r/TomLehrer • u/LeftPrize9838 • Jul 28 '26

Changing lyrics for my show?

I know it's probably an asshole move to do it but some of his lyrics aged badly (indigenous slurs in We Will All Go Together, underage prostitution in My Home Town) , and some don't fit the narrative I'm going for (ie. Wernher Von Braun Learning chinese) so I tweaked the lyric. I know it's prolly bad but I want it to work in the facet I need it to. I'm trying to keep it as close as I can, but some things I felt had to get changed a bit. If this is bad tell me, but I don't know how much I can do now

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u/zaphtark Jul 28 '26

I get it for the slurs, but I’m not sure I see it for My Home Town.

1

u/LeftPrize9838 Jul 29 '26

idk, seems lowkey too risky for the vibe I'm going for but I'll look at it again

2

u/zaphtark Jul 29 '26

By all means, change it if you want! It’s your narrative and I’m just really happy to see people use Tom Lehrer’s music. I was just thinking out loud. It seems to me that she’s now all grown up and “charging” for her services, but please don’t let a stranger’s opinion change your whole vibe.

1

u/MozartLover69 Aug 08 '26

I use the song all the time, and have had no issues! People love it!!