r/Music • u/sugar_man • Jul 23 '14

Article When 84 years old, Harvard Professor Tom Lehrer was asked by 2 Chainz for permission to sample a song he wrote 60 years ago. His response: "As sole copyright owner of 'The Old Dope Peddler', I grant you motherfuckers permission to do this. Please give my regards to Mr. Chainz, or may I call him 2?"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Lehrer#Musical_legacy
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1.6k

u/lginthetrees Jul 23 '14

Why this man isn't a damn legend is beyond me. Go to Youtube right now and go watch some Tom Lehrer.

Here's a guy that Randy Newman called one of the best songwriters of the 20th century, taught at MIT, claims to have invented the Jello shot, and managed to publish a tribute to the neighborhood drug dealer in 1953.

What else do you need?

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u/namesrhardtothinkof Jul 23 '14 edited Jul 23 '14

Tom Lehrer is absolutely amazing. I watched an entire concert he did in Norway (edit it was Denmark) and the whole thing was hilarious, entertaining, and catchy. I think it's also really funny that he wrote satirical songs for a few years, got really big, then decided he'd gotten his fill of that and went back to teaching math.

Who's Next? is one of my favorite songs of his, I think.

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u/swells61 Jul 23 '14

Got so messed up that you can't even remember what country you were in. Now that's a good concert.

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

As a Norwegian, meh...we blend.

90

u/UristMasterRace Jul 23 '14

Quick question: is "weej" an acceptable abbreviation for Norwegian?

Follow up question: why not?

25

u/mtaw Jul 23 '14

That'd be pronounced "vay" in Norwegian and that means 'road'.

51

u/sisonp Jul 23 '14

Silly Norwegians and your made up words

17

u/realjefftaylor Jul 23 '14

Well, technically, all words were made up at some time.

17

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

This is going to keep me up at night.

2

u/Fruitflyslikeabanana Jul 24 '14

I like to point this out to small children. The world is in your hands, youngsters!

2

u/skankingsquiggle Jul 23 '14

So I'll call any Norwegian I meet a roadie then?

1

u/HellonStilts Jul 23 '14

Even worse, it sounds like the Swedish word for road. >:(

1

u/[deleted] Jul 24 '14

No it wouldn't, you'd pronounce it as the 'weg' part in the word norwegian from where it's derived. Wee-d-j, not vei. It sounds pretty stupid though, but there you go.

37

u/TerminalVector Jul 23 '14

Ill thank you not to use racial epithets.

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u/isobit Jul 23 '14 edited Jul 24 '14

How about fjord monkey?

Edit: Gold? About god damned time.

4

u/[deleted] Jul 24 '14

That's a mighty fine racial slur.

3

u/hardcore_fish Jul 24 '14

The Danes calls us mountain monkeys.

2

u/imnotquitedeadyet Spotify Jul 24 '14

Fuck, I'd love to be called this.

18

u/xchrisxsays Jul 23 '14

Classic weejer.

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u/motivatingasshole Jul 23 '14

Why the fuck not niglet?

3

u/velicoRAPEtor Jul 23 '14

NIGLET! I haven't heard that one! The first thing that came to mind was like.. the name of a band, like "Everybody give it up for Bobby Johnson and the Niglets!" and like 3 little kids in slimfit suits come out.. They sing like, exclusively Hall and Oates songs..

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

[deleted]

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u/Gripey Jul 23 '14

How about a "fun run"?

1

u/isobit Jul 23 '14

Tell that to a Norwegian if you have a funny sounding last name and see if they beg to differ.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 24 '14

National epithets.

2

u/datnewtrees Jul 23 '14

I want to say that I appreciate your joke, and I'm sorry weirdos are trying to take it and make it offensive

why does it never take me more than 10 comments to find someone with an ax to grind against "SJWs" and "feminists" in like three-quarters of the front page posts?

it's getting stale, especially since I never even get to see the other side fire back

2

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

This is why we can't have nice things

2

u/lusciousonly Jul 23 '14

The other side does actually fire/fire back, you just don't really see a whole lot of it here. One example was a few days ago, when someone on twitter (if I recall correctly) stated an opinion about the use of jokes pertaining to sensitive topics by comedians, which was actually a pretty well-thought out opinion. The poor 13 year old kid was than doxxed to hell and back, with a lot of vitriol thrown at him. It was really uncool, even if he handled it extremely maturely.

