Before attending college, Lehrer graduated from the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Connecticut. As an undergraduate student at Harvard University, he began to write comic songs to entertain his friends, including Fight Fiercely, Harvard (1945). Those songs later became (in a joking reference to a leading scientific journal, The Physical Review) The Physical Revue. Influenced mainly by musical theater, his style consisted of parodying then-current forms of popular song. For example, his appreciation of list songs led him to set the names of the chemical elements to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Major-General's Song".
Inspired by the success of his performances of his songs, he paid for some studio time to record an album, Songs By Tom Lehrer, which he sold by mail order. Self-published and unpromoted, the album, which included the macabre (I Hold Your Hand in Mine), the mildly risqué (Be Prepared), and the mathematical (Lobachevsky), became a success via word of mouth. With a cult hit, he embarked on a series of concert tours and released a second album, which came in two versions: the songs were the same but More Songs by Tom Lehrer was studio-recorded, while An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer was recorded live in concert.
Lehrer's major break into the United Kingdom came as a result of the citation accompanying an honorary degree given to Princess Margaret, where she cited musical tastes as "catholic, ranging from Mozart to Tom Lehrer". This produced significant interest in his works, and helped secure distributors for his material. Ironically, it was in the UK where his music ended up more popular due to the proliferation of university newspapers referring to the material, and the willingness of the BBC to play his songs on the radio (something that was a rarity in the USA).
By the early 1960s, Lehrer had retired from touring (which he intensely disliked) and was employed as the resident songwriter for the US edition of That Was The Week That Was (TW3), a satirical TV show. An increased proportion of his output became overtly political, or at least topical, on subjects such as pollution (Pollution), Vatican II (The Vatican Rag), race relations (National Brotherhood Week), education (New Math), American militarism (Send the Marines), World War III nostalgia (So Long, Mom, premiered by Steve Allen), and nuclear proliferation (Who's Next? and MLF Lullaby). He also wrote a song which satirized the alleged amorality of Wernher von Braun. A selection of these songs was released in the album That Was The Year That Was.
The record deal with Reprise Records for the That Was The Year That Was album also gave Reprise distribution rights for Lehrer's earlier recordings, as Lehrer wanted to shut down his own Lehrer Records. The Reprise issue of Songs by Tom Lehrer was a stereo re-recording. This version was not issued on CD, but the songs were issued on the live Tom Lehrer Revisited on CD instead.
There is an urban legend that Lehrer gave up political satire when the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Henry Kissinger in 1973. He did say that the awarding of the prize to Kissinger made political satire obsolete, but has denied that he stopped doing satire as a form of protest, and asserts that he had stopped doing satire several years earlier. Another urban legend held that he had been sued for libel by the subject of one of his songs, Wernher Von Braun, and been forced to relinquish all of his royalty income to Von Braun. However, Lehrer firmly denied this in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald. (He had also mentioned Frank Fontaine and Jerry Lewis in "National Brotherhood Week", in an uncomplimentary context, on the same album, but nothing resulted from that.)
When asked about his reasons for abandoning his musical career, he cited a simple lack of interest, a distaste for touring, and boredom with performing the same songs repeatedly. He has observed that when he was moved to write and perform songs, he did; when he wasn't, he didn't, and after a while the latter situation prevailed. It has been frequently observed that, though many of Lehrer's songs satirized the Cold War political establishment of the day, that he stopped writing and performing just as the 1960s counterculture movement gained momentum. Lehrer has stated that he doubts his songs had an impact on those not already critical of the establishment: "I don't think this kind of thing has an impact on the unconverted, frankly. It's not even preaching to the converted; it's titillating the converted... I'm fond of quoting Peter Cook, who talked about the satirical Berlin cabarets of the '30s, which did so much to stop the rise of Hitler and prevent the Second World War."
Lehrer's musical career was notably brief, stating in an interview in the late 90s that he had performed a mere 109 shows, and written 37 songs across his 20-year career. Nevertheless, the cult following that had grown around his music significantly bolstered the effect that he had on a global scale.
In the 1970s, Lehrer concentrated on teaching mathematics and musical theater, although he also wrote 10 songs for the children's television show The Electric Company. (Harvard schoolmate Joe Raposo was the show's musical director for its first three seasons.) In the early 1980s, Tom Foolery, a revival of his songs on the London stage, was a surprise hit. Although not its instigator, Lehrer eventually gave it his full support and updated several of his lyrics for the production.
On 7 June and 8 June 1998, Tom Lehrer performed in public for the first time in 25 years at the Lyceum Theatre, London as part of the gala show Hey Mr Producer! celebrating the career of impresario Cameron Mackintosh (who had been the producer of Tom Foolery). The 8 June show has been his only performance before the Queen. Lehrer sang Poisoning Pigeons in the Park and an updated version of "Who's Next". The DVD of the event includes the former song.
In 2000, a CD box set, The Remains of Tom Lehrer, was released by Rhino Entertainment. It included live and studio versions of his first two albums, That Was The Year That Was, the songs he wrote for The Electric Company, and some previously unreleased material, accompanied by a small hardbound book containing an introduction by Dr. Demento and lyrics to all the songs.
