Tom Lehrer died today. He was one of the great comedians our culture ever produced. Without Tom, there's no Weird Al, probably no that entire branch of comedy. He went alone and beat the odds. youtu.be/frAEmhqdLFs?...
Replies
That is about 6 well known people that died this week.
jul 28, 2025, 12:40 am • 3 1 • view
I discovered his songs for 1st time around end of last year/beginning of this. I instantly went in love with them. They were for sure set during time they were written, but still felt very fresh and funny.
jul 29, 2025, 5:17 am • 1 0 • view
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjDE... My favourite of his has gotta be Werhner Von Braun.
jul 28, 2025, 2:29 am • 15 0 • view
Nazi, schmazi . . .
jul 28, 2025, 5:26 am • 3 0 • view
He’s poisoning pigeons in the afterlife now. They know what they did youtu.be/yhuMLpdnOjY?...
jul 27, 2025, 11:47 pm • 54 3 • view
My favorite!
jul 28, 2025, 2:47 am • 1 0 • view
I love "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park"! It's his most upbeat song.
jul 27, 2025, 11:59 pm • 13 0 • view
Oedipus Rex is pretty cheerful, too
jul 28, 2025, 12:45 am • 2 0 • view
youtu.be/mScdJURKGWM?...
jul 28, 2025, 12:56 am • 2 0 • view
Don’t forget about Masochism Tango!
jul 28, 2025, 12:22 am • 13 0 • view
Thank you for posting this. As always when I hear Tom Lehrer I laugh and cry at the same time. Rest in Power!
jul 28, 2025, 9:53 pm • 1 0 • view
A great fan of Lehrer; sorry he’s gone. But Victor Borge was born in 1909, and he staked out some of the territory.
jul 28, 2025, 10:16 am • 0 0 • view
I'm 14 again. Unhooking the wire to the tv antenna and connecting it to the FM radio so I can listen to Dr. Demento and discover the intellectual madness of Tom Lehrer. RIP, sir. "You will all go directly to your respective Valhallas. Go directly. Do not pass Go. Do not collect 200 dollars."
jul 28, 2025, 12:30 am • 37 0 • view
I also listened to Dr. Demento!
jul 28, 2025, 12:43 am • 6 0 • view
me too sundays nights at 10 EST
jul 28, 2025, 1:49 am • 4 0 • view
That's how I remember it.
jul 28, 2025, 2:06 am • 2 0 • view
was just talking about him earlier this week, somebody quoted one of his songs without realizing "i'd rather have a bottle in front of me than have to have a frontal lobotomy"
jul 28, 2025, 2:09 am • 11 1 • view
bsky.app/profile/alya...
jul 28, 2025, 2:17 am • 1 0 • view
I disagree. Example: The Goons, particularly Spike Milligan
jul 28, 2025, 11:12 pm • 0 0 • view
He was amazing. Great pianist, lyricist, singer, satirist. "Vatican Rag" was a classic among so many others. There is no one comparable today and we badly need some.
jul 28, 2025, 12:13 am • 0 0 • view
I am never forget the day I first heard the great Tom Lehrer
jul 28, 2025, 4:35 pm • 1 0 • view
May his memory be a blessing!
jul 28, 2025, 9:46 am • 0 0 • view
Tom Lehrer made me the same way he made Wierd Al. My music, based on his humorous take on the world, made me write Willie songs for my kids, who knew exactly what inspired them. They texted immediately when they heard about Lehrer. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QN0... Please like, listen and subscribe.
jul 28, 2025, 12:42 pm • 3 1 • view
Two of my favorites of his (amongst many) are the Vatican Rag and the song about the elements in the periodic table.
jul 28, 2025, 12:42 am • 3 1 • view
"now let's not always see the same hands"
jul 27, 2025, 11:52 pm • 6 0 • view
a list of all the good lines from his songs would just be the text of his entire output.
jul 27, 2025, 11:55 pm • 3 0 • view
"The Lord's my shepherd says the psalm, But just in case - we better get the Bomb"
jul 28, 2025, 12:46 am • 6 0 • view
"we'll try to stay serene and calm/when alabama gets the bomb"
jul 28, 2025, 2:07 am • 4 0 • view
📌
jul 28, 2025, 10:22 pm • 0 0 • view
He’s up there doing the Vatican rag as we speak. With Frank Zappa.
