Saving The Best For Last: Tom Lehrer That Was The Year That Was Still Kills!

The Good: Funny, Well-sung, Good voice, Interesting interstitials, Good musical moments
The Bad: Some references are dated.
The Basics: Perhaps a perfect humor album That Was The Year That Was resonates even forty years later.


As I reach my final review in the collection of the works of musical comedian Tom Lehrer, I find myself pleased at the irony. It was the album That Was The Year That Was that first led me to Tom Lehrer. I was given this album originally as a bootlegged cassette from the first person I fell in love with and I still have that somewhere in a shoebox. I have long since upgraded to the legitimate compact disc and I find myself listening to this album whenever I want to smile.

The truth is, despite the fact that I have nostalgic ties to it, That Was The Year That Was is easily one of the most enduring albums of musical comedy since comedy was first recorded and sold on LPs. It was originally released in 1965 and the humor is (mostly) still as fresh today as it was when it was originally recorded and released. In truth, the reason this album can survive as long as it has, despite having some very specific references to the time period, is that Tom Lehrer has a singular wit. Hell, he has wit, which puts him ahead of the vast number of supposed comedians to come down the pike since!

With fourteen tracks, clocking in at 37:10, That Was The Year That Was is certainly a reflection of the talent and genius of mathematician turned performance artist Tom Lehrer. He wrote all of the songs and performs the piano for each track. Strangely, this is one of the few albums he does not take a production credit on. Still, he performs introductions for each song on the album, acting as a little bit of standup between each track.

The thing is, That Was The Year That Was is arguably the most original full album Lehrer ever released and it was his last complete one. The other albums he released, he recorded as studio versions and then later as live performances. That Was The Year That Was was recorded live and the crowd noises in the background laugh at the appropriate moments and applaud, giving the listener the feeling of being a part of that audience.

Lehrer's genius starts with the lyrics and on That Was The Year That Was he sings about popular culture ("The Folk Song Army"), military build-up ("Send The Marines"), and the state of education in the United States ("New Math"). Lehrer is fearlessly satirical with he sings, "Oh, the Protestants hat the Catholics, / And the Catholics hate the Protestants, / And the Hindus hate the Muslims / And ev'rybody hates the Jews. / But during National Brotherhood Week . . .It's National Ev'ryone-smile-at-one-another-hood Week, / Be nice to people who / Are inferior to you. / It's only for a week . . ." ("National Brotherhood Week"). Lehrer predates political correctness and his ability to address interethnic conflict frankly is admirable. As a product of one of the most turbulent times in American History it is refreshing to hear that someone tried to make light of it while educating listeners to the dangers of hatred.

In addition to dealing with the problems in interethnic relations in the 1960s, Lehrer is unabashedly liberal in his views on disarmament. Seeing the dangers of nuclear proliferation, he managed to make a surprisingly timeless song out of things like brinkmanship. He calls the world leaders out with lines like, "Sleep, baby, sleep, in peace may you slumber, / No danger lurks, your sleep to encumber. / We've got the missiles, peace to determine, / And one of the fingers on the button will be German" ("MLF Lullaby"). He seems quite in tune with the concept of the dangers of nuclear war as well on the song "So Long Mom (A Song For World War III)."

It is not all war and pacifism songs, though. In fact, one of the funniest songs resonates today because it is about the value of pornography. Lehrer makes the fight over erotica humorous when he sings, "Stories of tortures / Used by debauchers, / Lurid, licentious, and vile / Make me smile. / Novels that pander / To my taste for candor / Give me a pleasure sublime . . . When correctly viewed, / Ev'rything is lewd" ("Smut"). That type of humor makes the album rather adult, though the language is perfectly clean on the tracks.

The thing is, in addition to writing, Lehrer has the ability to sing. He takes on complex mathematics on "New Math" and the truth is, he does not miss a beat, he does not mumble throughout the entire song and considering the strings of numbers he goes through, this is impressive. Moreover, he stretches his range by going higher and lower on various tracks, all the while being both articulate and funny.

The tunes on That Was The Year That Was are all piano pieces and while they are not the most complex in the world, they are sophisticated enough that they sound good when repeated for years and years on end and I know I couldn't play them. In truth, no one is buying this album for its musical sophistication; they will seek it out for the humor and that remains golden.