Lehrer celebrated his 80th birthday on April 9th 2008.
The Hunting Song
Tom Lehrer Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A large flesh-colored squirrel. at any rate, it seems to me that this marks an encouraging new trend in the field of blood sports, and deserves a new type of hunting song which I present herewi
Br>
I always will remember,
'twas a year ago November,
I went out to hunt some deer
On a mornin' bright and clear.
Two game wardens, seven hunters, and a cow.
I was in no mood to trifle,
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,
The worst punishment I ever endured.
It turned out there was a reason,
Cows were out of season,
And one of the hunters wasn't insured.
People ask me how I do it,
And I say, "there's nothin' to it,
You just stand there lookin' cute,
And when something moves, you shoot!"
And there's ten stuffed heads in my trophy room right now,
Two game wardens, seven hunters, and a pure-bred guernsey cow.
Tom Lehrer's song The Hunting Song is a sarcastic and satirical commentary on the culture of hunting and the risks associated with it. The verses tell the story of the singer, a hunter who goes out to hunt deer with his trusty rifle. He ends up shooting various individuals including two game wardens, seven hunters, and a cow. The singer seems proud of his accomplishment and even ties the animals to his fender before driving home. However, he faces legal consequences for his actions, as he violates various game laws and regulations.
The song's lyrics are full of dry humor and irony, highlighting the absurdity of hunting as a recreational activity. By depicting the singer's recklessness in shooting anything that moves, the song also portrays the dangers of hunting and the potential harm it can cause.
Overall, "The Hunting Song" is a witty song that uses irony and satire to convey the message that hunting is a dangerous and irresponsible activity that should not be taken lightly.
Line by Line Meaning
Almost every day during the hunting season you see at least one item in the newspapers about somebody who has shot somebody else, under the impression that he was a deer with a red hat perhaps,
There are numerous reports in the news about people shooting others during hunting season, mistaking them for animals, sometimes with absurd explanations as a cover-up.
I always will remember,
The singer fondly recalls a recent hunting trip.
'twas a year ago November,
The trip took place in November of last year.
I went out to hunt some deer
The artist went hunting for deer.
On a mornin' bright and clear.
The morning was clear and bright.
I went and shot the maximum the game laws would allow,
The singer took the opportunity to shoot as much game as legally allowed.
Two game wardens, seven hunters, and a cow.
The singer accidentally shot two game wardens, seven hunters, and a cow.
I was in no mood to trifle,
The artist was serious about his hunting goals.
I took down my trusty rifle
The artist used his reliable rifle for hunting.
And went out to stalk my prey.
The artist went hunting to find targets to shoot.
What a haul I made that day.
The singer successfully caught multiple animals on this hunting trip.
I tied them to my fender, and I drove them home somehow,
The artist tied the animals he caught to his car and took them home.
The law was very firm, it
The law was strict and unforgiving.
Took away my permit,
The singer lost his hunting permit for breaking the law.
The worst punishment I ever endured.
Losing his permit was the worst punishment the singer has ever received.
It turned out there was a reason,
There was a legitimate explanation for the artist's punishment.
Cows were out of season,
The artist was not supposed to hunt cows during that season.
And one of the hunters wasn't insured.
One of the hunters the singer accidentally shot was not insured.
People ask me how I do it,
People often ask the singer how he's so successful at hunting.
And I say, 'there's nothin' to it,
The artist claims that hunting is not difficult.
You just stand there lookin' cute,
The artist humorously suggests that one only needs to look attractive while hunting.
And when something moves, you shoot!'
The artist jokes that hunting is as simple as shooting anything that moves.
And there's ten stuffed heads in my trophy room right now,
The singer has ten mounted animal heads on display in his trophy room.
Two game wardens, seven hunters, and a pure-bred guernsey cow.
Among the ten heads in the artist's trophy room are two game wardens, seven hunters, and a purebred guernsey cow.
Lyrics © ZELLS MUSIC COMPANY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@nerdgirlism
i swear he's the most adorable human being ever
@miramora240
I cant argue with that
@6funswede
In fact, Tom Lehrer is really adorable as a person. But he does not feel the same way about us, the "YouTube publishers". On the other hand, he doesn't want to be bothered because of these old songs, so he leaves us alone :-)
@PandoraChaser2
No Sirfred Rise as Din Din DIn is ya turn of$0b the usual suspects wanting attentions and dont worry or boast as most will still toast with thee about he lacked of more than a Silenced E it's easy to see the lack of Chuck Norris Sid Kiks recently fact fuckrs hav a right2 sp w as all b Z i5 nOOOOO nEEE niiiniiiii narrrr and cumbeeresresreerss and thsomedarighteous a lad apart from udders as
@VantaDraws
Why doesn’t he like people putting his songs on yt?
@communistdude6163
'sometimes they get a deer ' great quote
@alastor4829
Very, great quote.
@Jo-yp8wy
He was all the rage when my mum was studying. We grew up with him. We still have Tom Lehrer singsons at christmas when we all come together.
@j.ksmith7432
Same here!
@cannibalisticfawn5895
Aw, my dad, a programmer, sent this to me, his outdoorsy eldest, and I am delighted. Love bonding over old satire.