“I'd like to take you now, on wings of song as it were…”
December 16, 2022 3:20 PM Subscribe
Last month Tom Lehrer put all his songs online for free streaming or downloading, and relinquished all rights to them. You can browse them by album, title or category, and also download the sheet music for each song. But get those songs fast, because the website is only staying up for a limited time yet.
Whooopie!
posted by whatevernot at 3:34 PM on December 16, 2022
posted by whatevernot at 3:34 PM on December 16, 2022
Oh, there are some I don't already have.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 3:53 PM on December 16, 2022
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 3:53 PM on December 16, 2022
I'm just happy this isn't an obituary. Lehrer is 94. A-and this is great!
posted by chavenet at 3:55 PM on December 16, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 3:55 PM on December 16, 2022 [11 favorites]
It's kind of amazing the way that some of the songs are very very fresh, while other are... a bit dated.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:57 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:57 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
"Don't Major In Physics" (a parody of Kurt Weill's song "The Trouble With Women" from the 1943 musical One Touch of Venus) is full of those great Tom Lehrer bizarre rhymes:
She didn't like couches or hammocksposted by Harvey Kilobit at 4:15 PM on December 16, 2022 [17 favorites]
Or walks in the moonlight for two.
All she thought of was thermodynammocks,
So what, tell me what, could I do?
So the mp3s are amazing - but there's also SHEET MUSIC (for example, here's L-Y)!
This is an absolutely wonderful thing - thank you so much for letting us all know about it, Kattullus! And thank you Tom!
posted by kristi at 4:29 PM on December 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
This is an absolutely wonderful thing - thank you so much for letting us all know about it, Kattullus! And thank you Tom!
posted by kristi at 4:29 PM on December 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
Christmas was the time when my folks pulled out the comedy albums from Bob Newhart, Jonathan Winters, the Smothers Brothers and Tom Lehrer. Good memories of all our laughter listening to Holiday favorites.
posted by jabo at 4:39 PM on December 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by jabo at 4:39 PM on December 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
i got it from Kattullus, they got from...
posted by Clowder of bats at 4:58 PM on December 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by Clowder of bats at 4:58 PM on December 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
> some of the songs are very very fresh, while other are... a bit dated.
It was within the last year I learned that "up in the air, junior birdman" was an actual song and not something he invented for comedic effect.
posted by 7segment at 5:01 PM on December 16, 2022 [8 favorites]
It was within the last year I learned that "up in the air, junior birdman" was an actual song and not something he invented for comedic effect.
posted by 7segment at 5:01 PM on December 16, 2022 [8 favorites]
Fan-fricking-tastic!
So, has anyone bundled them all up into a single zip file yet?
posted by johnabbe at 5:38 PM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
So, has anyone bundled them all up into a single zip file yet?
posted by johnabbe at 5:38 PM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
Still funny, still great piano.
Tom has given me many hours of joy: "....only be sure always to call it please 'research.'"
posted by wenestvedt at 5:54 PM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
Tom has given me many hours of joy: "....only be sure always to call it please 'research.'"
posted by wenestvedt at 5:54 PM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
It was within the last year I learned that "up in the air, junior birdman" was an actual song and not something he invented for comedic effect.
WHAT???
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 5:54 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
WHAT???
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 5:54 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Alas, I am not spending Hanukkah in Santa Monica.
posted by Melismata at 5:59 PM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 5:59 PM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
They're all (seemingly) on the Internet Archive, under the same explanatory licence since 2020. IA has the shutdown date of the website as December 31, 2024
posted by scruss at 6:09 PM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by scruss at 6:09 PM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
Seems like only yesterday. ;)
But it never hurts to be reminded when offer ends sort of soon.
posted by y2karl at 6:39 PM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
But it never hurts to be reminded when offer ends sort of soon.
posted by y2karl at 6:39 PM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Internet Archive only has sheet music and lyrics, which he released into the public domain two years ago. Hopefully they will update with the mp3s in due time.
posted by johnabbe at 6:40 PM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by johnabbe at 6:40 PM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
There's a typo in one of the links on The Albums page, for The Remains disc 1, where it links to "trotll.rar" instead of "trotl1.rar" Here is a corrected link.
posted by fings at 8:38 PM on December 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by fings at 8:38 PM on December 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
I'm wondering which recordings aren't on The Remains. (I have the box set and ripped to FLAC). And at least a few others from Sesame Street. Guess I have to make a list. But surely somebody will zip it all up....
