé, quoted only "from Mozart to calypso"| website=[[YouTube]]| date=April 13, 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> This prompted significant interest in Lehrer's works and helped to secure distribution in Britain for his five-year-old debut album. It was there that his music achieved real sales popularity, as a result of the proliferation of university newspapers referring to the material, and inadvertently due to the [[BBC]], which in 1958 banned from broadcast 10 of the 12 songs on the album.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 14, 2007 |title=Unfit for Auntie's airwaves: The artists censored by the BBC |language=en |work=The Independent |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/unfit-for-aunties-airwaves-the-artists-censored-by-the-bbc-765106.html |access-date=October 22, 2020 |archive-date=February 2, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202175948/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/unfit-for-aunties-airwaves-the-artists-censored-by-the-bbc-765106.html |url-status=live }}</ref> By the end of the 1950s, Lehrer had sold 370,000 records.<ref name=bensmith/>

===''That Was The Week That Was''===
In 1960, Lehrer essentially retired from touring in the U.S.<ref name=bensmith/> The same year, he toured Australia and New Zealand, performing a total of 33 concerts to great acclaim<ref name=barryhansen/> and controversy.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lehrer Dissected … {{!}} NZETC|url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Salient23041960-t1-body-d16-d1.html|access-date=April 6, 2021|website=nzetc.victoria.ac.nz|archive-date=February 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204190301/http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Salient23041960-t1-body-d16-d1.html|url-status=live}}</ref> While in New Zealand, he penned lyrics critical of the [[1960 New Zealand rugby union tour of Australia and South Africa|All Blacks' upcoming tour of Apartheid-era South Africa]] and Prime Minister [[Walter Nash]]'s stance on it.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Berry |first1=John |title="Oh, Mr Nash," says Tom Lehrer |work=Auckland Star |date=April 16, 1960}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Berry |first1=John |title=Seeing Stars - A Study of Show Folk in New Zealand |date=1964 |publisher=Seven Seas |location=Wellington |pages=75–78}}</ref> Lehrer's tours occurred during a time in which he was, he said, "banned, censored, mentioned in several houses of parliament and threatened with arrest". In particular, "Be Prepared" drew advance resistance in Brisbane from the commissioner of police. He performed several songs in Australia that were still unreleased, including "The Masochism Tango".<ref name=smh/> In the early 1960s, he was employed as the resident songwriter for the U.S. edition of ''[[That Was The Week That Was#US versions|That Was The Week That Was]]'' (TW3), a satirical television show.<ref name=barryhansen/>

{{Anchor|NewMath}}<!-- This anchor referenced by [[Andrew Gleason]] -->
{{Infobox
| above        = National Brotherhood Week
| image        = [[File:Tom Lehrer performing in Copenhagen, 1967 (10).jpg|frameless|upright=0.77 |border |Black-and-white photograph of Lehrer]]
| caption      = Lehrer performing in Copenhagen, 1967
| below        =
{{listen
|type=music
| filename     = 3-01 National Brotherhood Week.mp3
| title        = National Brotherhood Week
| description  = "National Brotherhood Week", a song about an annual event promoted by the [[National Conference for Community and Justice]]. Live recording from ''[[That Was the Year That Was]]'' (1965). 
| embed        = yes
}}
}}
A greater proportion of his output became overtly political, or at least topical, on subjects such as education ("[[New Math (song)|New Math]]"), the [[Second Vatican Council]] ("[[The Vatican Rag]]"), race relations ("National Brotherhood Week"), air and water pollution ("Pollution"), American militarism ("Send the Marines"),  and [[nuclear proliferation]] ("Who's Next?" and "MLF Lullaby"). He also wrote a song satirizing rocket scientist [[Wernher von Braun]], who worked for Nazi Germany before working for the United States. Lehrer did not appear on TW3; vocalist [[Nancy Ames]] performed his songs (to Lehrer's chagrin),<ref name="CrazyCollege"/> and lines were often cut from his songs.<ref name="CrazyCollege"/> Lehrer later performed nine of these songs at the [[Hungry i]] nightclub in [[San Francisco]], and this became the album ''[[That Was the Year That Was]]'' (1965).<ref name="dmdb"/>

