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 Irish Ballad
Tom Lehrer Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Rrent popular songs -- although I admit they do seem to be recording almost anything these days. have you heard sesue hayakawa's record of remember pearl harbor? these same people who deplore th
El of current popular songs and yet will sit around enthralled singing jimmy crack corn and I don't care or green grow the rushes, oh! -- whatever that means. at any rate, for this elite I have
An ancient irish ballad, which was written a few years ago, and which is replete with all the accoutrements of this art form. in particular, it has a sort of idiotic refrain, in this case ricket
Kety-tin you'll notice cropping up from time to time, running through, I might add, interminable verses. the large number of verses being a feature expressly designed to please the true devotees
He folk song who seem to find
Singing fifty verses of on top of old smokey is twice as enjoyable as singing twenty-five.
And then.
[piano]
This song though does differ strikingly from the genuine folk ballad in that in this song the words which are supposed to rhyme - actually do.
[piano]
I, ah, I really should say that - I do not direct these remarks against the vast army of folk song lovers, but merely against that peculiar hard core who seem to equate authenticity with artisti
It and illiteracy with charm.
[piano]
Oh, one more thing. one of the more important aspects of public folk singing is audience participation, and this happens to be a good song for group singing. so if any of you feel like joining I
H me on this song, I'd appreciate it if you would leave -- right now.
About a maid I'll sing a song,
Sing rickety-tickety-tin,
About a maid I'll sing a song
Who didn't have her family long.
Not only did she do them wrong,
She did ev'ryone of them in, them in,
She did ev'ryone of them in.
One morning in a fit of pique,
Sing rickety-tickety-tin,
One morning in a fit of pique,
She drowned her father in the creek.
The water tasted bad for a week,
And we had to make do with gin, with gin,
We had to make do with gin.
Her mother she could never stand,
Sing rickety-tickety-tin,
Her mother she cold never stand,
And so a cyanide soup she planned.
The mother died with a spoon in her hand,
And her face in a hideous grin, a grin,
Her face in a hideous grin.
She set her sister's hair on fire,
Sing rickety-tickety-tin,
She set her sister's hair on fire,
And as the smoke and flame rose high'are,
Danced around the funeral pyre,
Playin' a violin, -olin,
Playin' a violin.
She weighted her brother down with stones,
Rickety-tickety-tin,
She weighted her brother down with stones,
And sent him off to davy jones.
All they ever found were some bones,
And occasional pieces of skin, of skin,
Occasional pieces of skin.
One day when she had nothing to do,
Sing rickety-tickety-tin,
One day when she had nothing to do,
She cut her baby brother in two,
And served him up as an irish stew,
And invited the neighbors in, -bors in,
Invited the neighbors in.
And when at last the police came by,
Sing rickety-tickety-tin,
And when at last the police came by,
Her little pranks she did not deny,
To do so she would have had to lie,
And lying, she knew, was a sin, a sin,
Lying, she knew, was a sin.
My tragic tale, I won't prolong,
Rickety-tickety-tin,
My tragic tale I won't prolong,
And if you do not enjoy the song,
You've yourselves to blame if it's too long,
You should never have let me begin, begin,
You should never have let me begin.
In the introduction to the song “The Irish Ballad,” Tom Lehrer talks about the popularity of folk songs and how they seem to have grown in popularity, particularly among the intellectual elite. He pokes fun at the nature of folk songs with their idiotic refrains, “Green grow the rushes O,” which mean nothing, and long verses that seem to be interminable, especially for those who are not real devotees of the genre. In contrast, “The Irish Ballad” is a ballad that was written a few years ago but has all the features of traditional folk songs, like a long chain of repetitive choruses or a modal tune, where the singer's narrative is deliberately accompanied by a wrong note.
“The Irish Ballad” tells the tale of a wicked Irish maid who didn’t have her family long because she did everyone in. Lehrer’s narrative is gruesome and hilarious, with the maid drowning her father in the creek water and making her mother a cyanide soup, setting her sister’s hair on fire while she danced around the funeral pyre, killing her brother by weighing him down with stones in Davy Jones’ locker, cutting her baby brother into Irish stew and inviting neighbors over to try it out. The police finally come and she confesses that she carried out the murders. Although Lehrer’s humorous take on the ballad is farcical, it is a good example of the horrific nature of some of the old traditional ballads.
Line by Line Meaning
Now I'd like to turn to the folk song, which has become in recent years the particularly fashionable form of idiocy among the self-styled intellectual.
The singer wants to talk about folk songs, which have become popular among people who think they're smart.
We find that people who deplore the level of current popular songs -- although I admit they do seem to be recording almost anything these days.
People who dislike modern songs still listen to and enjoy silly old ones.
Have you heard sesue hayakawa's record of remember pearl harbor?
The singer asks if the listener has heard a specific record.
These same people who deplore the el of current popular songs and yet will sit around enthralled singing jimmy crack corn and I don't care or green grow the rushes, oh! -- whatever that means.