I grew up in the 70's with Tom Lehrer (dad had a good sense of humor). Kudos to Tom for releasing all his stuff. He always sorta seemed like that kind of guy.
posted by zengargoyle at 9:31 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
I grew up in the 70's with Tom Lehrer (dad had a good sense of humor). Kudos to Tom for releasing all his stuff. He always sorta seemed like that kind of guy.
posted by zengargoyle at 9:31 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
"up in the air, junior birdman" was an actual song and not something he invented for comedic effect.
I learned the song yonks ago from my mom, along with how to make the obligatory goggles.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:34 PM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
I learned the song yonks ago from my mom, along with how to make the obligatory goggles.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:34 PM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Previous-LY
To the blue you make a post,
But how do you make a boast,
That it echoes certain content of days gone by?
“Previously,” “Previously,” “Previous-L-Y!”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:56 PM on December 16, 2022 [11 favorites]
To the blue you make a post,
But how do you make a boast,
That it echoes certain content of days gone by?
“Previously,” “Previously,” “Previous-L-Y!”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:56 PM on December 16, 2022 [11 favorites]
It was within the last year I learned that "up in the air, junior birdman" was an actual song and not something he invented for comedic effect.
I (non-US) have never otherwise heard of the song (or, until just now, realised that Junior Birdmen was a thing), but the laugh he got always made it sound like this was common knowledge to the audience.
posted by vincebowdren at 1:08 AM on December 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
I (non-US) have never otherwise heard of the song (or, until just now, realised that Junior Birdmen was a thing), but the laugh he got always made it sound like this was common knowledge to the audience.
posted by vincebowdren at 1:08 AM on December 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
What a refreshing attitude. The man's a mensch.
posted by Paul Slade at 1:31 AM on December 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Paul Slade at 1:31 AM on December 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
Great post, thanks OP!
posted by Bella Donna at 2:35 AM on December 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Bella Donna at 2:35 AM on December 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
Did I see this post and immediately click the link to play Poisoning Pigeons in the Park? Yes, yes I did. And I'll do it again.
posted by tommasz at 8:20 AM on December 17, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by tommasz at 8:20 AM on December 17, 2022 [7 favorites]
You can listen to a continuous stream of the songs here.
posted by metatuesday at 11:53 AM on December 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by metatuesday at 11:53 AM on December 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
OMG this is great! A surprise holiday gift.
posted by freakazoid at 12:26 PM on December 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by freakazoid at 12:26 PM on December 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Every time my eyes first catch 'Tom Lehrer', my brain thinks it sees 'Tomi Lahren' and the torrent of cortisol/adrenaline spice flows for a brief second or so until everything re-syncs.
I hate my brain.
posted by zaixfeep at 1:14 PM on December 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
I hate my brain.
posted by zaixfeep at 1:14 PM on December 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
I had just noticed the broken link fings commented about, and had come here to mention it. Sadly there is no point of contact for the page. Checking the source shows javascript for a contact form (and even a feed for comments), but it doesn't actually appear on the page.
posted by JHarris at 3:29 PM on December 17, 2022
posted by JHarris at 3:29 PM on December 17, 2022
Anybody else having trouble opening the .rar files of the albums?
I have tried two different apps to open them and all I get is: 'This archive appears to be damaged.'
posted by Pouteria at 3:58 PM on December 17, 2022
I have tried two different apps to open them and all I get is: 'This archive appears to be damaged.'
posted by Pouteria at 3:58 PM on December 17, 2022
This is fantastic! And I’m so glad to see this isn’t an obituary post.
Poisoning the Pigeons in the Park was one of the first songs I sang to my son after he was born, and I regret nothing.
posted by Mchelly at 4:24 PM on December 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
Poisoning the Pigeons in the Park was one of the first songs I sang to my son after he was born, and I regret nothing.
posted by Mchelly at 4:24 PM on December 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
Pouteria I had no trouble using unrar on Linux fwiw.
posted by whatevernot at 5:16 PM on December 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by whatevernot at 5:16 PM on December 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
The Demented Music Database has an apparently complete discography of Lehrer's work.
Pouteria I had no trouble using unrar on Linux fwiw.
No problems on a Mac, either (you'll need to use Homebrew to get unrar.)
I just checked and Keka works in the Finder, too.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:19 PM on December 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Pouteria I had no trouble using unrar on Linux fwiw.
No problems on a Mac, either (you'll need to use Homebrew to get unrar.)
I just checked and Keka works in the Finder, too.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:19 PM on December 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Thanks for responses.
I am on a Mac, and have tried BetterZip and StuffitExpander so far.
I can download songs individually, so not a major problem, just more work. *shrugs*
posted by Pouteria at 6:49 PM on December 17, 2022
I am on a Mac, and have tried BetterZip and StuffitExpander so far.