In 1966, BBC TV host [[David Frost]] returned to the UK with the BBC program ''[[The Frost Report]]''; alongside [[Julie Felix]], Lehrer provided musical satire on the weekly subject.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/thefrostreport/|title=The Frost Report|publisher=BBC Comedy|access-date=May 9, 2023|archive-date=April 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415033653/https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/thefrostreport/|url-status=live}}</ref> The show was transmitted live, and he pre-recorded all his segments at one performance.<ref name="dmdb">{{cite web|last = Morris|first = Jeff|title = Tom Lehrer Discography|publisher = Demented Music Database (dmdb.org)|url = http://dmdb.org/discographies/lehrer.disco.html|accessdate = May 8, 2023|archive-date = May 8, 2023|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230508111019/http://dmdb.org/discographies/lehrer.disco.html|url-status = live}}</ref> Lehrer was not featured in every edition, but his songs featured in an appropriate part of each show.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theofficialmartyfeldman.com/main/news/marty-meets-tom/|title=Marty meets Tom|date=January 18, 2016|publisher=The Official Marty Feldmab|access-date=May 8, 2023|archive-date=May 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230508120107/http://www.theofficialmartyfeldman.com/main/news/marty-meets-tom/|url-status=live}}</ref> At least two of his songs were not included on any of his LPs: a reworking of [[Noël Coward]]'s "That is the End of the News" (with some new lyrics)<ref>{{Citation |title=The end of the news .. heh .wmv | date=May 25, 2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lto81YU2Nj4 |language=en |access-date=December 23, 2022 |archive-date=December 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223081414/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lto81YU2Nj4 |url-status=live }}</ref> and a comic explanation of how Britain might adapt to the [[Decimal Day|coming of decimal currency]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntW9NDRHXnc |title=Lehrer Decimal The Frost Report - YouTube |website=[[YouTube]] |date=July 8, 2013 |access-date=December 23, 2022 |archive-date=December 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223103943/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntW9NDRHXnc |url-status=live }}</ref> The record deal with [[Reprise Records]] for ''That Was The Year That Was'' also gave Reprise distribution rights for his earlier recordings, because Lehrer wanted to [[Liquidation|wind up]] his own record imprint.<ref name="CrazyCollege"/> The Reprise issue of ''Songs by Tom Lehrer'' was a stereo re-recording. This version was not issued on CD, as Lehrer was unhappy with this version.<ref name="dmdb"/> The live recording included bonus tracks "L-Y" and "Silent E", two of the ten songs that he wrote for the PBS children's educational series ''[[The Electric Company (1971 TV series)|The Electric Company]]''. Lehrer later commented that worldwide sales of the recordings under Reprise surpassed 1.8 million units in 1996. That same year, ''That Was The Year That Was'' went gold.<ref name="Jim Bessman 1997"/>  The album liner notes promote his songs with self-deprecating humor, such as quoting a ''New York Times'' review from 1959: Mr. Lehrer's muse is "not fettered by such inhibiting factors as taste".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=J. S. |author-link=John S. Wilson (music critic) |date=February 9, 1959 |title=Tom Lehrer in Program; Offers His Brand of 'Sick' Humor at Town Hall |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/02/09/archives/tom-lehrer-in-program-offers-his-brand-of-sick-humor-at-town-hall.html |access-date=October 22, 2020 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026061902/https://www.nytimes.com/1959/02/09/archives/tom-lehrer-in-program-offers-his-brand-of-sick-humor-at-town-hall.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Lehrer toured Sweden, Norway and Denmark in 1967;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/songs%20by%20tom%20lehrer.pdf|title=Songs by Tom Lehrer|publisher=LOC.gov|access-date=May 8, 2023|archive-date=May 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230522064135/https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/songs%20by%20tom%20lehrer.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> his concert in Oslo was recorded for Danish television and subsequently released on DVD some 40 years later.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://premiereoperaintl.com/dvd16802tomlehrerlivefromoslo.aspx|title=Premiere Opera|access-date=November 13, 2020|archive-date=November 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114124755/https://premiereoperaintl.com/dvd16802tomlehrerlivefromoslo.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> He performed as a prominent international guest at the ''Studenterforeningen'' (student association) in Copenhagen, which was televised, and he commented on stage that he might be America's "revenge for [[Victor Borge]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/6funswede |title=The Tom Lehrer Wisdom Channel |publisher=YouTube |date=September 11, 1967 |access-date=October 27, 2015 |archive-date=June 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130628092336/http://www.youtube.com/6funswede |url-status=live }}</ref> He performed original songs in a [[Dodge]] automobile industrial film distributed primarily to automobile dealers and shown at promotional events in 1967, set in a fictional American wild west town and titled ''The Dodge Rebellion Theatre presents Ballads For '67''.<ref name=barryhansen/><ref>{{cite web|title=The Dodge industrial Film|url=http://home.broadpark.no/~emeyn/tl/dodge.html|website=The Tom Lehrer Wisdom Channel|access-date=March 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420112540/http://home.broadpark.no/~emeyn/tl/dodge.html|archive-date=April 20, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> He attempted to adapt [[Sweeney Todd]] as a Broadway musical, working with [[Joe Raposo]], to star [[Jerry Colonna (entertainer)|Jerry Colonna]]. They started a few songs but, as Lehrer noted, "Nothing ever came of it, and of course twenty years later [[Stephen Sondheim]] beat me to the punch."<ref name="Todd">{{cite book|last1=Nachman|first1=Gerald|title=Seriously funny the rebel comedians of the 1950s and 1960s|date=2003|publisher=Pantheon Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0307490728|page=149|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=45tG8jqrx5oC&pg=PA149|access-date=September 11, 2016|archive-date=August 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817202331/https://books.google.com/books?id=45tG8jqrx5oC&pg=PA149|url-status=live}}</ref>