jul 27, 2025, 11:50 pm • 26 0 • view
It’s a tie for me between “The Vatican Rag” and “The Ballad of Wernher Von Braun.”
jul 29, 2025, 2:57 am • 0 0 • view
I am willing to bet there's going to be a Lehrer tribute featuring famous musical comics, perhaps even Weird Al himself. If nothing else, Hexagon might do a show framed around Lehrer's work... hexagon.org
jul 28, 2025, 1:48 am • 2 0 • view
Would make a fascinating subject for your non-bastard December episode.
jul 28, 2025, 2:01 am • 1 0 • view
"I’m sure we all agree that we ought to love one another, and I know there are people in the world who do not love their fellow human beings, and I hate people like that!"
jul 28, 2025, 4:20 am • 0 0 • view
My favourite Lehrer song is “I hold your hand in mine” , the way it begins so innocently and gets more and more disturbing is brilliant.
jul 28, 2025, 11:20 pm • 2 0 • view
I could still put on my Tom Lehrer album, sing along, and not miss a word. How daring it felt as a Catholic teenager to sing "The Vatican Rag." His songs were very much of the moment, yet timeless. A true genius.
jul 27, 2025, 11:52 pm • 12 0 • view
What a loss. He was wickedly brilliant and fearless, his satire still hits just as hard today. May his sharp wit and clever wordplay keep inspiring rebels for generations.
jul 29, 2025, 9:53 pm • 1 0 • view
Ah man, that’s a disappointing bit of news. Glad he was here as long.
jul 27, 2025, 11:56 pm • 0 0 • view
Thank you so much for posting this. I had only ever heard him sing this but not seen him do it. I listened to all the Tom Lehrer songs from when I was very young my parents liked him.
jul 28, 2025, 8:35 pm • 3 0 • view
he outlived kissinger too. massive W of a human being all around
jul 28, 2025, 6:37 pm • 7 0 • view
💔
jul 28, 2025, 1:36 am • 0 0 • view
This is the exact song I shared in tribute. Also if anyone wants copies of his music, including piano sheet music, he uploaded it all to his website for free download a few years ago. Legend. tomlehrersongs.com/songs/
jul 27, 2025, 11:46 pm • 18 1 • view
Tom Lehrer was a great part of my childhood memories. Along with the late Peter Schickele aka PDQ Bach.
jul 27, 2025, 11:49 pm • 5 0 • view
I loved him. We sang his songs in camp when I was a kid.
jul 28, 2025, 12:15 am • 0 0 • view
Gosh, he was such a transcendent lyricist. Released all his work into the public domain a few years back too. Just a legend.
jul 28, 2025, 12:53 am • 3 0 • view
Who’s next? Is my favorite
jul 28, 2025, 3:05 pm • 2 0 • view
Is this the guy that Bart Simpson threw a rock at when the Simpsons went to DC?
jul 28, 2025, 5:47 am • 0 0 • view
Oh, that is sad news. I am going to go do a maschism tango on my way to bed in mourning.
jul 28, 2025, 2:01 pm • 1 0 • view
www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2IT...
jul 28, 2025, 12:26 am • 8 0 • view
RIP
jul 28, 2025, 12:07 am • 0 0 • view
What is a "Weird AI" branch of comedy?
jul 29, 2025, 7:01 am • 0 0 • view
Weird Al owes more to Allan Sherman than to Tom Lehrer
jul 28, 2025, 12:12 am • 2 0 • view
Genius. And a mildly disinterested one at that. He shaped me. (And I am oddly shaped)🍃🎹🕯️
jul 27, 2025, 11:47 pm • 2 0 • view
Genuflect, Genuflect…
jul 28, 2025, 3:06 am • 3 0 • view
It also took nearly 60 years for one of his pranks to be discovered. bsky.app/profile/opal...
jul 27, 2025, 11:48 pm • 23 1 • view
And he kept his teaching gig.
jul 28, 2025, 1:50 am • 1 0 • view
So long, Mom I’m off to drop the bomb …
jul 28, 2025, 12:38 am • 0 0 • view
He died yesterday, and it was publicized today. He's poisoning pigeons in his respective Valhalla now.
jul 28, 2025, 2:40 am • 0 0 • view
Also he worked most of his life as one of the most highly regarded mathematicians in the country. Music and comedy were just a hobby.