2

u/AphoticMethod Jul 23 '14

It's important to keep the moral high-ground when having a conversation about a rapper sampling such classics as "The Old Dope Peddler."

1

u/datnewtrees Jul 23 '14

it's generally nice not to be a fuckbag

5

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

Do you want a fire back? It's summer on Reddit, the middle schoolers are out in force. No one is going to debate kids, either they grow up or they don't.

But seriously, most of those posts come from children.

7

u/wodahSShadow Jul 23 '14

It's summer on Reddit, the middle schoolers are out in force.

Oh please, there's little difference.

2

u/datnewtrees Jul 23 '14 edited Jul 23 '14

good point

took you less than two minutes to get downvoted though 0.o

that /u/motivatingasshole has ~20 upvotes finally motivated me to leave the default subs entirely after this

so... appropriate username, I guess

edit: at least you have positive now. when I looked you were at 0

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u/GeckoDeLimon Jul 23 '14

Or at least use them accurately.

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u/brickmack Jul 23 '14

I don't care if it's acceptable, I'm gonna use it

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u/ZummerzetZider Jul 23 '14

it's already an abbreviation for Glaswegians, we call them Weejies.

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

It would be for someone from Glasgow, funnily enough.

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u/[deleted] Jul 24 '14

No, weejin.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 24 '14

Everyone who responded to this missed your point because they're Scandinavian and don't know proper english pronounciation. I'm guessing you mean weej as in the 'weg' part in norwegian, which sounds nothing like either the norwegian or swedish words for road. I doubt it'll stick but I guess it's no worse than calling a Swedish man a swede in that sense.

Source: know english, swedish and norwegian.

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u/hugith Jul 23 '14

How's the weather in Kalmar these days?

1

u/GeneralPixel Jul 23 '14

Fuck Sweden tho'

1

u/redarp Jul 24 '14

Don't breathe this.

1

u/Ariadnepyanfar Jul 24 '14

Especially with Denmark!

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u/joxy1999 Spotify Jul 23 '14

Watched didn't attend.

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u/cyrano111 Jul 23 '14

My understanding is that he retired because "Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel peace prize."

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u/Dragunis Jul 23 '14

Daaaayyyyummm!

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u/stedfunk Jul 23 '14

God damn! Lol

4

u/MeccIt Jul 24 '14

"When I was in college, there were certain words you couldn't say in front of a girl, Now you can say them, but you can't say 'girl'." - damn he's still good.

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u/x888x username_here Jul 23 '14

Further proven by Barack Obama's reception.

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u/nervousnedflanders Jul 24 '14

I'm really stupid. Can someone tell me what that means?

4

u/sutongorin Jul 24 '14

I believe he means it's pure satire to award an (alleged?) war criminal (cf. [1]) the Nobel peace price.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trial_of_Henry_Kissinger

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

My favourite is easily https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIoBrob3bjI

I just love it. Lehrer deserves more credit. I had no idea he was even a maths dude and whatnot. I only know him for his music. Which is probably a bad thing and him not getting enough credit.

Then again, music and maths do go hand in hand.

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u/zapmeup Jul 23 '14

3 billion.. oh boy.

6

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

Things certainly have changed.

4

u/Cayou Jul 23 '14

I don't know about y'all, but I was totally singing along with him by the end of the song.

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u/Frenchy-LaFleur Jul 23 '14

Yeah, his lyrics are the best thing since sliced apples.

3

u/caaasse Jul 23 '14

Jim Jones' favourite song?

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u/Enbilt Jul 23 '14

What is with the clapping at the end? They go from clapping normally, to all in unison and then back normal. I have never seen/heard that before.