There are a few references that Lehrer makes that might take a little research, like referencing Massachusetts as having three Senators, but strangely the album does not seem crippled by being dated. Instead, this is humor that manages to hold up.

As a fan of Tom Lehrer's works, I would be remiss in simply recommending this disc when there is the definitive boxed set of Lehrer's works. That is The Remains Of Tom Lehrer - reviewed here! - and it includes this album and the rest of his works in one place, making it an even better deal! Indeed, I recommend that instead of buying this as a separate album. It is a better use of the medium, mostly because this is a fairly short album.

Regardless of that, this is an intensely funny album which will appeal to anyone who likes to laugh, even those who did not live through the 1960s (like me!).

The best track is "So Long Mom (A Song For World War III)," and while none of the songs are bad, I do occasionally skip over "New Math."

For other works by Tom Lehrer, please check out my reviews of:
Songs And More Songs By Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer Revisited
An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer

9/10

For other music reviews, please check out my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer Is Not Quite Money Well Spent.

The Good: Funny songs, Decent interjections between songs
The Bad: Nothing unique to this album, Available in a better form.
The Basics: An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer might well be better for those who do not own anything else by Lehrer or those looking to get into him, as opposed to fans.


As I soar through the library, albeit a small one, of Tom Lehrer's albums, I find myself impressed in general how enduring most of his albums are. After all, I first learned of his existence from his very political album That Was The Year That Was, which makes a number of dated political references. His earlier works, though, are much more universal humor and they are funny songs.

Unfortunately, on An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer, Tom Lehrer gives a decent performance, but one that does not hold up all that well on its own, especially when compared to other Lehrer albums. In truth, An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer is simply a live recreation of his album More of Tom Lehrer (reviewed here!). There are no additional tracks, no bonus features, nothing outside what a Tom Lehrer fan would already have if they owned that album.

With eleven tracks, clocking in at 41:21, An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer is very much an exploration of Tom Lehrer's warped and brilliant intellect. He wrote all of the songs and performs them solo with a piano. As well, he plays the piano on all of the tracks and takes a production credit on this album. As worthwhile, he provides "notes" on each song as he introduces each track comedically to an audience that eats it right up. He is funny, charming and a true American original.

And all of these songs would be spectacular if we didn't already have them in a different form. Sure, he is funny when he comments before several of the songs, but it's not enough to sell the album.

Lyrically, An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer is a collection of general comedy ranging from a satirical Christmas carol ("A Christmas Carol"), educational humor ("Oedipus Rex," "The Elements"), and political commentary ("It Makes A Fellow Proud To Be A Soldier"). He even throws in his brand of love songs, like "She's My Girl" and "The Masochism Tango." Every song garners a laugh (there is an audience clapping and laughing to prove it!) and after years of listening to it, there are still many smiles and chuckles to be had from Tom Lehrer on this album.

His outrage over commercialism is well expressed in "A Christmas Carol," when he sings, "On Christmas Day you can't get sore, / Your fellow man you must adore, / There's time to rob him all the more / the other three hundred and sixty-four. / Relations, sparing no expense, 'll / Send some useless old utensil . . . It doesn't matter how sincere it / Is or how heartfelt the spirit, / Sentiment will not endear it, / What's important is the price." He was well ahead of the curve with this dissatisfaction when he originally wrote the song, but the truth of that resonates to this day. Lehrer manages to be universal with humor, which is a very difficult feat.

He is also ahead of the antiwar movement and his politics are quite clear; he is an antinuclear pacifist. As a liberal in these trying days, it is refreshing to have comedy that appeals to my sensibilities. When Lehrer sings, "Our captain has a handicap to cope with, sad to tell. / He's from Georgia, and he doesn't speak the language very well. / He used to be, so rumor has, / The dean of men at Alcatraz, / It makes a fellow proud to be . . . a soldier" ("It Makes A Fellow Proud To Be A Soldier") it still makes me laugh. Lehrer's live presentation of it is accented with his unique, ironic intonations.

Perhaps the only truly unique aspect of An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer is his introduction to "In Old Mexico." Lehrer tells the story of the doctor who studied the gall bladder as a winding way into the song and it is cute.