jul 27, 2025, 11:45 pm • 832 18 • view
Just to add: part of what made his comedy work so well was that he was also an absolutely brilliant composer and musical theorist. Graduate level musicology students study his work, and he taught masters’ classes at elite conservatories.
jul 28, 2025, 12:13 am • 5 1 • view
BtB good guys episode?
jul 27, 2025, 11:46 pm • 0 0 • view
Seems more fitting as A Cool People who did Cool Things episode.
jul 27, 2025, 11:50 pm • 4 0 • view
I'm sad he's gone but man- what a life. You can't do it much better than he did.
jul 27, 2025, 11:46 pm • 816 9 • view
when did you first hear about him?
jul 27, 2025, 11:56 pm • 0 0 • view
Yeah, my wife gave me the news and I was like "hell of an innings" and have just been singing snatches of his songs since. What a guy.
jul 27, 2025, 11:51 pm • 7 0 • view
👍 👏 💪
jul 28, 2025, 1:00 am • 0 0 • view
saw an amazing story about him earlier today. he planted a joke in a paper he wrote for nsa that went unnoticed for ~60 years bsky.app/profile/opal...
jul 27, 2025, 11:59 pm • 18 1 • view
Behind the Best Buds episode?
jul 28, 2025, 8:39 am • 8 1 • view
And he was universally regarded as being a Mensch. Just a good dude
jul 27, 2025, 11:48 pm • 18 0 • view
Truly the menschest of mensches.
jul 27, 2025, 11:50 pm • 7 0 • view
Gonna have to crank National Brotherhood Week in tribute
jul 28, 2025, 12:50 am • 0 0 • view
My dear old dad in England played me all his songs. They were same age. His work is amazing in the way it hasn't aged. Still funny and relevant
jul 28, 2025, 12:51 am • 2 0 • view
Plus he was super old too. We can each only hope to die in your 90’s after a distinguished career and beloved by millions
jul 27, 2025, 11:49 pm • 68 2 • view
Always knew him from the many times this was played in chemistry. Lovely fellow. youtu.be/AcS3NOQnsQM?...
jul 28, 2025, 11:54 pm • 0 0 • view
One of the things that makes me love him is that he was one of those true masters of a particular art who had zero qualms about giving it up once it stopped being interesting/fun for him.
jul 27, 2025, 11:50 pm • 5 0 • view
I love how the dude was all "I'm now an internationally renowned musician and songwriter, so it's time to go back to my true calling: solving for x."
jul 28, 2025, 12:11 am • 15 0 • view
Nominative determinism is no joke.
jul 28, 2025, 1:13 am • 2 0 • view
And an NSA codebreaker.
jul 27, 2025, 11:52 pm • 1 0 • view
Also invented jello shots youtu.be/NS3pN7hFJss?...
jul 28, 2025, 12:22 am • 9 0 • view
One of the last Renaissance men. My mother used him as an example of how nerds are actually the most awesome people and that we should celebrate our weirdness but not to anyone's detriment. RIP
jul 28, 2025, 12:56 am • 2 0 • view
It was a hoot when I was younger reading through one of his old mathematics papers and realizing it was by that Tom Lehrer.
jul 27, 2025, 11:47 pm • 5 0 • view
bsky.app/profile/wilw...
jul 27, 2025, 11:57 pm • 2 0 • view
That's not my department
jul 27, 2025, 11:45 pm • 27 0 • view
that's my favorite of his songs. I have listened to it hundreds of times. there's a live version where he puts real menace in the last line.
jul 27, 2025, 11:53 pm • 13 0 • view
Says Wernher Von Braun. Still relevant today — just ask the SpaceX dude.
jul 29, 2025, 2:55 am • 0 0 • view
I'm a huge Weird Al fan, but somehow I never heard about Tom Lehrer before today. I don't get it.
jul 28, 2025, 8:07 am • 0 0 • view
So today, to honor the memory of this truly great man in the fashion only those who just cannot understand a message even when delivered with a sledgehammer; RFKjr celebrated his legacy by spending the day poisoning pigeons in the park.
jul 28, 2025, 12:57 am • 4 0 • view
RIP 😢 Here is some Monty Python to soothe the pain:😉https://youtu.be/X_-q9xeOgG4?si=aDJ2jCgWZeXwu2IY
jul 28, 2025, 12:07 am • 0 0 • view
One of Mr. Lehrer’s biggest promoters over the years was the disc jockey Barry Hansen, better known as Dr. Demento, who called the songwriter “the most brilliant song satirist ever recorded.”