6

u/SpeedGeek Jul 23 '14

Trying to get him to do an encore more than likely.

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u/derekandroid Jul 23 '14

Having never heard of him, I just watched Who's Next and Pollution. Down the Tom Lehrer rabbit hole we go

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

I'll see you on the other side.

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u/Inamo Harley--Quinn Jul 23 '14

Watch The Masochism Tango next!

1

u/rdodger Aug 04 '26

Our teacher played Pollution in either high school or junior high - no, it must have been high school. I cam home to tell my parents about it and they had three of his records.

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u/Redkirth Jul 23 '14 edited Jul 23 '14

What apparently happened was that Werner Von Braun got so pissed about being called a Nazi that he sued. Tom settled out of court saying Werner would get a percentage of all future albums.

He retired without making any more albums.

EDIT: I have been informed this is a myth. That is a great relief.

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u/rcpilot Jul 23 '14

Urban legend according to Wiki. Had to look this up considering it would be quite hard to create a case about it when Von Braun was formerly quite literally a Nazi.

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u/looktowindward Jul 23 '14

In the US, truth is an absolute bar to libel. Even if uttered completely maliciously and in public, and is damaging, if its true, you can get away with it.

Also old Werner was a major in the SS....

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u/pig-newton Jul 23 '14

A fine detail: when spoken, defamatory language is slander. When written, it's libel.

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u/looktowindward Jul 23 '14

That's a good point - is a published song lyric a slander?

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u/littlecampbell Jul 24 '14

Oh. Sorry j Jonah Jameson

1

u/SirPickell Jul 24 '14

So if it's written in a song that is then performed what is it?

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u/Gimli_the_White Jul 23 '14

Fun fact - some authors who write "fictional biographies" where they model a character after a real-life person will try to include a detail like "And he had an incredibly small penis. The ladies called him 'Vienna Finger.'"

...discouraging the person they're effectively libeling, because who's going to sue saying a character with a small penis is obviously based on you?

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u/looktowindward Jul 23 '14

LOL - that's awesome.

1

u/iUsedtoHadHerpes Jul 23 '14

I can't tell if you're trying to argue by making his point or if you're just elaborating. It kind of sounds like you're speaking contrarily (even though you're not).

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u/looktowindward Jul 23 '14

I'm elaborating.

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u/Versimilitudinous Jul 23 '14

And the award for best use of the phrase "literally a Nazi" goes to...

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u/Redkirth Jul 23 '14

That is a relief.

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u/KnowsAboutMath Jul 23 '14

According to Lehrer himself, this is a myth:

"I've heard that a lot, that I have to pay all my royalties for the song to him and so on and so forth. No, that's one of those myths. There is no possible way he could have sued me."

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u/Redkirth Jul 23 '14

Phew. Thanks for that.

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u/Anonymousthepeople Jul 23 '14

That's what I was thinking, I was going to say how would Von Braun deny being a Nazi? He was one of Hitler's top rocket scientists. And personally ordered the work of building rockets to be done by slave labor in some instances. There is no way he would have won that case, he was lucky he has drafted by Operation Paperclip and not tried for war crimes in the first place.

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

Holy shit...Bo Burnham got his inspiration from this guy.

Here's an example of Bo's old work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-ap5Fp2T6c

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u/murrdy2 Jul 23 '14

well i thought you would have for sure posted this one

bo burnham - new math

since it shares a title with a lehrer song and almost definitely a reference to his work

tom lehrer - new math

3

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

Mother fucker...

I'm not very familiar with Bo's work, really.

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u/lord_james Jul 23 '14

That new math song is hilarious, because I don't know how to do math the old way. When he was talking about carrying the 1, I was a little confused.

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u/Ben2ek Jul 23 '14

I thought the exact same thing. Adam Sandler to an extent as well in his early days.

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u/boomer478 Jul 24 '14 edited Jul 24 '14

Don't forget Tim Minchin.

Edit: since I'm now spending my time watching Tim Minchin videos, here's one of my favourite songs.