I can download songs individually, so not a major problem, just more work. *shrugs*
posted by Pouteria at 6:49 PM on December 17, 2022
Keka should save you some time.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:38 PM on December 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:38 PM on December 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
The songs on The Remains:
Songs listed that aren't on The Remains:
(Basing all this on the general idea that The Remains was the released albums plus a few other things here and there.)
There were 74 unique songs on The Remains, but only 47 songs in total.
There were 96 songs listed on the front page of the site, but only 60 that aren't on The Remains.
(also had no issues using `unrar` on linux for the one album I downloaded.)
posted by zengargoyle at 9:09 PM on December 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
A Christmas Carol Alma Be Prepared Bright College Days Clementine Fight Fiercely, Harvard George Murphy I Got It From Agnes I Hold Your Hand In Mine (I'm Spending) Hanukkah In Santa Monica In Old Mexico Introduction It Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier I Wanna Go Back To Dixie Lobachevsky L-Y (The Electric Company 1971-72) MLF Lullaby My Home Town N Apostrophe T National Brotherhood Week New Math Oedipus Rex O-U (The Hound Song) (The Electric Company 1971-72) Poisoning Pigeons in the Park Pollution Selling Out Send The Marines She's My Girl Silent E (The Electric Company 1971-72) Smut S-N (Snore, Sniff, And Sneeze) (The Electric Company 1971-72) So Long, Mom (A Song For World War III) That's Mathematics The Elements The Folk Song Army The Hunting Song The Irish Ballad The Masochism Tango The Old Dope Peddler The Vatican Rag The Wiener Schnitzel Waltz The Wild West Is Where I Want To Be Wernher Von Braun We Will All Go Together When We Go Whatever Became Of Hubert? When You Are Old And Gray Who's Next?In alphabetical order and duplicates removed. TR has many songs that are there twice or thrice from different shows or live and studio versions, or just different years of recording. You can ignore the 'Introduction'.
Songs listed that aren't on The Remains:
A Liter and a Gram All I Need Is a Job All is Well Are There Any Questions? Baby, Is It Love? Deep Doodoo Dodging the Draft at Harvard Don’t Major in Physics Finch and Dench Fugue for Scientists George Murphy (incl. The George Murphy Campaign Song and addenda) GSAS Alma Mater Hail Chemistry He’s Not the One Hey, Joe High School Hymn I Can’t Think Why In Old Mexico (incl. revision) It Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier (incl. U.K. version) I Wanna Go Back to Dixie (incl. revised version) Juca No Rice Polaroid Photography Song Political Action Song Post-Thanksgiving Hymn Relativity s = ½ gt² Scenery Send the Marines (incl. U.K. revision) Shakespeare Lied Smut (incl. revision) Sociology Speed’s Song Sunshine Take Me For a Walk Tango de la Menegilda Te Amo Thank Him for Me The Bourgeoisie The Derivative Song (dy/dx) The Elements (incl. Aristotle version) The Ice Cream Tango (incl. scene) The Love Song of the Physical Anthropologist The Masochism Tango (incl. revision) The Menu Song The Mumble Song The Night I Appeared as Macbeth The Professor’s Song – physics version (incl. math version) There’s a Delta for Every Epsilon The SAC Song (movie version) (incl. extra lyrics) The Slide Rule Song The Subway Song Trees Unsong (We’re Gonna Put) A Man on the Moon We’re Talkin’ Algebra Whatever Became of Hubert? (incl. Look What’s Become of Hubert) When You Are Old and Gray (incl. verse added for Tomfoolery) Why Not Fight? (aka Fight Song) Without an SOr they have an "incl." note that means there might be more in the download than The Remains.
(Basing all this on the general idea that The Remains was the released albums plus a few other things here and there.)
There were 74 unique songs on The Remains, but only 47 songs in total.
There were 96 songs listed on the front page of the site, but only 60 that aren't on The Remains.
(also had no issues using `unrar` on linux for the one album I downloaded.)
posted by zengargoyle at 9:09 PM on December 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Every time my eyes first catch 'Tom Lehrer', my brain thinks it sees 'Tomi Lahren'
I would be pleased if some zany mixup resulted in Lehrer being inadvertently booked for a thirty-minute segment on Sean Hannity’s little show.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:42 PM on December 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
I would be pleased if some zany mixup resulted in Lehrer being inadvertently booked for a thirty-minute segment on Sean Hannity’s little show.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:42 PM on December 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
Tom Lehrer has released all of his songs into the public domain | Hacker News also has a bunch of YouTube links of Tom Lehrer performances around the world.... like Australia and Copenhagen. If you want to get all into the "collect live performances" thing.