jul 27, 2025, 11:53 pm • 57 0 • view
I've loved Lehrer since way back but just today learned he was inspiring to both Weird Al & Dr Demento. This fuckin' rules
jul 27, 2025, 11:58 pm • 36 0 • view
The pedigree runs from Tom to Doctor Demento to Weird Al.
jul 28, 2025, 4:52 am • 3 0 • view
Was a legend in our physics department - RIP king!
jul 28, 2025, 4:02 pm • 0 0 • view
“Poisoning Pigeons in the Park”was my favorite!
jul 28, 2025, 2:46 am • 1 0 • view
He was a great radio companion when me and my son made road trips!
jul 28, 2025, 2:44 am • 0 0 • view
He taught the most amazing course in American Musical Theater at UC Santa Cruz.
jul 28, 2025, 12:26 am • 2 0 • view
One of the absolute best there ever was. A legend and a true artist!
jul 28, 2025, 1:37 am • 0 0 • view
www.google.com/search?sca_e...
jul 28, 2025, 3:35 pm • 0 0 • view
www.google.com/search?sca_e...
jul 28, 2025, 3:34 pm • 0 0 • view
www.google.com/search?sca_e...
jul 28, 2025, 3:32 pm • 0 0 • view
Thanks for posting these, I had never heard of them before.
jul 29, 2025, 1:10 pm • 0 0 • view
Ah damn. RIP to a legend.
jul 27, 2025, 11:54 pm • 0 0 • view
Sooo dark. Music for our times. Works great for the climate crisis too. We’ll all go together when we go. Nice. Not so much. 😑
jul 28, 2025, 6:45 pm • 1 0 • view
💔😢🌹🙏🏼
jul 28, 2025, 7:54 pm • 1 0 • view
My 6th grade chorus sang one of his songs…. youtu.be/JPrAuF2f_oI?...
jul 28, 2025, 12:07 am • 19 3 • view
RIP
jul 28, 2025, 12:55 am • 1 0 • view
I can see a straight line from him to one of my childhood favorites, Mark Russell of PBS.
jul 28, 2025, 1:06 am • 2 0 • view
I love that Lehrer just retired for like fifty years.
jul 28, 2025, 12:41 am • 1 0 • view
Well, he didn’t retire from working altogether. He just made mathematics his professional priority.
jul 28, 2025, 8:19 am • 1 0 • view
grew up with it, my Dad made us memorise all his lyrics.........loved him
jul 28, 2025, 9:59 am • 0 0 • view
The pigeons finally got him
jul 28, 2025, 1:13 am • 4 0 • view
"We Will All Go Together When We Go" is probably my favorite Tom Lehrer song.
jul 28, 2025, 1:04 am • 7 0 • view
Same. Brilliant.
jul 28, 2025, 2:46 am • 1 0 • view
And I'm reading he never married, never had kids -- and, indeed, the record is unusually mum for a man of his prestige, artism and longevity, on any flings and romances. Not for me to say, much as I'd like to firmly claim him for the queer family, but mightve he been an ace superstar, too?
jul 28, 2025, 8:32 am • 1 0 • view
This was a riot and I hope they put it in Fallout somewhere. So on point.
jul 28, 2025, 12:39 am • 0 0 • view
I'm pretty sure there's a New Vegas mission title that's the song title.
jul 28, 2025, 4:26 am • 0 0 • view
Tom Lehrer was a true genius.
jul 28, 2025, 12:18 am • 2 0 • view
At least he lived long enough to see Kissinger dead.
jul 28, 2025, 12:42 pm • 8 0 • view
Masterpiece.
jul 28, 2025, 12:16 am • 2 0 • view
My mom never lived in a world without Ozzy, who never lived in a world without Tom Lehrer, who never lived in a world without Mel Brooks. So I guess Mel gets the Quickening. RIP Tom. An actual motherfuckin' OG.
jul 28, 2025, 1:25 am • 6 0 • view
The brilliance. An absolute generational genius and we're so blessed he turned that intellect and talent to some of the best musical comedy ever written.