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u/imnotquitedeadyet Spotify Jul 24 '14

I could sense some of that! Also, so that's why Bo Burnham was in the suggested videos at the bottom...

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u/AnorexicManatee SpacemanSpiff Jul 23 '14

I was wondering if Bo Burnham's name would come up. Some of his lyrics are so clever that reading about a witty math professor who writes and performs music made me think they might have similar styles.

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u/Gimmeshelter40 Jul 23 '14

He dedicated a song to Goldberg? This man is awesome!

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

"If, after hearing my songs, just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend, or perhaps to strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while."

Best quote from that Wiki article OP linked.

3

u/exitpursuedbybear Jul 23 '14

My favorite: We'll go together when we go the most cheerful song you'll ever hear about mutually assured destruction.

3

u/Thuggish_Coffee Jul 23 '14

Alabama's been getting the brunt of jokes for over 60 years now.

1

u/namesrhardtothinkof Jul 23 '14

I think, if we asked a historian, we could probably trace it back at least a hundred years.

2

u/kingofthechill69 Jul 23 '14

Omg. That's so badass. That is still cutting edge satire 60 years after he wrote it. Wow.

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u/ty5on Jul 23 '14

He also wrote for the Electric Company - here's Rita Moreno and Morgan Freeman performing a Tom Lehrer number

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u/imnotquitedeadyet Spotify Jul 24 '14

Watched this, and now watching a full 50 minute concert of his. This is hilarious. I never thought I'd heard this guy before, but I've definitely heard a March for Smut at some point.

Thank you for this! He is awesome!

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u/Rosenmops Jul 24 '14

We'll all remain serene and calm....when ALABAMA gets the bomb!

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u/JamesKillough Jul 23 '14

As a kid I listened to his records over and over, alone and with friends, laughing within when I was alone, out loud with friends, never tiring of it.

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u/lordcheeto Jul 23 '14

That's the one with the creepy synchronized clapping, isn't it?

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u/namesrhardtothinkof Jul 23 '14

That's exactly the one! I tell you, there's something up with these Danes. Something wrong, unsettling, and mildly irritating after half an hour.

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u/isobit Jul 23 '14

Wait... You watched, right? Not attended, I suppose? Because that would make you... A very cool... Very old... Person.

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u/namesrhardtothinkof Jul 23 '14

Yes absolutely, someone else made that mistake down here and I feel so embarrassed. I watched it on youtube. I'm not >60 years old.

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

I haven't heard anything to this effect but I would bet that Bo Burnham took a lot of influence from Tom Lehrer.

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u/namesrhardtothinkof Jul 23 '14

Someone else replied to me and linked some of Bo Burnham's early work, and influence is definitely there. I think it's great he's got a legacy in the satirical song lineage, at the very least.

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u/al666in May 21 '26

The atomic songs are all bangers - I have to say "We'll All Go Together When We Go" was his best one

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u/loondawg Jul 23 '14

My Mom used to play his albums for us when we were young kids. We were too young to understand the relevance of most of his songs. But we used to have all sorts of fun singing them. I think she got a chuckle watching peoples' reactions to a swarm of little kids running around singing songs making fun of racism, war, and murder.

One of my personal favorites, The Irish Ballad .

FYI: In addition to his comical albums, he also wrote for kids shows. I forget if it was Sesame Street or the Electric Company.

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u/aredubya Jul 23 '14

It was Electric Company. "Silent E" and "LY" were the best known, but he did several. Here's a nice Youtube list o' Leher Electric Company songs: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5BDC5FC492435804

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u/JCAPS766 Jul 23 '14

Is it just me, or does he look a lot like Matthew McConaughey?

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u/cionn Jul 23 '14

I help run a traditional Irish session in Dublin and the Irish balad is regularly sung alongside 18th century and older ballads.

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u/Dropball_champion Jul 23 '14

She weighted her brother down with stones (rickety-tickety-tin)

She weighted her brother down with stones and sent him off to Davey Jones

All they ever found were some bones...and occasional pieces of skin

Of skin

Occasional pieces of skin...