===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.

===Revivals and reissues===
[[File:Portrait of Tom Lehrer in c. 1983 (retouched).jpg|thumb|left|upright|Lehrer {{circa|1983}}]]
Lehrer's music became a staple of the [[Doctor Demento]] Show when it began national syndication in 1977.<ref>Billboard Magazine pg 19. July 10, 1982, Vol. 94, No. 27 ISSN 0006-2510</ref>
In 1980, [[Cameron Mackintosh]] produced ''[[Tomfoolery (musical)|Tomfoolery]]'', a revue of Lehrer's songs that was a hit on the London stage. Lehrer was not initially involved with the show, but he was pleased with it; he eventually gave the stage production his full support and updated several of his lyrics for the show. ''Tomfoolery'' contained 27 songs and led to more than 200 productions,<ref name="Jim Bessman 1997"/> including an Off-Broadway production at the [[Village Gate]] which ran for 120 performances in 1981.<ref>{{iobdb title|2186|Tomfoolery}}</ref> Lehrer made a rare TV appearance on [[BBC]]'s ''[[Parkinson (TV series)|Parkinson]]'' show in conjunction with the ''Tomfoolery'' premiere in 1980 at the [[Criterion Theatre]] in London, where he sang "I Got It from Agnes".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/43413/tom-lehrer-collection-cd-dvd-the/ |title=The Tom Lehrer Collection (CD + DVD) : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video |publisher=Dvdtalk.com |access-date=October 27, 2015 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924044309/http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/43413/tom-lehrer-collection-cd-dvd-the/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|EDeRYmB4t6Q|Tom Lehrer: I Got It From Agnes}}—from "Parkinson" 1980</ref> There were "Tomfoolery" performances in San Francisco about 1982 and in 2018–19. "Tomfoolery" was performed at the Arena Stage Theater in Washington, DC, in 1982.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lehrer |first=Tom |date=1982-01-03 |title=Tom Lehrer: Live & Off-color |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1982/01/03/tom-lehrer-live-38/079cd514-2b53-4183-a6d0-bcef22696a9b/ |access-date=2025-05-18 |work=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> In 1993, he wrote "That's Mathematics" for the closing credits to a [[Mathematical Sciences Research Institute]] video<ref>{{cite web|title=Fermat's Last Theorem - The Theorem and Its Proof: An Exploration of Issues and Ideas|url=http://videodl.msri.org/data/000/022/041/original/fermat-fermat-QuickTime.mov|website=MSRI|publisher=Mathematical Sciences Research Institute|location=Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco|date=July 28, 1993|access-date=April 7, 2017|archive-date=August 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809100706/http://videodl.msri.org/data/000/022/041/original/fermat-fermat-QuickTime.mov|url-status=live}}</ref> celebrating the proof of [[Fermat's Last Theorem]].