jul 28, 2025, 4:10 am • 1 0 • view
He was truly one of a kind. The world is a little less kind with him gone. 🙏🏻😢💔
jul 28, 2025, 10:11 am • 0 0 • view
I think you'd like Allan Sherman. He was a contemporary of Tom Lehrer also doing similar work. youtu.be/4yFTOvO0utY
jul 28, 2025, 12:47 am • 9 1 • view
Cornelis Vreeswijk loved it so much he did a version. (Which goes harder than the original, but still.) High tribute from a guy whose idol was Georges Brassens. Legends, all. youtu.be/7hQ6kz6UaAE
jul 28, 2025, 1:43 am • 2 0 • view
Allan Sherman has entered the chat.
jul 28, 2025, 12:08 am • 4 0 • view
Maybe it's just my nostalgic brain, but it seems that there were a lot of great satire songs back in the 1970's. Allan Sherman, Tom Lehrer, and a lot of one hit wonders that I still remember. A very creative time in music.
jul 28, 2025, 12:46 am • 2 1 • view
The music of my 20s
jul 27, 2025, 11:55 pm • 0 0 • view
RIP. I first heard Tom Lehrer in around 1967ish. We had a teacher that just returned back to Denmark after a year in Nebraska, and he thought we teenagers should learn about this guy from the USA. We spent a couple of hours in his home laughing our butts off. I have enjoyed Tom ever since.
jul 28, 2025, 2:27 am • 7 0 • view
Don't forget Mark Russell who passed away just 2 years ago.
jul 28, 2025, 12:00 am • 3 0 • view
A huge part of my high school social group. He will be missed. He will not be forgotten.
jul 28, 2025, 5:08 am • 0 0 • view
Sad day indeed, Robert.
jul 27, 2025, 11:55 pm • 0 0 • view
With the upbeat nature of the song and the lyrics, it's kind of a comforting message
jul 27, 2025, 11:49 pm • 3 0 • view
One of the great ones!
jul 28, 2025, 2:48 am • 1 0 • view
Tom Lehrer was part of my childhood. "That was the year that was". The songs are in my head to this day. Recently I've been singing "First we got the bomb" as I reflect on the state of things. And "Werner Von Braun" I don't care where they come down That's not my department Said Werner Von Braun
jul 28, 2025, 1:08 am • 3 0 • view
And he was tight with 2 Chainz
jul 27, 2025, 11:48 pm • 4 0 • view
Back when it was cool to Make America Smart
jul 28, 2025, 3:28 am • 0 0 • view
He was a genius.
jul 29, 2025, 2:53 am • 0 0 • view
Weird Al would probably tell you Spike Jones too but yeah
jul 27, 2025, 11:54 pm • 2 0 • view
Spike Jones was also brilliant. The bands he put together were out of this world.
jul 27, 2025, 11:57 pm • 1 0 • view
youtu.be/pvhYqeGp_Do?...
jul 28, 2025, 12:30 am • 9 1 • view
Was a kid in Catholic school when this came out. Blew me away. RIP
jul 28, 2025, 1:44 am • 3 0 • view
Yes RIP 🙏
jul 28, 2025, 4:34 am • 1 0 • view
My band is already doing a Homer &Jethro comedy tune at labor day concert but dang it would be nice to do something by lehrer too
jul 28, 2025, 12:31 am • 0 0 • view
Who is Weird Artificial Intelligence?
jul 27, 2025, 11:52 pm • 1 0 • view
Dang, Tom was a GOAT
jul 28, 2025, 12:25 am • 0 0 • view
Damn, I loved hearing his stuff, he was funny but classy, a strange combo you just can't find today.
jul 28, 2025, 12:29 am • 0 0 • view
😢
jul 28, 2025, 12:33 am • 0 0 • view
He's so important to Weird Al that Daniel Radcliff was cast as Al BECAUSE he was a massive Lehrer fan.
jul 28, 2025, 12:00 am • 0 0 • view
Major memories here. In the mid 70’s I Iivedd with my dad and stepmom as a teen. Tom Lehrer was someone they had records of that I listened to out of curiosity and loved him at 15.
jul 28, 2025, 3:24 am • 1 0 • view
I’ve been watching the movie ‘War Games’ when I came across this prescient video “Strange Game! The only way to win is not to play.” #Synchronicity
jul 28, 2025, 4:21 am • 3 0 • view
Wow, so sad, almost 60 yrs since I first enjoyed his music. I still listen to it to this day.
jul 28, 2025, 3:26 am • 4 0 • view