This is definitely an adult album, though the language is very tame. Then again, Lehrer uses proper grammar throughout the entire recording, so perhaps the humor would go over young people's heads. Still, anyone over thirteen is likely to understand the references, like, "Let our love be a flame, not an ember, / Say it's me that you want to dismember. / Blacken my eye, / Set fire to my tie, / As we dance to the Masochism Tango . . . Bash in my brain, / And make me scream with pain, / Then kick me once again, / And say we'll never part" ("The Masochism Tango").

Lehrer's humor is well-presented with him on his piano, though there are moments his voice slips a little. Vocally, he manages through the most complex song ("Clementine") and he is articulate and clear throughout.

Instrumentally, the music is very simple musical comedy of a man and his piano. It is fine and the tunes are catchy, but it is not terribly sophisticated. And, again, it is nothing a fan has not heard before. Moreover, I loathe live albums where the laughter or crowd noises are prominent and this album has both . . . frequently.

As a fan of Tom Lehrer's works, I would be remiss in simply recommending this disc when there is the definitive boxed set of Lehrer's works. That is The Remains Of Tom Lehrer (reviewed here!) and it includes this album and the rest of his works in one place, making it an even better deal! Indeed, I recommend that instead of buying this as a separate album. It is a better use of the medium and somehow it seems less obvious alongside his other live album.

For other comedy albums, please visit my reviews of:
Family Guy Live From Las Vegas
Songs In The Key Of Springfield
Monty Python Sings

5/10

For other music reviews, please check out my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Bonus Bits Are Barely Enough To Recommend Tom Lehrer Revisited.

The Good: Funny, Clever, Amusing introduction
The Bad: Production of "laugh track," Mostly old material
The Basics: Despite being repackaged live works of previously released songs, and the appearance of this album in a superior anthology, this is a good album.


There is something terribly clever about Tom Lehrer in the way he made his recordings. Lehrer was a musical satirist for only a few years, producing new material that made for a surprisingly enduring musical comedy career. His ability to repackage his own material and get it re-released is rather incredible. Indeed, sometimes it is impressive to consider that he only released three albums of original material in his repertoire. The rest of his albums were "live" renditions of his studio recordings. One such live album is Tom Lehrer Revisited.

Tom Lehrer Revisited is a recreation of Songs By Tom Lehrer (reviewed here!) with all twelve of the songs from that album presented in a live format with a brief introduction before each song. Also includes is a comedic introduction for Tom Lehrer, wherein he introduces himself as the greatest creative mind of the 20th Century in a clever, funny introduction. The net effect is that this recording has the feel of being in the auditorium to watch . . . or listen to . . . Tom Lehrer perform. But essentially, this is material from his prior studio recording represented with a mildly different sound and feel.

With fifteen tracks, clocking in at 41:02, the compact disc reissue of Tom Lehrer Revisited wisely adds two bonus tracks - studio recordings from Lehrer's tenure on The Electric Company - to give additional value to the live album. This works to suck the otherwise unoriginal album out of the purely mediocre territory and earns it a faint "recommend." The thing is, one of the aspects I do not enjoy about most live albums is the noise of the audience. On comedy albums, this has the net effect of providing a laugh track and that insipid device is troubling no matter where it pops up.

That said, it is easy to see how Tom Lehrer rose to the success he had; Lehrer is electric and his asides before the various songs are fresh and funny. For example, when introducing "The Hunting Song," Lehrer's observation that every year there are stories of hunters being shot by their fellow hunters, perhaps "under the impression that he was a deer, with a red hat . . . [or] a large, flesh-colored squirrel" ("The Hunting Song"), makes me smile every time he delivers the line.

Lehrer is a comedian and quite an adequate one at that. His lyrics are funny and on Tom Lehrer Revisited, he focuses mostly on universal topics. Following his "Introduction," Lehrer sings about the United States ("I Wanna Go Back To Dixie," "The Wild West Is Where I Want To Be"), academia ("Fight Fiercely Harvard") and his take on love songs ("I Hold Your Hand In Mine"). Lehrer's perspective is one that clearly seeks to break up the mundane by exposing his version of truth. He does this by singing about love, politics and American pastimes and institutions.

