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.
We Will All Go Together When We Go
Tom Lehrer Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Lly independent having inherited his father's tar-and-feather business and was therefore able to devote his full time to such intellectual pursuits as writing. I particularly remember a heart-wa
Novel of his about a young necropheliac who finally achieved his boy-hood ambition by becoming coroner.
The rest of you can look it up when you get home. in addition to writing he indulged in a good deal of philosophizing. like so many contemporary philosophers he especially enjoyed giving helpful
Ce to people who were happier than he was. one particular bit of advice which I recall, which is the reason I bring up this whole, dreary story is something he said once before they took him awa
The Massachusetts state home for the bewilderd. he said: "life is like a sewer: what you get out of it depends on what you put into it." it's always seems to me that this is precisely
Sort of dynamic, positive thinking that we so desperately need in these trying times of crisis and universal broo-ha-ha, and so with this in mind I have here a modern positive dynamic uplifting
When you attend a funeral,
It is sad to think that sooner or
Later those you love will do the same for you.
And you may have thought it tragic,
Not to mention other adjec-
Tives, to think of all the weeping they will do.
But don't you worry.
No more ashes, no more sackcloth.
And an armband made of black cloth
Will some day never more adorn a sleeve.
For if the bomb that drops on you
Gets your friends and neighbors too,
There'll be nobody left behind to grieve.
And we will all go together when we go.
What a comforting fact that is to know.
Universal bereavement,
An inspiring achievement,
Yes, we all will go together when we go.
We will all go together when we go.
All suffuse with an incandescent glow.
No one will have the endurance
To collect on his insurance,
Lloyd's of london will be loaded when they go.
Oh we will all fry together when we fry.
We'll be french fried potatoes by and by.
There will be no more misery
When the world is our rotisserie,
Yes, we will all fry together when we fry.
Down by the old maelstrom,
There'll be a storm before the calm.
And we will all bake together when we bake.
There'll be nobody present at the wake.
With complete participation
In that grand incineration,
Nearly three billion hunks of well-done steak.
Oh we will all char together when we char.
And let there be no moaning of the bar.
Just sing out a te deum
When you see that i.c.b.m.,
And the party will be "come as you are."
Oh we will all burn together when we burn.
There'll be no need to stand and wait your turn.
When it's time for the fallout
And saint peter calls us all out,
We'll just drop our agendas and adjourn.
You will all go directly to your respective valhallas.
Go directly, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dolla's.
And we will all go together when we go.
Ev'ry hottenhot and ev'ry eskimo.
When the air becomes uranious,
And we will all go simultaneous.
Yes we all will go together
When we all go together,
Yes we all will go together when we go.
The first few lines of this song are a preface to the lyrics that follow. Tom Lehrer tells a story about a man named Henry, who was an eccentric writer that indulged in philosophizing as his pastime. Before he was taken to the Massachusetts state home for the bewildered, Henry imparted some profound advice to Lehrer; he said that "life is like a sewer: what you get out of it depends on what you put into it." Lehrer finds this kind of positive thinking to be exactly what people need in times of crisis and chaos. He then introduces the song as a modern and uplifting survival hymn in the tradition of revival hymns.
The song's lyrics are darkly humorous and satirical. Lehrer talks about how attending a funeral can make us realize that eventually, our loved ones will attend our funeral too. It can be tragic to think about all the weeping that will happen when we are gone. But Lehrer reassures that if a bomb drops on you, there won't be anyone left behind to grieve. The central message of the song is, in the end, we will all go together when we go. The absurdity of the song's premise is reflected in the lyrics that describe how we will die - fried, baked, and charred together in universal obliteration.
Line by Line Meaning
When you attend a funeral,
When you attend a funeral
It is sad to think that sooner or
It is sad to think that sooner or
Later those you love will do the same for you.
Later those you love will do the same for you
And you may have thought it tragic,
And you may have thought it tragic
Not to mention other adjec-
Not to mention other adjectives,
Tives, to think of all the weeping they will do.
to think of all the weeping they will do.
But don't you worry.
But don't you worry.
No more ashes, no more sackcloth.
No more ashes, no more sackcloth.
And an armband made of black cloth
And an armband made of black cloth
Will some day never more adorn a sleeve.
Will someday nevermore adorn a sleeve.
For if the bomb that drops on you
For if the bomb that drops on you
Gets your friends and neighbors too,
Gets your friends and neighbors too,
There'll be nobody left behind to grieve.
There'll be nobody left behind to grieve.
And we will all go together when we go.
And we will all go together when we go.
What a comforting fact that is to know.
What a comforting fact that is to know.
Universal bereavement,
Universal bereavement,
An inspiring achievement,
An inspiring achievement,
Yes, we all will go together when we go.
Yes, we all will go together when we go.
We will all go together when we go.
We will all go together when we go.
All suffuse with an incandescent glow.
All suffuse with an incandescent glow.