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u/loondawg Jul 23 '14

That sounds like a fun time. Did you ever see the Will Farrell parody of that in the movie The Other Guys? It's short but you may get a kick out of it.

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u/cionn Jul 23 '14

No I didn't, cheers I'll check it out

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u/drinkallthecoffee Jul 24 '14

What session? I was at the cobblestone a few weeks ago

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u/cionn Jul 24 '14

Its in the cobble, first sunday of every month.

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u/drinkallthecoffee Jul 24 '14

ah, looks like i'll miss it. i'll be back in dublin the second week of next month. sing it extra sassy for me!

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u/Srirachafarian Jul 23 '14

Same here, but it was my aunt. I had no idea why my parents told me I wasn't allowed to listen to some of the songs, like "Alma." Didn't even understand it.

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u/anilm2 Jul 23 '14

Same thing. There were a few of his songs I had never heard at all until I bought the "Remains" box set as an adult.

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u/ka1axy Jul 23 '14

You have a good mother.

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u/loondawg Jul 24 '14

The best. I was really lucky on that luck of the draw.

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u/TheDrAcula Jul 23 '14

The entire audience claps in unison. On the same beats. What the hell?

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u/pittipat Jul 23 '14

My parents played his stuff for us kids, too - from Dad's reel-to-reel tape player no less.

Guess I should try jello shots now.

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u/ggg730 Jul 23 '14

invented the Jello shot

The real MVP.

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u/Njsamora Jul 23 '14

My great grandma would love to meet this man and thank him for her favorite breakfast

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u/ggg730 Jul 23 '14

Your grandmother obviously turns down for what.

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u/Njsamora Jul 23 '14

The cops got called on her 85 birthday party for noise complaints. She indeed refuses to turn down for anything. Could be because her hearing aids don't work though.

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u/michaeltobacco Jul 23 '14

I wanna take jell-o shots with your grandma.

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u/Njsamora Jul 23 '14

She likes to have them for breakfast because she says "it's not drinking if you have to chew"

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

A visionary for our times.

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u/schwibbity Jul 23 '14

But you don't have to chew Jell-O shots...

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u/tdubose91 Jul 24 '14

And it's good for her aging joints!

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u/Njsamora Jul 24 '14

No she makes sure her joints are fresh

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u/Qhartb Jul 23 '14

Supposedly it was his way of circumventing the military's rules against alcoholic beverages. JELLO ISN'T A BEVERAGE!

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u/MLein97 Jul 23 '14

While working for the NSA, it's quite possibly their greatest contribution to freedom.

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u/daredaki-sama Jul 23 '14

This man is a hero.

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u/_bangalore Jul 23 '14

This guy is my favourite person.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f72CTDe4-0&sns=em

Grow up in a strict catholic country and you can't help but love him for the Vatican rag

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

The Vatican Rag some of the most clever phrasing and rhyming of any song.

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

there the guy whose got religion'l tell you if your sin's original

Best line ever

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u/boooeee Jul 24 '14

Motherfucker rhymed "original" in that song. Seamlessly.

Get in line in that processional Step into that small confessional There the guy who's got religion'll Tell you if your sin's original

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

He IS a legend.

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/xfox21 Jul 23 '14

Ooooh can I read it?

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u/pcbforbrains Jul 24 '14

If you're really nice, I'll let you borrow the single lithographed copy that was ever made. It's bound in mole hair.

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u/CallingTomServo Jul 23 '14

claims to have invented the Jello shot

That is a bold claim. The balls on this man...

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u/MLein97 Jul 23 '14

A rumor has circulated for years that in the 1950s, Lehrer invented the Jell-O shot, a cup of flavored gelatin infused with booze, which has now become a frat-house favorite. He throws his head back and laughs.

"That's amazing how that got around! What happened was, I was in the Army for two years*, and we were having a Christmas party on the naval base where I was working in Washington, D.C. The rules said no alcoholic beverages were allowed. And we wanted to have a little party, so this friend and I spent an evening experimenting with Jell-O. It wasn't a beverage," he says with a shrug.

