Tom Lehrer - National Brotherhood Week - When You Are Old and Gray - with intro

[@queenalice7483]

To give a little context to "and everyone hates the Jews" he's Jewish.. I think that makes it funnier tbh

[@TheRealEvilkitten3]

that's just how we roll lmao. makes it easier to deal with everyone running us out all the time...

[@casvandijck9338]

To give even more context, he's atheist, which makes the entire religion thing ridiculous.

[@WilliamRWarrenJr]

I wasted my *"QUARANTINEWHILE"* by not learning "The Elements" (it's like the Periodic Table but it's got a beat and you can dance to it!) P.S. It's out of date.

[@casvandijck9338]

@@WilliamRWarrenJr If you have the money, you can commission an updated one by hiring a pianist and singer (or a two-for-one kind of person) and writing the updated lyrics yourself - the rhyming has already been done by the scientists who named the newer elements anyway.

[@indiomoustafa2047]

Because its true. Lmfao

[@eoinoconnell6598]

I want to hear his private collection that he dare not publish.

[@nihal2055]

YEAHHHHH

[@Alle8ia]

He wrote more? Would love to hear them.

[@danitiwa]

Tom Lehrer, is like Weird Al's classy, original, great uncle.

[@56packmanable]

Except Tom wrote all his own songs, except for "the Elements Song"

[@ronaldomadrebien7045]

Discusdream ............delicious comedy😎

[@tsarmischievous]

And Tom Lehrer has a different feel. However, I won’t disagree with you

[@Mrcaptainmorgan93]

I was thinking that Tom leherr is definitely in a influence to bo Burnham.... I have no proof but still lol

[@mr.antique5407]

That would be Allan Sherman

[@MyRegularNameWasTaken]

I was not aware so many words ended with "ility"...

[@CaptainLumpyDog]

All this AND a brilliant mathematician to boot!

[@margueritejohnson6407]

Like Lewis Carroll -- Alice in Wonderland. and Through the Looking Glass and an Oxford professor of maths! The story goes that Queen Victoria was very taken with the first Alice, so she wrote to him and asked him to send her his next book. He did, but it was a very erudite and obscure book on..........maths. I believe that she, once again, was not amused!

[@nikkischoessow4847]

I bet he plays chess too

[@hazelbourget8347]

"...and everyone hates the jews." :'D he really got humor man.

[@vulpesinculta3238]

Jews have a great self-depreciating sense of humour.

[@CaptainLumpyDog]

Hazel Bourget If we can't laugh at ourselves, who CAN we laugh at???

[@clemwilliams8406]

Tom Lehrer’s joke is that he is, of course, Jewish!

[@queenalice7483]

Best part is he's Jewish lol

[@TheRealEvilkitten3]

we have a long tradition of bullying ourselves

[@ArisztidZ]

Thank YOU and everyone who keeps this music alive to torment and educate the next generation. I mean, being made to think is so difficult. I had all of his original LPs until they were stolen. :P

[@normandtroll1]

I have only just discovered this man. Absolutely amazing. Thanks to my dad.

[@peoplesrepublicofunitedear2337]

I too discovered him in 2018.❤

[@nbenefiel]

He was a favorite of my dad’s.

[@RootlessNZ]

He taught mathematics at Harvard too.

[@WolfgangBrozart]

No matter how many times I hear his songs, I can never believe they were sung in the 60's. These would be controversial today lol.

[@rdwals889]

Nonprophet It was controversial back then as well. That’s part of the joke.

[@squiglemcsquigle8414]

he was banned for his songs....... bit more than controversial back then

[@juanig4198]

the difference is that he would be arrested for this on the 60´s ,nowdays he just would be cancelled on twitter

[@libertariantranslator1929]

He sang these things at coffehouses near Harvard in the 1940s. I used to have a stack of his early releases too heavy to move between countries.

[@jessovenden]

The 40s I think.

