Tom Lehrer

Tom Lehrer was born in 1928. He got his BA in mathematics from Harvard at 1946, and a year later got his MA.

Lehrer had a short career in the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. He was drafted to the U.S army from 1955 to 1957 and worked at the NSA.

He is best known for the pithy and humorous songs that he recorded in the 1950s and 1960s. In his songs, Lehrer makes fun of everything; His personal life, the American culture, math, religion and more.

The “New York Times” said that his music “Is not tethered by taste”.

In his concerts, Lehrer had interesting introductions to his songs. I strongly suggest listening to them.

Lehrer’s proposal for the new army song.

Lehrer liked to include at least one live song in each of his performances. Partly to convince people that even in the the Harvard graduate school, they still had their moments.

In his songs, Lehrer often parodied popular musical forms, though he usually created original melodies when doing so. Let us start from an old Irish ballad which was written a few years ago.

The tango template.

Some Waltz.

Lehrer had (well, he might have) strong opinions on the cold war and the protest movement that rose in the time.

He criticized the nuclear arms race.

And predicted its outcome.

As a mathematician, Lehrer could give advice about math in general, and about how to become a great researcher.

Lehrer remembered to cherish his hometown and all important members of the community in his songs.

A bit of american nostalgia.

And let us finish with a great life philosophy.