People who don't like modern songs will still happily and enthusiastically sing nonsense old ones.
At any rate, for this elite I have an ancient irish ballad, which was written a few years ago, and which is replete with all the accoutrements of this art form.
The artist has an old Irish song with all the traditional features that the elite audience may like.
In particular, it has a sort of idiotic refrain, in this case rickety-tin you'll notice cropping up from time to time, running through, I might add, interminable verses.
The song has a ridiculous repeating line and very long verses.
The large number of verses being a feature expressly designed to please the true devotees of the folk song who seem to find singing fifty verses of on top of old smokey is twice as enjoyable as singing twenty-five.
The numerous verses are for the devoted folk song fans who enjoy singing a lot of words.
This type of song also has what is known technically in music as a modal tune, which means -- for the benefit of any layman who may have wandered in this evening -- that I play a wrong note ever and then.
The song has a technical music feature that the artist explains to the non-musical audience member.
This song though does differ strikingly from the genuine folk ballad in that in this song the words which are supposed to rhyme - actually do.
This song is different from traditional folk ballads because it actually rhymes the words that are supposed to.
I, ah, I really should say that - I do not direct these remarks against the vast army of folk song lovers, but merely against that peculiar hard core who seem to equate authenticity with artistic merit and illiteracy with charm.
The artist does not intend to offend the whole folk song-loving community but only a small group that confuses authenticity with being good and being uneducated with being charming.
Oh, one more thing. one of the more important aspects of public folk singing is audience participation, and this happens to be a good song for group singing. so if any of you feel like joining I with me on this song, I'd appreciate it if you would leave right now.
The singer invites the audience to join in singing the song but politely asks those who don't want to participate to leave.
About a maid I'll sing a song,
The song is about a girl.
Sing rickety-tickety-tin,
The repeating chorus of the song.
About a maid I'll sing a song who didn't have her family long.
The girl's family died soon after the song starts.
Not only did she do them wrong, she did ev'ryone of them in, them in, she did ev'ryone of them in.
The girl killed her whole family.
One morning in a fit of pique, she drowned her father in the creek.
The girl killed her father.
The water tasted bad for a week, and we had to make do with gin, with gin, we had to make do with gin.
The creek water tasted bad after the girl killed her father, so they drank gin.
Her mother she could never stand, And so a cyanide soup she planned.
The girl didn't like her mother and planned to kill her with poison.
The mother died with a spoon in her hand, And her face in a hideous grin, a grin, her face in a hideous grin.
The mother died with a weird expression on her face.
She set her sister's hair on fire, She set her sister's hair on fire,
The girl set her sister's hair on fire.
And as the smoke and flame rose high'are, danced around the funeral pyre, playin' a violin, -olin, playin' a violin.
The girl danced around her burning sister and played the violin.
She weighted her brother down with stones, she weighted her brother down with stones,
The girl drowned her brother by sinking him with stones.
And sent him off to davy jones. All they ever found were some bones, And occasional pieces of skin, of skin, Occasional pieces of skin.
She threw her brother's body in the ocean, and only some body parts were found.
One day when she had nothing to do, she cut her baby brother in two,
The girl cut her baby brother in half out of boredom.
And served him up as an irish stew, and invited the neighbors in, -bors in, invited the neighbors in.
The girl made her baby brother into stew and invited people over to eat.
And when at last the police came by, her little pranks she did not deny,
When the police came, the girl didn't deny her crimes.
To do so she would have had to lie, And lying, she knew, was a sin, a sin, Lying, she knew, was a sin.
The girl didn't confess to her crimes because lying is wrong.
My tragic tale, I won't prolong,
The song is ending.
And if you do not enjoy the song, you've yourselves to blame if it's too long, you should never have let me begin, begin, you should never have let me begin.
If the listener doesn't like the song or thinks it's too long, they only have themselves to blame for letting the artist start singing.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Russell S
I went to summer camp in Androscoggin, Maine in the 1950s. Every year, a young Tom Lehrer would come up from Boston to help put on the annual play. A treat for all the kids and counselors involved. Happy 91st, Tom !
Gaming Funds
@J.W. S.D yeah
Synthia Zeng
@Russell S Almost 93
J.W. S.D
@Russell S Oh cool!
Russell S
@J.W. S.D Yup. He's still alive. 92. Go, Tom !
J.W. S.D
Whoa, I’m going to summer camp in Muskoka, Ontario and this would be cool. If of course he was still alive.
Edit: Wait is he still alive?
manfredatee
Got to love that 88-string guitar!
Brewnoe
still waiting for the next 70 verses
Yaume Lepire
manfredatee Same profile pick! Also I agree.
Jamie Barrett
I have fond memories of gathering around the piano to hear my mom play and sing Tom Lehrer songs from the Tom Lehrer songbook. We’d sometimes join in on singing but she led us all. This was one of my favorites for her to play and sing! Loved the ‘rikity tikity tin’ part! So fun! Thanks, mom!