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Tom Lehrer has some fantastic quotes - if you like dark humor. “Life is like a piano. What you get out of it depends on how you play it.” “If after hearing my

Tom Lehrer has some fantastic quotes - if you like dark humor. “Life is like a piano. What you get out of it depends on how you play it.” “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.” "I feel that if a person has problems communicating the very least he can do is to shut up." And now, perhaps the greatest of them all: "In short, I no longer retain any rights to any of my songs. So help yourselves, and don’t send me any money." Godspeed, Tom, and thank you for your humor and your music!

Trouble_007 4y ago
An incredible intellect, combined with an amazing wit, and a truly talented performer. - Thanks Tom.
pdonis 4y ago
> “Life is like a piano. What you get out of it depends on how you play it.” There's a better one in An Evening Wasted, attributed to, IIRC, his friend Henry: "Life is like a sewer: what you get out of it depends on what you put into it."
- PixyMisa 4y ago
  Hen3ry. The three is silent.
  - MaxBarraclough 4y ago
    That was before they took him away to the Massachusetts Home for the Bewildered.
  - timoth3y 4y ago
    A man after my own heart!
- 2000UltraDeluxe 4y ago
  He also claimed it to be a Danish saying during a concert in Copenhagen.
- Symbiote 4y ago
  It's in the first audio track here. https://tomlehrersongs.com/we-will-all-go-together-when-we-go/ https://tomlehrersongs.com/we-will-all-go-together-when-we-g...
- culi 4y ago
  life is like a sewer. It doesn't really matter how much you care about what you put in it because a thousand other assholes are gonna shit on it anyways
bambax 4y ago
Yeah the humour is everywhere. In the sheet music for The Vatican Rag the expression is to play "Ecumenically"... https://tomlehrersongs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/the-vatican-rag-music.pdf https://tomlehrersongs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/the-va...
less_less 4y ago
On why he stopped writing: "Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel peace prize." In the intro to "So long mom": "You know, every great war produces its great hit songs. And, after each war, we like to gather around the piano or the guitar, and play these songs. We enjoy the songs because they remind us of how much we enjoyed the war. Now, World War III is almost upon us, as you know – by popular demand, it seems. And, it occurred to me that if any songs are going to come out of World War III we’d better start writing them now. So, I have one here."
- ghaff 4y ago
  It's interesting to me the way Tom Lehrer totally walked away from his past life. Long ago when I was undergrad and involved with the movie/lecture group we asked a good friend of his at the school if there was any chance he'd make an exception and do a concert. No way. I've know people in tech who have retired, often a bit on the young side. They often keep their fingers in tech in various ways. But I also have known people who just 100% walk away.
  - 121110987654321 4y ago
    "But I also have known people who just 100% walk away." How many people? Any commonalities surrounding their choice?
    - ghaff 4y ago
      They often want to spend more time with family. They have hobbies that they didn't have enough time to devote to while working. And, for a lot of later career people in tech, they weren't doing a lot of coding anyway--and it's not like they can continue to meet with customers or set company technology direction part-time over the long term although a few very senior folks may stay around as an advisor for a time.
dekhn 4y ago
I took Tom's class, "Nature of Math", when I was in college (he lived in Santa Cruz) and it was wonderful. Great teacher and that's where I learned the birthday paradox.
schiffern 4y ago
If you haven't had a chance, give his full performances a listen. He intersperses song and spoken comedy, with the whole arc hanging together masterfully. Think of one of the great stand-up specials. I'd say it "feels very modern," but the truth is that Lehrer (re-)invented the modern form. An Evening (Wasted) with Tom Lehrer (1959, 42m) https://youtu.be/w8d0GwzY6cA https://youtu.be/w8d0GwzY6cA Tom Lehrer Discovers Australia (And Vice-Versa) (1960, 49m) https://youtu.be/seaUERXJuyc https://youtu.be/seaUERXJuyc That Was The Year That Was (1965, 38m) https://youtu.be/8fSbbsWrxqc https://youtu.be/8fSbbsWrxqc Live in Copenhagen (1967, 51m) https://youtu.be/QHPmRJIoc2k https://youtu.be/QHPmRJIoc2k