On June 7 and 8, 1998, Lehrer performed in public for the first time in 18 years at the [[Lyceum Theatre, London]] as part of the show ''[[Hey, Mr. Producer!]]'' celebrating the career of Cameron Mackintosh, who had produced ''Tomfoolery''. The June 8 show was his only performance before [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]]. Lehrer sang "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" and an updated version of the nuclear proliferation song "Who's Next?".<ref>{{YouTube|hf-eIgFJg4w|Tom Lehrer - Poisoning Pigeons In The Park (live, 1998).}}</ref>

In 2000, Lehrer commented that he doubted his songs had any real effect on those not already critical of the establishment: "I don't think this kind of thing has an impact on the unconverted, frankly. It's not even preaching to the converted; it's titillating the converted&nbsp;... I'm fond of quoting [[Peter Cook]], who talked about the satirical Berlin [[Kabarett]]s of the 1930s, which did so much to stop the rise of Hitler and prevent the Second World War."<ref name="avclub">{{cite web|last=Thompson|first=Stephen|date=May 24, 2000|title=Tom Lehrer Interview · The A.V. Club|url=https://www.avclub.com/tom-lehrer-1798208112|access-date=October 27, 2015|publisher=Avclub.com|archive-date=August 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829120231/http://www.avclub.com/tom-lehrer-1798208112|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lehrer has said, jokingly, of his musical career: "If, after hearing my songs, just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend, or perhaps to strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while."<ref name="Songs 1997" />
In 2003, Lehrer commented that his particular brand of political satire is more difficult in the modern world: "The real issues I don't think most people touch. The [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] jokes are all about [[Monica Lewinsky]] and all that stuff and not about the important things, like the fact that he wouldn't ban land mines&nbsp;... I'm not tempted to write a song about [[George W. Bush]]. I couldn't figure out what sort of song I would write. That's the problem: I don't want to satirize George Bush and his puppeteers, I want to vaporize them."<ref name="smh" />  Earlier, he had said:  "Political satire became obsolete when [[Henry Kissinger]] was awarded the Nobel peace prize."<ref>Todd S. Purdom, [https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2000/jul/31/artsfeatures1" 'When Kissinger won the Nobel peace prize, satire died' "], ''The Guardian'', July 31, 2000.</ref>

In 2000, the boxed CD set ''The Remains of Tom Lehrer'' was released by [[Rhino Entertainment]]. It included live and studio versions of his first two albums, ''That Was The Year That Was'', the songs that he wrote for ''The Electric Company'', some previously unreleased material, and a small hardbound lyrics book with an introduction by [[Dr. Demento]]. In 2010, [[Shout! Factory]] launched a reissue campaign, making Lehrer's out-of-print albums available digitally. The CD/DVD combo ''The Tom Lehrer Collection'' was also issued, including his best-known songs, with a DVD featuring an Oslo concert.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126189232 |title=Tom Lehrer: '60s Satirist Still Strikes A Chord |publisher=NPR |date=April 30, 2010 |access-date=October 27, 2015 |archive-date=September 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905114821/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126189232 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In a February 2008 phone call, [[Gene Weingarten]] of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' interviewed Lehrer [[Off the record (journalism)|off the record]]. When Weingarten asked if there was anything he could print for the record, Lehrer responded "Just tell the people that I am voting for [[Barack Obama|Obama]]."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/02/05/DI2008020502027.html |title=Chatological Humor: A Tribute to Tom Lehrer |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=February 12, 2008 |access-date=October 27, 2015 |archive-date=January 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160123021733/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/02/05/DI2008020502027.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2012, rapper [[2 Chainz]] sampled Lehrer's song "[[The Old Dope Peddler]]", on his 2012 debut album, ''[[Based on a T.R.U. Story]].'' In 2013, Lehrer said he was "very proud" to have his song sampled "literally sixty years after I recorded it".  Lehrer went on to describe his official response to the request to use his song: "As sole copyright owner of 'The Old Dope Peddler', I grant you motherfuckers permission to do this. Please give my regards to Mr. Chainz, or may I call him 2?"<ref name=bbc /><ref>{{cite magazine | last=Prospero | date=October 17, 2017 | title=Who can fill the role of Tom Lehrer today? | magazine=[[The Economist]] | url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2017/10/wit | access-date=January 1, 2018 | archive-date=December 1, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201194530/https://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2017/10/wit | url-status=live }}</ref>

