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Tom Lehrer

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Tom Lehrer, in full Thomas Andrew Lehrer, was an American musician and mathematician. He was born in 1928 in New York and died in 2025. As a child he loved logic puzzles and mathematics, took piano lessons and was already writing songs in the manner of Broadway at a young age. He was regarded as a child prodigy and began at Harvard at fifteen. There he studied mathematics and wrote funny songs for his friends. In 1951 and 1952 he performed with The Physical Revue for the physics department. Later he taught at MIT, Harvard and the University of California, Santa Cruz, among others.

Music and breakthrough

His first album, Songs by Tom Lehrer, appeared in 1953. In 1959 More of Tom Lehrer followed, which also appeared in a live-recorded version. His songs parodied well-known musical forms, often with melodies of his own. In the early years they revolved around black humour, as in Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, a cheerful waltz about poisoning pigeons. In the 1960s he wrote topical songs for the American version of the satirical television programme That Was the Week That Was, about education, the Second Vatican Council and pollution, among other things. A friend explained to him: always predict the worst, then you will be praised as a prophet. In the early 1970s he largely withdrew from the stage to teach mathematics and the history of musical theatre.

Influence

Lehrer showed that a funny song can contain a sharp social message. He sang with a light, cheerful sound, accompanied himself on piano and let the lyrics do the work. In this way he could make a cheerful song even about a subject like the atom bomb, with venom beneath the joke.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Poisoning Pigeons in the Park by Tom Lehrer. Notice the contrast between the cheerful waltz on piano and the dark lyrics.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Categories: Artists