Lehrer writes all of his own material and on Tom Lehrer Revisited, he does choose some of his best works. Perhaps one of his most twisted is "I Hold Your Hand In Mine," where he sings, "I hold your hand in mine, dear, / I press it to my lips, / I take a healthy bite / From your dainty fingertips. / My joy would be complete, dear, / If you were only here, / But still I keep your hand, / As a precious souvenir." His aside following this rendition is charming and the love song that involves slaughtering one's love is certainly an underrepresented niche that Lehrer alone might have filled.

He is unafraid to try anything for musical comedy, though and this includes presenting a lullaby to drug dealers. He wrote and on this album sings, "Ev'ry evening you will find him, / Around our neighborhood. / It's the old dope peddler, / Doing well by doing good. He gives the kids free samples, / Because he knows full well / That today's young innocent faces / Are tomorrow's clientele" ("The Old Dope Peddler"). More than making judgments, Lehrer makes musical observations and that serves him well for his comedy.

The two bonus tracks on the compact disc version of Tom Lehrer Revisited are educational pieces, "L-Y" and "Silent E." On this live album, these two very produced studio tracks stand out, also for their lack of real humor. Instead, the listener is treated to a lesson on the effect that adding "-ly" has to a word. Similarly, Lehrer manages to make a song that illustrates the power of adding an "E" to the end of words. He sings, "Who can turn a cub into a cube? / Who can turn a tub into a tube? / . . . He took a pin and turned it into a pine / He took a twin and turned him into twine . . . A little glob becomes a globe instantly, / If you just add Silent E" ("Silent E"). He does succeed in being both educational and amusing . . . it just does not fit this particular album that well.

Musically, the listener can expect some diversity of style, but this is essentially a man and his piano on stage and is limited mostly to that. Lehrer has a smooth singing voice and the album sounds good, despite the interruptions from audience laughter - which, despite being true, sounds terribly produced on this album. Because most people who are reading this review might already be familiar with some of Lehrer's works, choosing whether or not to get this album might come down to knowing which songs are on it. Essentially, this is mostly already released material and the only reason one would have to pick this up would be because they like these particular songs (or self-deprecating comedy, which comes in the "Introduction") but not the desire to hear any of Lehrer's other songs.

For a humor album, this holds up remarkably well and it has a timeless quality that some other humor albums do not have, making it worthwhile. As a fan of Tom Lehrer's works, I would be remiss in simply recommending this disc when there is the definitive boxed set of Lehrer's works. That is The Remains Of Tom Lehrer - reviewed here! - and it includes this album - including the two bonus tracks - as the rest of his works in one place, making it an even better deal!

Tom Lehrer Revisited works as a brief escape from the ordinary and has humor that can still be appreciated today, making it part of a worthwhile body of work. Anyone who likes to laugh and who likes classic comedy - Lehrer pioneered quite a bit of humor in terms of political and musical humor - will find something to enjoy with this album.

The best track is "I Hold Your Hand In Mine," the least inspired track is "The Wiener Schnitzel Waltz."

For other comedy albums, check out my reviews of:
Songs In The Key Of Springfield - The Simpsons Soundtrack
Monty Python Sings! - Cast Of Monty Python’s Flying Circus
Family Guy Presents Live In Las Vegas - Family Guy Cast

5.5/10

Check out how this work stacks up against all other musical works I have reviewed by visiting my Music Review Index Page where the reviews are organized from best to worst!

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Way To Make Your Old Albums Into C.D.s; Tom Lehrer Combines Two Well With Songs & More Songs By Tom Lehrer!

The Good: Funny, Clever, Catchy tunes
The Bad: Musically limited, Some dated references
The Basics: Tom Lehrer creates timeless humor on a decent c.d. worth anyone's time, attention and money . . . and it holds up! (Which is what makes it timeless.)


There are any number of classic albums that were originally released on record that I have reviewed lately that I have had the reasonable beef that their transfer to compact disc makes for a poor use of the medium. So, for example, the Creedence Clearwater Revival album Willy And The Poor Boys is under forty minutes of music, wasting a great deal of space that is available on the c.d. In those cases, I tend to advocate that the artist combine multiple albums in order to make better use of the newer digital medium. Ironically enough, comedian Tom Lehrer appears to have heard (more realistically, anticipated) my complaint when he combined his 1953 album Songs By Tom Lehrer and his 1959 album More Of Tom Lehrer for the 1997 disc Songs & More Songs By Tom Lehrer.