Comedy label [[Stand Up! Records]] released Lehrer's holiday songs "(I’m Spending) Hanukkah in Santa Monica" and "A Christmas Carol" as a seven-inch single in 2024. The  limited-edition release also included sheet music for both songs.<ref name="JJ2024">{{cite web |url=https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/music/376941/stand-up-records-releases-tom-lehrer-vinyl-just-in-time-for-hanukkah/ |title=Stand Up! Records Releases Tom Lehrer Vinyl Just in Time for Hanukkah |last=Lobell |first=Kylie Ora |date=November 20, 2024 |website=[[The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles|Jewish Journal]] |access-date=2025-04-13}}</ref>

=== All songs in the public domain ===
In October 2020, Lehrer transferred the music and lyrics for all songs he had ever written into the [[public domain]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sanderson |first=David |date=October 22, 2020 |title=Copyright-busting website is invitation to have a laugh with Tom Lehrer |language=en |work=[[The Times]] |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/theatre-dance/article/copyright-busting-website-is-invitation-to-have-a-laugh-with-tom-lehrer-k99b6b9gh |access-date=October 22, 2020 |issn=0140-0460 |archive-date=October 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022101502/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/copyright-busting-website-is-invitation-to-have-a-laugh-with-tom-lehrer-k99b6b9gh |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=Satirist Tom Lehrer has put his songs into the public domain | first=Justin | last=Ho | work=Marketplace | date=October 21, 2020 | url=https://www.marketplace.org/2020/10/21/satirist-tom-lehrer-put-his-songs-into-public-domain/ | access-date=October 25, 2020 | archive-date=October 24, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024223019/https://www.marketplace.org/2020/10/21/satirist-tom-lehrer-put-his-songs-into-public-domain/ | url-status=live }}</ref> In November 2022, he formally relinquished the copyright and performing/recording rights on his songs, making all music and lyrics composed by him free for anyone to use, and established a website from which all of his recordings and printable copies of all of his songs could be downloaded.<ref name="songs">{{Cite web |url=https://tomlehrersongs.com/ |title=Tom Lehrer Songs |access-date=December 16, 2022 |date=November 1, 2022 |language=en-us |publisher=Tom Lehrer |archive-date=November 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101152524/https://tomlehrersongs.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> His statement releasing all his works into the public domain concludes with this note: "This website will be shut down at some date in the not too distant future, so if you want to download anything, don't wait too long."<ref name="songs" />

==Musical legacy==
In 1967, Swedish actor [[Lars Ekborg]], known outside Sweden for his part in [[Ingmar Bergman]]'s ''[[Summer with Monika]]'', made an album called ''I Tom Lehrers vackra värld'' ("In the beautiful world of Tom Lehrer"), with 12 of Lehrer's songs interpreted in Swedish. Lehrer wrote in a letter to the producer Per-Anders Boquist that, "Not knowing any Swedish, I am obviously not equipped to judge, but it sounds to me as though Mr. Ekborg is perfect for the songs", along with further compliments to pianist Leif Asp for unexpected additional flourishes.<ref>Liner notes (translation): {{cite book|last1=Holmgren|first1=Pontus|title=Lars Ekborg i Tom Lehrer's Vackra Värld|date=2002|publisher=Amigo|location=Sweden|url=http://www.tomlehrer.org/covers/ekborgnotes1.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150621060642/http://www.tomlehrer.org/covers/ekborgnotes1.html|archive-date=June 21, 2015}}</ref>

In 1971, Argentinian singer [[Nacha Guevara]] sang Spanish versions of several Lehrer songs for the show/live album ''Este es el año que es''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tomlehrer.org/covers/guevara.html |title=Nacha Guevara |access-date=September 20, 2023 | website=TomLehrer.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219063342/http://www.tomlehrer.org/covers/guevara.html |archive-date=February 19, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.nachaguevaraweb.com/index.php/1971-este-es-el-ano-que-es|title=Este es el año que es|last1=Guevara|first1=Nacha|date=1971|publisher=Music Hall|location=Argentina|access-date=February 26, 2019|archive-date=February 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226111128/https://www.nachaguevaraweb.com/index.php/1971-este-es-el-ano-que-es|url-status=live}} Track list and lyrics (Spanish).</ref>

