Track Listing

1. National Brotherhood Week
2. MLF Lullaby
3. George Murphy
4. Folk Song Army
5. Smut
6. Send the Marines
7. Pollution
8. So Long, Mom (A Song for World War III)
9. Whatever Became of Hubert?
10. New Math
11. Alma
12. Who's Next?
13. Wernher Von Braun
14. Vatican Rag

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21037 in Music
• Released on: 1999-11-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Live, Import
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Harvard-educated mathematician by trade and socio-political humorist and satirist by avocation, ivory tickler Tom Lehrer sang irreverent ditties that both outraged and delighted listeners during his on-again, off-again heyday of public performance in the late 1950s through the 1970s. Perhaps best known for his "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park", Lehrer combined razor-sharp wit with dry delivery inspired by everything from vaudeville and ragtime to whimsical show tunes and faux folk. Though a tad dated, Lehrer's wickedly pointed That Was the Year That Was is as good a representation of the mid-'60s American social and political climate as any. Recorded live in 1965 and composed largely of songs from the contemporaneous NBC series That Was the Week That Was, the album takes on boho Americana ("The Folk Song Army"), censorship ("Smut"), and the atomic bomb ("Who's Next"). Devilishly funny as well are the outstanding "Vatican Rag" and the puzzle that is "New Math". --Paige La Grone

Customer Reviews

A forgotten genius satirizes 60s' America
If you like intelligent, literate humour set to song, then check out Tom Lehrer. Though less explicit than his earlier work, these group of songs are quite masterly. From the Catholic Church satire of "The Vatican Rag" to the demonising of "Pollution", it is almost impossible not to laugh at this collection of songs. Some people may not appreciate this intelligent humour, but if do, you will never forget the name Tom Lehrer

Great satire never dates
A math professor with a piano commenting on the happenings of 1965? Must be dated and dull? Far from it! And sadly, some subjects never date... 'Send the Marines' is a chillingly accurate description of the Iraq situation. And 'Pollution' is still among us.

Lehrer's spoken intros are hilarious, too!

Sample lyric:
The protestants hate the catholics
and the catholics hate the protestants
and the hindus hate the moslems
and everybody hates the jews
but when it's National Brotherhood Week.....

More, please!
I have one gripe concerning this CD: it is at full price, though the recordings are 40 years old, and it only plays for 37 minutes. Apart from that, it is a delight and it was a favourite of Otto Klemperer's, no less. He especially loved "Alma", about the loves of Gustav Mahler's wife.