Trouble_007 4y ago

An incredible intellect, combined with an amazing wit, and a truly talented performer. - Thanks Tom.

pdonis 4y ago

> “Life is like a piano. What you get out of it depends on how you play it.” There's a better one in An Evening Wasted, attributed to, IIRC, his friend Henry: "Life is like a sewer: what you get out of it depends on what you put into it."

PixyMisa 4y ago
Hen3ry. The three is silent.
- MaxBarraclough 4y ago
  That was before they took him away to the Massachusetts Home for the Bewildered.
- timoth3y 4y ago
  A man after my own heart!
2000UltraDeluxe 4y ago
He also claimed it to be a Danish saying during a concert in Copenhagen.
Symbiote 4y ago
It's in the first audio track here. https://tomlehrersongs.com/we-will-all-go-together-when-we-go/ https://tomlehrersongs.com/we-will-all-go-together-when-we-g...
culi 4y ago
life is like a sewer. It doesn't really matter how much you care about what you put in it because a thousand other assholes are gonna shit on it anyways

bambax 4y ago

Yeah the humour is everywhere. In the sheet music for The Vatican Rag the expression is to play "Ecumenically"... https://tomlehrersongs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/the-vatican-rag-music.pdf https://tomlehrersongs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/the-va...

less_less 4y ago

On why he stopped writing: "Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel peace prize." In the intro to "So long mom": "You know, every great war produces its great hit songs. And, after each war, we like to gather around the piano or the guitar, and play these songs. We enjoy the songs because they remind us of how much we enjoyed the war. Now, World War III is almost upon us, as you know – by popular demand, it seems. And, it occurred to me that if any songs are going to come out of World War III we’d better start writing them now. So, I have one here."

ghaff 4y ago
It's interesting to me the way Tom Lehrer totally walked away from his past life. Long ago when I was undergrad and involved with the movie/lecture group we asked a good friend of his at the school if there was any chance he'd make an exception and do a concert. No way. I've know people in tech who have retired, often a bit on the young side. They often keep their fingers in tech in various ways. But I also have known people who just 100% walk away.
- 121110987654321 4y ago
  "But I also have known people who just 100% walk away." How many people? Any commonalities surrounding their choice?
  - ghaff 4y ago
    They often want to spend more time with family. They have hobbies that they didn't have enough time to devote to while working. And, for a lot of later career people in tech, they weren't doing a lot of coding anyway--and it's not like they can continue to meet with customers or set company technology direction part-time over the long term although a few very senior folks may stay around as an advisor for a time.

dekhn 4y ago

I took Tom's class, "Nature of Math", when I was in college (he lived in Santa Cruz) and it was wonderful. Great teacher and that's where I learned the birthday paradox.

schiffern 4y ago

If you haven't had a chance, give his full performances a listen. He intersperses song and spoken comedy, with the whole arc hanging together masterfully. Think of one of the great stand-up specials. I'd say it "feels very modern," but the truth is that Lehrer (re-)invented the modern form. An Evening (Wasted) with Tom Lehrer (1959, 42m) https://youtu.be/w8d0GwzY6cA https://youtu.be/w8d0GwzY6cA Tom Lehrer Discovers Australia (And Vice-Versa) (1960, 49m) https://youtu.be/seaUERXJuyc https://youtu.be/seaUERXJuyc That Was The Year That Was (1965, 38m) https://youtu.be/8fSbbsWrxqc https://youtu.be/8fSbbsWrxqc Live in Copenhagen (1967, 51m) https://youtu.be/QHPmRJIoc2k https://youtu.be/QHPmRJIoc2k