Composer [[Randy Newman]] said of Lehrer, "He's one of the great American songwriters without a doubt, right up there with everybody, the top guys. As a lyricist, as good as there's been in the last half of the 20th century."<ref name=bbc /> Singer and comedian [[Dillie Keane]] has acknowledged Lehrer's influence on her work.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/otherresources/interviews/DillieKeane.htm|title=The British Theatre Guide: Interview with Dillie Keane|access-date=December 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091008023413/http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/otherresources/interviews/DillieKeane.htm|archive-date=October 8, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Dr. Demento]] praised Lehrer as "the best musical satirist of the twentieth century." Other artists who cite Lehrer as an influence include [["Weird Al" Yankovic]], whose work generally addresses more [[pop culture|popular]] and less technical or political subjects,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.weirdal.com/faq.htm |title=Weird Al's FAQs |author="Weird Al" Yankovic |author-link="Weird Al" Yankovic|publisher=Weirdal.com |access-date=June 12, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060902235037/http://www.weirdal.com/faq.htm|archive-date=September 2, 2006}}</ref> and educator and scientist [[H. Paul Shuch]], who tours under the stage name Dr. SETI, and calls himself "a cross between [[Carl Sagan]] and Tom Lehrer: He sings like Sagan and lectures like Lehrer."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.setileague.org/admin/paul.htm|title=SETI League executive director emeritus Dr. H. Paul Shuch|website=Setileague.org|access-date=April 7, 2017|archive-date=April 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170408082650/http://www.setileague.org/admin/paul.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Yankovic saw [[Daniel Radcliffe]] (who called Lehrer his "hero")<ref>{{Citation |title=Daniel Radcliffe sings "The Elements" - The Graham Norton Show - Series 8 Episode 4 - BBC One | date=November 12, 2010 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSAaiYKF0cs |language=en |access-date=November 4, 2022 |archive-date=November 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221103231819/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSAaiYKF0cs |url-status=live }}</ref> perform "The Elements" on ''[[The Graham Norton Show]]'' in his native United Kingdom, which led to Radcliffe starring in ''[[Weird: The Al Yankovic Story]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/daniel-radcliffe-weird-al-biopic-elements-song-1235115049/|title=Daniel Radcliffe Says He Landed 'Weird Al' Role Due to Novelty Song He Performed for Rihanna|date=March 19, 2022|first=Ryan|last=Gajewski|website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|access-date=September 21, 2023|archive-date=May 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513065720/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/daniel-radcliffe-weird-al-biopic-elements-song-1235115049/|url-status=live}}</ref>

From January 16 to February 25, 2006, the play ''[[Letters from Lehrer]]'', written and performed by Canadian [[Richard Greenblatt (playwright)|Richard Greenblatt]], ran at [[Canadian Stage Company|CanStage]] in Toronto. It followed Lehrer's musical career, the meaning of several songs, the politics of the time, and Greenblatt's own experiences with Lehrer's music, while playing some of Lehrer's songs.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ouzounian|first=Richard|date=January 29, 2006|title=Letters From Lehrer|url=https://variety.com/2006/legit/reviews/letters-from-lehrer-1200518948/|access-date=November 11, 2021|website=Variety|language=en-US|archive-date=November 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211111164139/https://variety.com/2006/legit/reviews/letters-from-lehrer-1200518948/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the March 16, 2006, issue of [[New York (magazine)|''New York'' magazine]], [[Donald Fagen]] of [[Steely Dan]] named Tom Lehrer among the writers who had influenced him and his songwriting partner [[Walter Becker]]. "We also liked comic songwriting, like Tom Lehrer. He was a piano player and songwriter who wrote these grim, funny songs."<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://nymag.com/arts/popmusic/profiles/16453/ |title=Influences: Donald Fagen |author=Williams, Ben |work=New York Magazine |date=March 16, 2006 |access-date=June 30, 2023 |archive-date=June 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630221931/https://nymag.com/arts/popmusic/profiles/16453/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2010, the German musician-comedian Felix Janosa released an album with the title "Tauben vergiften: Die bösen Lieder von Tom Lehrer" ("Poisoning pigeons: The Evil Songs of Tom Lehrer"), with German versions of some of his best-known songs.<ref>{{Citation|title=Tauben vergiften - Die bösen Lieder des Tom Lehrer - Felix Janosa {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits {{!}} AllMusic|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/tauben-vergiften-die-b%C3%B6sen-lieder-des-tom-lehrer-mw0002570106|language=en|access-date=November 11, 2021|archive-date=November 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211111164139/https://www.allmusic.com/album/tauben-vergiften-die-b%C3%B6sen-lieder-des-tom-lehrer-mw0002570106|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2024, [[Francis Beckett]] wrote a play ''Tom Lehrer Is Teaching Math and Doesn't Want to Talk to You'', which features Lehrer's music and was performed with Lehrer's tacit approval at the [[Upstairs at The Gatehouse]] theatre in [[Highgate, London]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/may/22/my-songs-spread-like-herpes-why-did-satirical-genius-tom-lehrer-swap-worldwide-fame-for-obscurity|title=My songs spread like herpes, why did satirical genius Tom Lehrer swap worldwide fame for obscurity|author=Beckett, Francis |work=[[The Guardian]] |date = 22 May 2024|access-date=30 May 2024}}</ref><ref name="O'Brien">{{Cite web |url=https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/tom-lehrer-is-teaching-math-and-doesnt-want-to-talk-to-you-review/|last=O'Brien |first=John |date=30 May 2024 |title=Tom Lehrer is Teaching Math and Doesn't Want to Talk to You  |access-date=31 May 2024 |website=LondonTheatre1}}</ref>