Now, the only way Tom Lehrer wastes the medium is with his music.

That's a joke; for those who are unfamiliar with the works of Tom Lehrer, he is a mathematician turned musical comedian whose heyday was the 50s and mid-1960s. Yet, still we listen to his music and buy his compact discs, which kindly have a bonus track that was not included in the original release of either of the albums (track #24, "I Got It From Agnes").

With 24 tracks, clocking in at just over fifty minutes Songs & More Songs By Tom Lehrer is very much the brainchild of Tom Lehrer. All twenty-four songs were written, sung and produced by Tom Lehrer. As a result, he is forced to take all of the credit and all of the blame for the album's content.

The truth is, it is almost inarguably credit that he ought to be taking. After all, how many times has Madonna had to reinvent herself in her (almost) thirty year career just to sell albums? Tom Lehrer produced the bulk of his works almost fifty years ago and there is still a market for his unaltered works!

The reason for this is that Lehrer created humor that holds up over the generations. On television shows like Gilmore Girls - and in high schools around the nation today - Tom Lehrer's songs are sung . . . well, at least one. I refer to "The Elements," a simple tune wherein Tom Lehrer simply sings the names of the elements on the Periodic Table Of Elements, as it appeared in 1959. It might not be the funniest work on the album, but it might well be the best known and most educational.

The thing is, largely these works are funny and in his earliest works, Tom Lehrer created songs that were largely universal and timeless. So, for example, in expressing his distaste of hunting, he sings, ". . . I took down my trusty rifle / And went out to stalk my prey. / What a haul I made that day! / I tied them to my fender, and I drove them home somehow, / Two game wardens, seven hunters, and a cow. / The law was very firm, it / Took away my permit . . . [because] Cows were out of season" ("The Hunting Song"). It is a funny little song that Lehrer uses to satirize the lack of respect humans have for virtually all life and it is both humorous and poignant.

Lehrer has a wide range of subjects - or targets, depending on the perspective. He ranges from the academic in singing about literature and science ("The Elements," "Oedipus Rex") to the state of the United States ("The Wild West Is Where I Want To Be," "I Wanna Go Back To Dixie") to general absurd and humorous situations ("I Hold Your Hand In Mine," "Bright College Days"). There is surprisingly little that seems dated on this album, most notably the song "A Christmas Carol." After all, it is somewhat passe to rail against the commercialism of Christmas these days, yet Lehrer does it and one supposes it was groundbreaking at the time. Similarly, the railing against bullfighting on "In Old Mexico" might seem overkill after "The Hunting Song," though rage against bullfighting is not so prevalent in song as it is in debate class.

As a liberal American, there is much to appreciate about "Songs And More Songs By Tom Lehrer." More conservative elements will need a thick skin in order to appreciate the genius of Tom Lehrer, especially with some of his more controversial songs. Generally, language is not a problem (he does use the term "wet back" on "In Old Mexico," but it seems more dated than anything driven by hate or prejudice), but conceptually, it is probable Southerners will either not like or will need a sense of humor about "I Wanna Go Back To Dixie." Then again, I think it's hilarious with its darkly satirical lines "Ol' times there are not forgotten, / Whuppin' slaves and sellin' cotton . . . I wanna talk with Southern gentlemen / And put my white sheet on again, / I ain't seen one good lynchin' in years. / The land of the boll weevil, / Where the laws are medieval, / Is callin' me to come and nevermore roam" ("I Wanna Go Back To Dixie"). Tom Lehrer unflinchingly calls it as he sees it.

The thing is, he does it with style, articulation and stunningly perfect grammar, something that distinguishes it well from most comedy today. Tom Lehrer is the liberal elitist educated snob that everyone hates for his perspective (strangely the uneducated despise the people in education for being educated). Lehrer pokes fun at academia and the culture of it, though, with songs like "Fight Fiercely Harvard" and "Bright College Days."

Perhaps the reason so many people know Tom Lehrer - outside "The Elements" popping up in other mediums now - is his quirky love (?) song "Poisoning Pigeons In The Park." As the name suggests, this is a simple song that expresses the virtues of murdering small animals. Lehrer wrote and sings "Ev'ry Sunday you'll see / My sweetheart and me, / As we poising pigeons in the park. / When they see us coming, the birdies all try an' hide, / But they still go for peanuts when coated with cyanide" ("Poisoning Pigeons In The Park"). It is funny when taken as humor and it holds up well even today.