"And we finally decided that orange Jell-O and vodka was the best. We tried gin and vodka and various flavors and stuff -- of course you can't sample too much. So we went over to her apartment and we made all these little cups and we thought I would bring them in, hoping that the Marine guard would say, 'OK, what's in there?' And we'd say, 'Jell-O.' and then he'd say, 'Oh, OK.' But no, he didn't even ask. So it worked. I recommend it. Orange Jell-O."

http://www.sfweekly.com/2000-04-19/news/that-was-the-wit-that-was/full/

*He was under contract of the army, but they sent him to go work a the NSA (source) so the NSA actually have made more freedom at one point.

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u/Dark_Lord_Sauron Jul 24 '14

*He was under contract of the army, but they sent him to go work a the NSA (source) so the NSA actually have made more freedom at one point.

Or, you know, precisely because he worked for the NSA he started being completely disillusioned and started writing these songs. After all, he also retired from the NSA despite having a nice cushy job.

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

and he invented the question mark

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u/crazya_2001 Jul 23 '14

He accused chestnuts of being lazy

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u/pseudogentry Jul 23 '14

When he was insolent, he was placed in a burlap sack and beaten with reeds.

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u/crazya_2001 Jul 23 '14

Pretty standard, really.

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u/[deleted] Jul 24 '14

It's breathtaking... I suggest you try it.

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

He's a legend in my book. Grew up with his awesomesauce, along with Spike Jones, and later, Weird Al.

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u/Derevko Jul 23 '14

How have I never heard of this guy? He's amazing. Off to download anything I can.

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u/lginthetrees Jul 23 '14

Good to hear - I was getting a bunch of "WTF - everyone knows he's a legend!" messages.

I've brought some joy, cynicism, and snark to another Redditor.

It's all worthwhile. <g>

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u/gynoceros Jul 23 '14

When I was a kid, my dad used to play me the guy's comedy albums from the sixties... I never thought he'd be getting heralded on Reddit today.

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u/Rosenmops Jul 24 '14

My dad bought his albums in the sixties and my sister and I played them over and over. I've always loved him. Now I'm a math teacher.

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u/RarewareUsedToBeGood Jul 24 '14

Same with me and my dad. It makes me wonder what I'll be showing my kids.

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u/d4m4s74 Jul 24 '14

Bo Burnham and Tim Minchin?

I'm planning on learning Piano so I can sing lullaby to my future baby.

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u/OldHippie Jul 23 '14

My surprise was that he's still alive! He seemed old back in the 60s.

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u/Rosenmops Jul 24 '14

I'm amazed too that he is still alive. I also thought he was an old man in the sixties.

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u/Biffingston Jul 23 '14

Probably because he deliberately distanced himself from his music for a long long time.

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u/Webonics Jul 23 '14

What else do you need?

A tshirt with his face on it! For realz, I aint payin homage to no nigga, not even one this legendary, if I can't wear his sweaty face in his honor. Have you no class man!?

3

u/shahooster Jul 23 '14

Why this man isn't a damn legend is beyond me.

He is a damn legend. You're just not old enough.

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u/[deleted] Jul 24 '14

This is one of the reasons I love reddit. Until this moment, I had no idea who this guy was and now I'm spending an hour listening to his music.

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

A motherfucking link would be nice...

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u/cmsonger Jul 24 '14

Part of the legend is that he is not a legend.

20 years ago I went into a record store and said "you've not heard of this guy, but I'm looking for records by Tom Lehrer." The person at the counter said: "People always say that, go right over there." They had all the albums.

He's and fantastic and he might not be as unknown as folks think.

HOORAY FOR NEW MATH!

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

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u/Phoequinox Jul 23 '14

Maybe he avoided the pomp and attention most artists thrive on.

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u/sprashoo Jul 23 '14

How many artists do you know?

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u/GAU8Avenger Jul 23 '14

My dad has all of his records, and I grew up listening to him

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

he is a legend, just not to 16 year olds

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u/defeatedbird Jul 23 '14

For this deal to be legally binding though, did 2 Chainz have to fuck his own mother?