posted by zengargoyle at 10:54 PM on December 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by zengargoyle at 10:54 PM on December 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Another Mac user here. Unarchived worked fine for me.
posted by Paul Slade at 12:05 AM on December 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Paul Slade at 12:05 AM on December 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
Songs with score/lyrics only (no MP3):
A Liter and a Gram All I Need Is a Job All is Well Are There Any Questions? Baby, Is It Love? Deep Doodoo Dodging the Draft at Harvard Don’t Major in Physics Finch and Dench Fugue for Scientists GSAS Alma Mater Hail Chemistry He’s Not the One Hey, Joe High School Hymn I Can’t Think Why Juca No Rice Polaroid Photography Song Political Action Song Post-Thanksgiving Hymn Relativity s = ½ gt² Scenery Shakespeare Lied Sociology Speed’s Song Sunshine Take Me For a Walk Tango de la Menegilda Te Amo Thank Him for Me The Bourgeoisie The Derivative Song (dy/dx) The Ice Cream Tango (incl. scene) The Love Song of the Physical Anthropologist The Menu Song The Mumble Song The Night I Appeared as Macbeth The Professor’s Song – physics version (incl. math version) There’s a Delta for Every Epsilon The SAC Song (movie version) (incl. extra lyrics) The Slide Rule Song The Subway Song Trees Unsong (We’re Gonna Put) A Man on the Moon We’re Talkin’ Algebra Why Not Fight? (aka Fight Song) Without an SSongs with a version not on The Remains:
In Old Mexico (incl. revision) It Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier (incl. U.K. version) I Wanna Go Back to Dixie (incl. revised version) Send the Marines (incl. U.K. revision) Smut (incl. revision) The Elements (incl. Aristotle version) The Masochism Tango (incl. revision) Whatever Became of Hubert? (incl. Look What’s Become of Hubert) When You Are Old and Gray (incl. verse added for Tomfoolery)The outlier, guess it's in the PDF or something...
George Murphy (incl. The George Murphy Campaign Song and addenda)posted by zengargoyle at 12:24 AM on December 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
All of the "have MP3" and not on The Remains are from different records.
So, as far as the MP3 part goes, download the albums and you have everything on the site.
The MP3's that aren't there are only the musical score and lyrics in PDF form.
Maybe the Internet Archive link that MollyRealized dropped has some of the other songs being performed. I guess Tom Lehrer only had the studio and album recordings to turn over, not necessarily all of their performances across everywhere. But did have the score and lyrics to share.
posted by zengargoyle at 1:16 AM on December 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer An Evening With Tom Lehrer Revisited Send the Marines (incl. U.K. revision) That Was the Year That WasExcept that "Send the Marines" which has a bad link (it links to some "MLF Lullaby" instead of "That Was The Year That Was, track 6". (Not my fault!).
So, as far as the MP3 part goes, download the albums and you have everything on the site.
The MP3's that aren't there are only the musical score and lyrics in PDF form.
Maybe the Internet Archive link that MollyRealized dropped has some of the other songs being performed. I guess Tom Lehrer only had the studio and album recordings to turn over, not necessarily all of their performances across everywhere. But did have the score and lyrics to share.
posted by zengargoyle at 1:16 AM on December 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
His song New Math came out in 1965. Yet when I was a child in the 70s-80s my parents complained that Math had been changed and when I had kids of my own they changed it again.
posted by interogative mood at 8:58 AM on December 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by interogative mood at 8:58 AM on December 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
The Legend of New Math seems to make the rounds every decade or two now.
posted by JHarris at 9:45 AM on December 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 9:45 AM on December 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
There was an interview a couple of years ago where they told him that a rumor was going around that he had already passed way. He mentioned that he, in fact, was the one that started the rumor.
posted by eye of newt at 9:55 AM on December 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by eye of newt at 9:55 AM on December 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
I downloaded the albums yesterday. Then last night my wife, who's never heard of Lehrer, was watching Gilmore Girls and a scene came on with a bunch of kids on a bus singing The Elements. My wife said the song was funny.
I know Lehrer from years of listening to The Midnight Special on WFMT, back when cable used to carry radio stations and you could plug the coax into your receiver. .... And now I'm finding that streaming TMS is out from behind a paywall!
posted by neuron at 9:06 PM on December 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
I know Lehrer from years of listening to The Midnight Special on WFMT, back when cable used to carry radio stations and you could plug the coax into your receiver. .... And now I'm finding that streaming TMS is out from behind a paywall!
posted by neuron at 9:06 PM on December 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
What a great example. The strange thing is, now I feel like paying him…
posted by Phanx at 6:27 AM on December 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Phanx at 6:27 AM on December 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
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