Performers influenced by Lehrer's style include American political satirist [[Mark Russell]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.holecity.com/asp/newshole.asp?issue=10&sec=7&hole=1 |title=NewsHole |publisher=Holecity.com |date=March 5, 2000 |access-date=June 12, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013212746/http://holecity.com/asp/newshole.asp?issue=10&sec=7&hole=1 |archive-date=October 13, 2007 }}</ref> Canadian comedian and songwriter [[Randy Vancourt]], and the British duo Kit and The Widow. Composer/cabarettist [[Leonard Lehrman]] extended three of Lehrer's songs, writing a new verse 4 to "Clementine",<ref>{{Citation|title=20230311 20 Clementine| date=March 25, 2023 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spO4TPdE9bg|language=en|access-date=April 30, 2023|archive-date=May 1, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501030257/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spO4TPdE9bg&gl=US&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref> a new verse 2 to "Hanukkah in Santa Monica",<ref>{{Citation|title=20170409 07 Hanukka in SantaMonica + GootYuntif| date=April 15, 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWuuBO7DWwk|language=en|access-date=April 30, 2023|archive-date=May 1, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501030247/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWuuBO7DWwk|url-status=live}}</ref> and a new verse 3 to "The Elements".<ref>{{Citation|title=04+202100601 The Elements Updated (2021)| date=June 2, 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKtpaHqP6ig|language=en|access-date=April 30, 2023|archive-date=May 1, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501030244/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKtpaHqP6ig|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lehrer has been referred to as the "King of Satire" by fans.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Porter |first=Zeth J. "Bishop" |title=The Fate of the King: A Study of Tom Lehrer |publisher=Brainy Books |date=26 March 2023 |location=Tomball, TX |pages=8 |language=en}}</ref>

==Discography==
;Studio albums
* ''[[Songs by Tom Lehrer]]'' (1953), re-recorded in 1966
* ''[[More of Tom Lehrer]]'' (1959)

;Live albums
* ''[[An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer]]'' (1959)
* ''[[Revisited (Tom Lehrer album)|Revisited]]'' (1960)
* ''Tom Lehrer Discovers Australia (And Vice Versa)'' (1960; Australia-only)
* ''[[That Was the Year That Was]]'' (1965)

; Compilation albums
* ''Tom Lehrer in Concert'' (1994; UK compilation)
* ''[[Songs & More Songs by Tom Lehrer]]'' (1997; US compilation of his first two studio albums with additional songs)
* ''[[The Remains of Tom Lehrer]]'' (2000)
* ''The Tom Lehrer Collection'' (2010)
* ''The Conducted Tom Lehrer'' (2023; Adds instrumental versions of four songs, with an additional song, 'Trees', that was never released before)

; Singles
* "(I’m Spending) Hanukkah in Santa Monica"/"A Christmas Carol" ([[Stand Up! Records]], 2024)<ref name="JJ2024"/>

Many of Lehrer's songs are performed by others in ''[[That Was The Week That Was#Alternative versions|That Was The Week That Was]]'' (Radiola LP, 1981).

The sheet music of many songs is published in ''The Tom Lehrer Song Book'' (Crown Publishers Inc., 1954; Library of Congress Card Catalog Number 54-12068) and ''Too Many Songs by Tom Lehrer: With Not Enough Drawings by [[Ronald Searle]]'' (Pantheon, 1981, {{isbn|0-394-74930-8}}; Methuen, 1999, {{isbn|978-0-413-74230-8}}). A second song book, ''Tom Lehrer's Second Song Book'', is out of print, {{isbn|978-0517502167}}.

