Tom Lehrer: Famous American satirist, singer and pianist Tom Lehrer, whose witty and bitter social comments shocked America in the 1950s and 60s, is no more in this world. He breathed his last at the age of 97.
Lehrer died on Saturday at his home, Cambridge, Massachusetts. His friends confirmed the news.
The journey from mathematician to satirist
Tom Lehrer began his career as a professor. He taught mathematics at Harvard and then at UC Santa Cruz. He often joked, “I don’t need to do this, I can make $3,000 a year by teaching.” Still, music always remained special in his life.
In the 1950s, when America was full of hope, Lehrer’s black comedy was a means of raising social issues. He recorded and released his first two albums himself, which earned him popularity among college students and underground audiences.
Satire on controversial topics
Lehrer’s songs touched on topics such as sexuality (“The Masochism Tango”), drug addiction (“The Old Dope Peddler”), homosexuality (“Be Prepared”) and militarism (“It Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier”)—all of which were considered taboo at the time.
His popularity peaked with NBC’s American TV show “That Was the Week That Was (TW3).” The show was already popular in Britain, and American audiences loved Lehrer’s sharp satire.
Chartbuster albums and outlandish songs
His 1965 album “That Was the Year That Was” took him to number 18 on the charts. It included satirical comments on racial discrimination (“National Brotherhood Week”), nuclear war (“So Long Mom”), the Catholic Church (“The Vatican Rag”) and the education system (“The New Math”).
Gifted from childhood, Harvard student in adolescence
Lehrer was born to a Jewish family in New York and began learning piano at age 7. He was a math genius who enrolled at Harvard College at age 15 and graduated magna cum laude in 1946. He earned a master’s degree the following year and spent 15 years working on a Ph.D.
In 1953, he recorded “Songs of Tom Lehrer” in a Boston studio for just $40, with a photo of him looking like a devil at a piano on the cover. The album was a hit on campus and sold 10,000 copies.
Famous songs like ‘The Elements’ and ‘Poisoning Pigeons in the Park’
In 1959, he released his second album “More of Tom Lehrer”, which included his famous songs “The Elements”, “The Masochism Tango” and “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park”. This album put him in the ranks of “sick humor” comedians of that era, such as Lenny Bruce and Mort Sahl.
Return to education and musical legacy
In 1972, he wrote some songs for the PBS educational program “The Electric Company” and participated in fundraising events for Democratic candidate George McGovern. He then returned to full-time education and taught mathematics and musical theater at UC Santa Cruz for several years.
His songs live on in people’s memories. Dr. His songs were played on Demento’s radio show, a stage show called “Tomfoolery” took place in London in 1980, and a box set of all his songs called “The Remains of Tom Lehrer” was released in 2000.
Personal Life
Tom Lehrer never married and has no children.
Conclusion
Tom Lehrer was an artist who established satire as an art form. He not only exposed the inconsistencies of society through humor, but also made unprecedented contributions to education and music—both fields he contributed to. His legacy will always remain immortal, whether it is classic satire or mathematical humor.