Perhaps the reason Songs & More Songs By Tom Lehrer is still on the market - in addition to the universal songs like the twisted anti-love song "When You Are Old And Gray" - is that there is a cyclical nature to history and we are entering a time when we have much to fear that we feared in the 1950s. Songs like the antinuclear "We Will All Go Together When We Go" could be played every time a news program shows a clip of Iran (it's not like news isn't entertainment here already!). Then again, it could just be people like songs with sexual innuendo, like "The Masochism Tango" and the new track on STDs, "I Got It From Agnes."

Vocally, Songs & More Songs By Tom Lehrer is surprisingly good. Lehrer is clearly musically educated - as evidenced by "Clementine" - and he sings his lyrics with brilliant clarity. He has a wonderful tenor voice and he more or less keeps to that range and it works for him.

Instrumentally, this is Tom Lehrer and his piano. He does, however, play the songs with remarkable stylistic diversity. As a result, he varies from a pretty standard comedic show tune style ("We Will All Go Together When We Go," "Lobachevsky") to waltzes ("The Wiener Schnitzel Waltz") and tangos ("The Masochism Tango"). And "Clementine" is a whole lesson in musical stylings!

For a humor album, this holds up remarkably well and it has a timeless quality that some other humor albums do not have, making it worthwhile. As a fan of Tom Lehrer's works, I would be remiss in simply recommending this disc when there is the definitive boxed set of Lehrer's works. That is The Remains Of Tom Lehrer - reviewed here! - and it includes these albums as well as the rest of his works in one place, making for a better overall deal! Indeed, because that boxed set is such a phenomenal deal and includes this album (and more), while I recommend Songs & More Songs By Tom Lehrer, I penalized this album on the star rating because there is that superior compilation.

The best track is "I Wanna Go Back To Dixie" and the low point is "Lobachevsky," which doesn't hold up as well over the hundreds of listens I've done.

For other humor albums, please visit my reviews of:
Monty Python Sings
Family Guy Live From Las Vegas
Harmful If Swallowed - Dane Cook

6/10

For other music reviews, be sure to check out my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Entire Career Of Tom Lehrer In One Place: The Remains Of Tom Lehrer

The Good: Funny. Flat out hilarious. Catchy, memorable tunes
The Bad: Specific allusions, Repetitive quality of the anthology
The Basics: A mammoth collection of all of musical comedian Tom Lehrer's works, The Remains Of Tom Lehrer is a mostly-timeless piece of comedic genius.


There is something beautifully simple about The Remains Of Tom Lehrer, a three-disc set that encapsulates the career of musical comedian and mathematician Tom Lehrer. The simple beauty comes from the fact that The Remains Of Tom Lehrer is everything. All of the music Tom Lehrer created and performed is here. You can hold the entire library of Tom Lehrer's works in your hand. You can listen to the entire collection in less than five hours. That's everything.

And it's staggeringly good. For an artist who only released five albums, this is a treasure trove for the enthusiast of Tom Lehrer, or the aficionado of musical comedy in general. The awesome aspect of The Remains Of Tom Lehrer is that the boxed set includes rarities, previously unissued recordings and a very comprehensive book on Tom Lehrer, his songs and his recordings. This is, at the end of the day, an incredible collection.

Have you not heard of Tom Lehrer? Or not heard anything by him? Let me tell you about him.

Tom Lehrer is, primarily, a mathematician. He recorded five albums (two studio, three live) between 1953 and 1965. He sat in front of his piano and sang satirical songs to tunes that were either recognizable or utterly generic. So, for example, "The Old Dope Peddler" uses a rather innocuous and understated lullaby theme to sing a ballad in tribute to the local drug dealer. It's brilliant. Similarly, "The Vatican Rag," a parody of the advertising jingles aimed at the Catholic Church, uses a unique tune that is almost completely sublimated by the lyrics. And it works.

Tom Lehrer's works are occasionally political, singing about government waste especially in the military ("The Wild West Is Where I Want To Be"), war and peace ("The MLF Lullaby") and poking fun at politicians of days of yore ("George Murphy"). My introduction to Mr. Lehrer's works come from the final disc in this collection, a previously released recording known as "That Was The Year That Was." That portion of his career was almost entirely political. Thus, it was a shock as I became more and more of a fan of his works, to learn that Tom Lehrer's songs were mostly social commentary or general satire.