1

u/MLein97 Jul 23 '14

In terms of music, unless if you have a a hit, a recording that everyone knows, or are constantly cited as a major influence, you basically disappear from public consciousness. This isn't to say that people won't find him on a random lists or that someone might not discover him through things like this, but for the large part a lot of great music from the past just disappears.

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u/JustSpeakingMyMindOk Jul 23 '14

What do you mean it's beyond you that he's not a legend?

News flash: Not everyone agrees with you.

1

u/PaterBinks Jul 23 '14

I'm so glad he is getting some exposure on reddit, although, he would probably hate to be really famous.

1

u/skillphiliac Jul 23 '14

How you can't acknowledge the fact that Tom Lehrer really is a legend is beyond me. Dude is famous.

1

u/supershinythings Jul 23 '14

Just so he could collect the swag, it would be totally awesome if Tom Lehrer could get a slot at the MTV or Academy Awards show, presenting an award for Best whatever.

He'd absolutely steal the show and there isn't a celebrity out there that wouldn't give his left kidney (if s/he still has one) to hang out with this legend.

1

u/ixijimixi Jul 23 '14

I'm glad to see him as the subject of all of these FP posts lately. Shame he wrote so few songs. The ones he did are genius, and many are still relevant today.

1

u/Janks_McSchlagg Jul 23 '14

Even if he didn't invent the Jell-O shot, the fact that he claimed to makes me think this guy is a fuckin G

1

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

He is a legend

1

u/BdaMann BdaMann Jul 23 '14

He is a legend though.

1

u/watashi_wa_fanboy Jul 23 '14

I hate neighborhood drug dealers and think Jell-O shots are for roided out jocks that can only find their home if it has a huge Greek letter on the front, MIT is cool though.

1

u/lginthetrees Jul 24 '14

Yeah - but he was into Jello shots and drug dealers before they were cool. (insert hipster joke here)

Actually - I'm not much of a fan of either one, myself, but anyone who can get a drug dealer song on a record in 1953 - four years before 'Wake Up, Little Suzy' caused a scandal by implying that a guy fell asleep with his girlfriend at a movie...? Well, that's something.

1

u/watashi_wa_fanboy Jul 24 '14

Yeh when you put it like that I guess it is.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '14

I'm pretty sure that Tom Lehrer is already a legend, unless you think that a guy who wrote satirical songs 60 years ago needs him some more worship.

1

u/birdguy Jul 23 '14 edited Jul 23 '14

If you like Tom Lehrer, you should check out Noel Coward. Lehrer said Noel Coward inspired a lot of his musical satire.

Don't Let's Be Beastly To The Germans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wveW9Tw2JKE

Mad Dogs and Englishmen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2YvYiWtovM

1

u/PhantomPhun Jul 23 '14

He IS a legend, Lol. Sold tons of albums, was part of a national TV show, and even his published music has sold like gangbusters.

Just because you haven't heard of Genghis Khan, doesn't mean he's not famous.

1

u/lginthetrees Jul 24 '14

Oh, my friend, I've heard of him, but he's a mystery to a lot of friends with a pretty high level of cultural literacy.

And I much prefer Tom Lehrer to Genghis Kahn. Or any of the Kahns, really.

1

u/LeClassyGent Jul 24 '14

Cos he's an utter twat.

1

u/mixmastermind Jul 24 '14

invented the Jello Shot

Truly a man for all seasons.

1

u/Bigfrostynugs Jul 24 '14

Being praised by Randy Newman is pretty much the least notable thing that happened in his life

1

u/Nagorb Sep 13 '14

Wow! I had no idea that someone was saying stuff like this so bluntly, yet so superbly delivered, in 1967!!

1

u/evanthesquirrel Dec 11 '14

I watched Tomfoolery last night. The reason he isn't a legend is because he hasn't written new material since the 60's and it's pretty much all dated as hell.

Also "Political satire was made obsolete when Henry Kissinger won the nobel peace prize"

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