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Many of the songs in Tom Lehrer’s small, dark canon of work still seem relevant today, though nearly all of them were written in the 1950s and 60s.
Lehrer often wrote about subjects that were in the news of the day. For example, his song “Smut” (which may be heard in the video below) reacts to the 1957 U.S. Supreme Court case Roth vs. United States, the case that coined the expression “redeeming social importance,” with an oddly funny point of view.
His songs sometimes reflected the Cold War military tension of that time. “So Long, Mom (A Song for World War III)” is told from the point of view of a fighter pilot who expects the Armageddon that he’s about to initiate to end in roughly 90 minutes. The bouncy tempo brings an ironic contrast to the gravity of the subject.
With a few exceptions, Lehrer’s presentation style almost always consisted of simply his voice accompanied by his piano playing. Though orchestral versions are available of a few of his songs, and the TV show The Electric Company jazzed up his song for kids, “Silent E.”
In songs like “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park” and “The Masochism Tango,” Lehrer somehow manages to find humor in subjects that might otherwise seem appalling.
– Randy Rendfeld is a newspaper editor in Indiana.
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[Warning – Youtube has determined that the Tom Lehrer song below, titled “Smut,” and the slideshow accompanying it (which is no more risque than a slow week at Time magazine) will be offensive to some viewers. Only those who have reached 18 years of age or greater may see it.]
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