Mr. Lehrer's views tend to be progressive, even today. In his songs, he derides the South for its racism ("I Wanna Go Back To Dixie"), criticizes Harvard ("Fight Fiercely Harvard"), plays upon the fear of The Bomb ("Who's Next?") and fights for higher health standards ("Pollution").

Other songs simply poke fun at the world as Tom Lehrer sees it. He mocks hunters and the way they shoot each other on "The Hunting Song," explores plagiarism on "Lobachevsky," and tears into the music industry in his take on "Clementine." He makes memorable unique works of pure humor with "Poisoning Pigeons In The Park" and "The Masochism Tango." In addition, Mr. Lehrer has a slew of mockeries of the typical love songs we hear all the time, like "When You Are Old and Gray," "I Hold Your Hand In Mine," and "She's My Girl."

His songs are snappy and funny and interesting and incredibly listenable. And his song "We Will All Go Together When We Go" is a rousing anthem that insidiously gets the listener to consider the realities of a nuclear holocaust.

It's not all depressing themes with hilarious lyrics set to snappy tunes, though. Many of the new recordings are educational. Mr. Lehrer has songs about letter combinations on the third disc, including "L-Y," "Silent E" and "O-U (The Hound Song)." And they are mostly decent (I'm not fond of "O-U" at all. They are otherwise clever and make learning fun, which I believe was the point of them.

Don't know if Tom Lehrer is for you? Understanding his sense of humor would seem to be the key to getting someone who has never heard him sing to buy the album. For that, I think one of his most accessible songs is "Poisoning Pigeons In The Park," which goes:
All the world seems in tune
On a spring afternoon
When we're poisoning pigeons in the park.
Ev'ry 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 an' hide,
But they still go for peanuts when coated with cyanide.

He's a clever rhymer and despite how shocking and funny the songs are on their first listen, they hold up extraordinarily well over many listens. And that brings us to the only serious drawback of this collection. The listener is subjected to four of the songs ("Poisoning Pigeons In the Park," "The Masochism Tango," "The Hunting Song," and "We Will All Go Together When We Go") three times, once on each disc. Why? The first disc has the studio version, the second disc has the live version and the third disc has the full orchestral version of the four tracks. Outside two bonus tracks on the first disc, the tracks on disc one and two are identical in lyrical content. In fact, the second half of each of the first two discs (the pressings of "More of Tom Lehrer" and "An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer") is the same in that is has the same songs, in the same order. The difference is the second disc, with its live performances, has Mr. Lehrer doing his schtick between songs and that's quite funny.

But if one does not have a tolerance for minor variations or a low threshold for hearing the same lines over and over again, this collection is likely to tire one quickly. Of course, one could buy the set and just listen to discs one and three. . . .

This is an essential collection for anyone who likes brilliant musical comedy. Tom Lehrer is genius. In fact, while writing that, I recalled that there is one thing unique to disc two: Tom Lehrer introduces himself to his audience with a hilarious resume. That alone is worth popping that second disc in.

If you've never heard Tom Lehrer, this is an awesome way to get everything in one place. If you're more cautious, look up the Dr. Demento radio show. Call in and request Tom Lehrer (if it's still on the air). If it's not still on the air, there must be places on-line that one may legally listen to a couple of Lehrer's songs. That should be enough to convince anyone of his enduring greatness and the worthiness of purchasing this set.

Of course, if you buy this set, there's nothing more to buy of Tom Lehrer ever. That, too, might be reassuring to a savvy shopper. The best tracks are "We Will All Go Together When We Go" (disc 1), "Introduction" (disc 2) and "MLF Lullaby" (Disc 3, though honestly "N Apostrophe T" is growing rapidly on me!). The weakest tracks are "Lobachevsky" (discs 1 and 2) and "O-U (The Hound Song)."

For other comedy albums, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Harmful If Swallowed - Dane Cook
“Once More With Feeling” - Buffy The Vampire Slayer Cast
Monty Python Sings - Monty Python Cast

8/10

For other music reviews, be sure to check out my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2006 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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