One of the greatest lyrical minds of the 20th Century is gone.
Tom Lehrer had an outsized effect on my musical foundation. His wit, his scathing humor, and the way he wedded song to lyric all inspired me to no end. By the end of high school I had memorized his three albums cover to cover – lyrics, tunes, and even the spoken introductions on his live records.
He died yesterday at the age of 97, having retired from performing more than a half century earlier, preferring to teach mathematics at a number of universities. How I wished to take one of his classes.
No less a songwriter than Stephen Sondheim called him a miracle; watch his rare latter-day performance in tribute to Cameron Mackintosh here:
Go listen to more of this amazing, under-appreciated songwriter. In my opinion, he’s peerless.
In 2007, Tom Lehrer relinquished all his songs into the public domain and made them available on a website for free. You have no reason not to add a Lehrer tune to your repertoire!