==Publications==
The [[American Mathematical Society]] database lists him as co-author of two papers:

* {{cite journal |author1=R. E. Fagen |author2=T. A. Lehrer |title=Random walks with restraining barrier as applied to the biased binary counter |journal=Journal of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics |volume=6 |number=1 |date=March 1958 |pages=1–14 |mr=0094856 |jstor=2098858 |doi=10.1137/0106001 |ref=none}}
* {{cite journal |author1=T. Austin |author2=R. Fagen |author3=T. Lehrer |author4= W. Penney |title=The distribution of the number of locally maximal elements in a random sample|journal=Annals of Mathematical Statistics |volume=28 |number=3 |date=1957 |pages=786–790 |mr=0091251 |doi=10.1214/aoms/1177706893|doi-access=free |ref=none}}
Two of Lehrer's songs were reprinted, with his permission, in [[Mad (magazine)|''Mad'' magazine]]:<ref>{{Cite web|title=Doug Gilford's Mad Cover Site - Mad Magazine Contributors - Master List|url=https://madcoversite.com/ugoi-master.html#tom_lehrer|access-date=December 21, 2021|website=madcoversite.com|archive-date=December 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221164227/https://madcoversite.com/ugoi-master.html#tom_lehrer|url-status=live}}</ref>

* ''Tom Lehrer Sings "The Wild West is Where I Want To Be"'' (illustrated by [[George Woodbridge (illustrator)|George Woodbridge]], ''MAD'' #32, April 1957)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Doug Gilford's Mad Cover Site - Mad #32|url=https://madcoversite.com/mad032.html|access-date=December 21, 2021|website=madcoversite.com|archive-date=November 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211116030622/https://www.madcoversite.com/mad032.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''Tom Lehrer's "The Hunting Song"'' (illustrated by George Woodbridge, ''MAD'' #35, October 1957)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Doug Gilford's Mad Cover Site - Mad #35|url=https://madcoversite.com/mad035.html|access-date=December 21, 2021|website=madcoversite.com|archive-date=November 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211116030629/https://www.madcoversite.com/mad035.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|s=Author:Thomas Andrew Lehrer|d=Q369724|q=Tom Lehrer|c=Category:Tom Lehrer|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|wikt=no|species=no}}
* {{cite web |url= http://www.tomlehrer.org |title= Official website |url-status= live |archive-date= May 21, 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080521170618/http://www.tomlehrer.org/ }}
* {{Official website|https://tomlehrersongs.com}} (Songs) {{font |size= 70% |text= {{blockquote |text= ... [[Public Domain]]... This website will be shut down at some date in the not too distant future, so if you want to download anything, don't wait too long... |author= Tom Lehrer |source=''Disclaimer'' (Nov 26, 2022) }} }}
* {{YouTube|c=UCQMo1CbI1PHFWnZl-76NbJw|Tom Lehrer Topic}} {{font |size= 70% |text= Auto-generated by YouTube }}
* {{Discogs artist|Tom Lehrer}}
* {{IMDb name|0499875}}
* {{IMSLP|id=Lehrer%2C_Tom|cname=Tom Lehrer}}
* {{cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009mw2k |format= podcast |title= Tom Lehrer |work= Interview |publisher= BBC Radio 4 |series= [[Desert Island Discs]] |date= July 18, 1980 |display-authors= 0 |first= Roy |last= Plomley }}
* [https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/musicshow/tom-lehrer-satirist-songwriter-topp-twins-new-zealand/13283452 Tom Lehrer and The Topp Twins - ABC Radio National]  (podcast). ''Interview''. Conversation recorded in 2000, re-broadcast in 2021
* {{cite web |url= http://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/LehrerInterview.pdf |title= Tom Lehrer |work= Interview |publisher= [[Library of Congress]] |date= July 22, 2015 |quote= ... [[Joan Baez]]—whom I've never met—was asked in an interview if she sang lullabies to her baby. She said that doesn't work, but she sings "[[The Old Dope Peddler]]" to him and he goes right to sleep. }}

{{Tom_Lehrer|state=expanded}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehrer, Tom}}
[[Category:Tom Lehrer| ]]
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