Tom Lehrer

In die middel van die 1950s - op die hoogtepunt van die Koue Oorlog en kernoorlog paranoia - het 'n Harvard wiskunde lektor, Tom Lehrer, 'n song geskryf waarmee hy die mensdom wou troos. Dit was We Will All Go Together When We Go

We will all go together when we go.

All suffuse with an incandescent glow.

No one will have the endurance

To collect on his insurance, 

Lloyd's of London will be loaded when they go.

Oh we will all fry together when we fry.

We'll be french fried potatoes by and by.

There will be no more misery

When the world is our rotisserie, 

Yes, we will all fry together when we fry.

Down by the old maelstrom, 

There'll be a storm before the calm.

And we will all bake together when we bake.

There'll be nobody present at the wake.

With complete participation

In that grand incineration, 

Nearly three billion hunks of well-done steak.

Die wereld het nooit weer 'n Tom Lehrer gehad nie. Sy liedjies was bitter en suur en briljant soos niks wat nog ooit bestaan het nie.

Oor sy eie vakgebied in akademia het hy gesing aan die hand van sy wiskundige inspirasie Lobachevsky 

I am never forget the day I first meet the great Lobachevsky.

In one word he told me secret of success in mathematics: 

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".

Sy beroemdste lied, en die een die een wat herhaaldelik deur ander kunstenaars gesing word, was Poisoning Pigeons in the Park.

All the world seems in tune on a spring afternoon
When we're poisoning pigeons in the park

Every Sunday you'll see my sweetheart and me

As we poison the pigeons in the park

When they see us coming

The birdies all try and hide

But they still go for peanuts

When coated with cyanide

Lehrer het geen perke geken nie. Terwyl Amerika in die maan-resies met die Sowjet Unie was, het hy die lied Werner von Braun geskryf. [ von Braun was die Duitse uivinder van die V2 Rockets wat na die oorlog vir NASA gaan werk het ].

A man whose allegiance

Is ruled by expedience.

Call him a Nazi, he won't even frown,

"Nazi, Schmazi," says Wernher von Braun.

Don't say that he's hypocritical,

Say rather that he's apolitical.

"Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down?

That's not my department," says Wernher von Braun.

Lehrer het outydse ballade vorms gebruik met perverse effek

When the shades of night are falling,

Comes a fellow everyone knows.

It's the old dope peddler,

Spreading joy wherever he goes.

En 'n parodie van die Boy Scout leuse, Be Prepared!

Be prepared! To hide that pack of cigarettes,

Don't make book if you cannot cover bets.

Keep those reefers hidden where you're sure

That they will not be found

And be careful not to smoke them

When the scoutmaster's around

En die lied So Long Mom in die stapel van soldate wat hul familie totsiens waai van die boot af - oppad na die oorlog, vermoedelik Wereldoorlog 3

Remember, mommy,

I'm off to get a commie,

So send me a salami,

And try to smile somehow.

I'll look for you when the war is over,

An hour and a half from now!

Die Vatican Rag - 'n dans vir die Pous

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!

Lehrer het gesing in die 1950s en toe skielik verdwyn. Daar was nooit weer so iemand nie. 

Ek het die ander dag gewonder wat van hom geword het, ge-Google en raai wat: Tom Lehrer is alive and well and living in Cambridge, Mass - 87 jaar oud. [ dis 2015 ]

Hy het in die 1960s afgetree (hy kon nie die hippies se optimisme hanteer nie) en daarna gerus vir die res van sy lewe.

Hy het nooit die impuls gehad om 'n comeback te maak nie. Sy 40 swart siniese songs bly nog die Gold Standard. 

Is dit nie die droom nie?