No one will have the endurance
No one will have the endurance
To collect on his insurance,
To collect on his insurance,
Lloyd's of london will be loaded when they go.
Lloyd's of London will be loaded when they go.
Oh we will all fry together when we fry.
Oh, we will all fry together when we fry.
We'll be french fried potatoes by and by.
We'll be French fried potatoes by and by.
There will be no more misery
There will be no more misery
When the world is our rotisserie,
When the world is our rotisserie,
Yes, we will all fry together when we fry.
Yes, we will all fry together when we fry.
Down by the old maelstrom,
Down by the old maelstrom,
There'll be a storm before the calm.
There'll be a storm before the calm.
And we will all bake together when we bake.
And we will all bake together when we bake.
There'll be nobody present at the wake.
There'll be nobody present at the wake.
With complete participation
With complete participation
In that grand incineration,
In that grand incineration,
Nearly three billion hunks of well-done steak.
Nearly three billion hunks of well-done steak.
Oh we will all char together when we char.
Oh we will all char together when we char.
And let there be no moaning of the bar.
And, let there be no moaning of the bar.
Just sing out a te deum
Just sing out a Te Deum
When you see that i.c.b.m.,
When you see that ICBM,
And the party will be "come as you are."
And the party will be, "Come as you are."
Oh we will all burn together when we burn.
Oh, we will all burn together when we burn.
There'll be no need to stand and wait your turn.
There'll be no need to stand and wait your turn.
When it's time for the fallout
When it's time for the fallout
And saint peter calls us all out,
And Saint Peter calls us all out,
We'll just drop our agendas and adjourn.
We'll just drop our agendas and adjourn.
You will all go directly to your respective valhallas.
You will all go directly to your respective Valhallas.
Go directly, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dolla's.
Go directly, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars.
And we will all go together when we go.
And we will all go together when we go.
Ev'ry hottenhot and ev'ry eskimo.
Every Hottenhot and every Eskimo.
When the air becomes uranious,
When the air becomes Uranious,
And we will all go simultaneous.
And we will all go simultaneously.
Yes we all will go together
Yes, we all will go together
When we all go together,
When we all go together,
Yes we all will go together when we go.
Yes, we all will go together when we go.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@stefanofratta7648
When you attend a funeral,
It is sad to think that sooner or
Later those you love will do the same for you.
And you may have thought it tragic,
Not to mention other adjec-
Tives, to think of all the weeping they will do.
But don't you worry.
No more ashes, no more sackcloth.
And an armband made of black cloth
Will some day never more adorn a sleeve.
For if the bomb that drops on you
Gets your friends and neighbors too,
There'll be nobody left behind to grieve.
And we will all go together when we go.
What a comforting fact that is to know.
Universal bereavement,
An inspiring achievement,
Yes, we all will go together when we go.
We will all go together when we go.
All suffuse with an incandescent glow.
No one will have the endurance
To collect on his insurance,
Lloyd's of london will be loaded when they go.
Oh we will all fry together when we fry.
We'll be french fried potatoes by and by.
There will be no more misery
When the world is our rotisserie,
Yes, we will all fry together when we fry.
Down by the old maelstrom,
There'll be a storm before the calm.
And we will all bake together when we bake.
There'll be nobody present at the wake.
With complete participation
In that grand incineration,
Nearly three billion hunks of well-done steak.
Oh we will all char together when we char.
And let there be no moaning of the bar.
Just sing out a te deum
When you see that I.c.b.m.,
And the party will be "come as you are."
Oh we will all burn together when we burn.
There'll be no need to stand and wait your turn.
When it's time for the fallout
And saint peter calls us all out,
We'll just drop our agendas and adjourn.
You will all go directly to your respective valhallas.
Go directly, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dolla's.
And we will all go together when we go.
Ev'ry hottenhot and ev'ry eskimo.
When the air becomes uranious,
And we will all go simultaneous.
Yes we all will go together
When we all go together,
Yes we all will go together when we go.
@Exurb1a
Well. This got relevant
@Mongolium
Oh shit! I used to watch your channel all the time. Fancy seeing you.
@yourlocaltrashpanda7008
He’s honestly one of the funniest comedians of the past (if time isn’t an infinite loop)
@EricPudalov
I was just thinking the same thing!!!!
@Selverna
Hey exurb1a. I know you don’t know me but I'm subscribed to you, and I don't really know what to say but I think you're really cool and that your videos are really great, and that I hope you're doing well.
@Exurb1a
@@Selverna Hey, thanks ever so much! Big love, hope you're doing well yourself!
@markkozlowski3674
Tom Lehrer was once asked why he stopped writing and recording. He brilliantly replied that "political satire became redundant when Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize."
@_Chill_Out_
Fake news
@angelusb2066
@@_Chill_Out_ what
@sovietfederation9738
@@angelusb2066 probably a troll or attention seeker