[@6funswede]

Oh, it's Lehrer who should be thanked, he is the cool guy here, making it safe for an enthusiast to share out some American comedy history on video (in reasonable quality).

[@sambaker6996]

Fifty years later and still a hundred times better than any other Musician.

[@joseftrumpeldor6240]

Parodist, not musician.

[@jaysarf]

There's Tim Minchin! :)

[@scyllachaos5723]

There is a man who is very like TOM Lehrer in style and simplicity working now called ROY ZIMMERMAN enjoy! He is incredible too.

[@scyllachaos5723]

TIM IS AMAZING....no for you ROY ZIMMERMAN

[@r.pizzamonkey7379]

+Josef Trumpeldor he did write the music, they are original tunes

[@tangogrrl]

Thank you, Dr. Demento, on KMET in Hollywood Los Angeles! or I never would have heard of Tom Lehrer, this brilliant satirist who is now 94! He recorded in the 1950s and 1960s. How anyone can play piano with such ease and facility, while singing something so darn funny simultaneously gets my respect. Like the Vatican Rag.

[@scattysafari7742]

I always had a bit of crush on him.

[@CaptainLumpyDog]

ScattySafari He's still alive and lives in Cambridge, MA. Go get 'em!

[@kateholland4980]

me too

[@BagelFrog]

ScattySafari haven’t we all??

[@leemumbray-williams2440]

Tom’s gorgeous and such a lovely person to be with, but sadly I keep inviting him to join me for coffee and he never arrives!

[@aliski768]

@@leemumbray-williams2440 i know your pain bro XD

[@ThSkBj]

YuriHabadakas: Norwegian audiences are hard to warm up. They usually need some time, and even then you don't get a huge response - even if they like you and get your jokes. And that's today. I don't think people back then were less closed up than we are now.

[@6funswede]

whitekudu, if this is all it takes to be considered "left wing" I think the world is a scary place. To us Norwegians both the Democrats and the Republicans are very conservative. But many people don't get it, because this is NOT about politics, it's about comedy!

[@buddyzilla4557]

Sure it is..its about the absurdity of politics. About the hypocrisy of humanity. You can just proclaim something is about some concept in a word but that is misleading wothout acknowlagment of that concepts meaning. What is comedy without a base of cultural understanding to make light of? You can't be critical out of criticisms sake without something sensible to be critical of or it just isn't funny. Airplane food! What's up with that! Haha Airplane food! What IS up with that!?

[@edwardseymour21]

Tom Lehrer...and a few others...got some of through the traumas of the mid-sixties and early seventies with a modicum of suavity and grace...hail to thee, very,very clever and pointed spirit...

[@leemumbray-williams2440]

Love this song and love watching performances by the great Tom Lehrer, the greatest pianist ever seen and a brilliant lyricist!

[@gamers.digest]

So finally I found where Weird Al and Bo Burnham got their inspirations to their style

[@leemumbray-williams2440]

The wonderful thing about all the songs you will see/hear on this site is that Tom Lehrer wrote all of them so they are all original and he owns the copyright to them all. To see his fingers rippling over the keyboard as he plays is a joy! I feel lucky and privileged to have known him for so many years.....

[@hmead141]

If you listen to his performances in America people are laughing and cheering, its a completely different vibe

[@xxNiNJaTaCOxx]

The thing is, if I were performing, I think polite laughter would be a lot less distracting, and would make it a lot easier to perform. It's still a positive vibe, I would definitely prefer this kind of vibe if I were performing. But that's just me. :P

[@mckavitt]

Henry Mead To be expected, esp at this period, good sir.

[@mckavitt]

Ninja Taco From listening to his recordings before Live US audiences, he LOVED the happy noise all right. :-)))

[@margueritejohnson6407]

It’s easier to hear all the lyrics with a quiet audience as many American and British audiences knew all the words and tended to laugh in anticipation.

[@KensNotReal]

The original Bo Burnham

[@CaptainLumpyDog]

Danielle Stryker Infinitely more talented than that other fellow.

[@yoyobanana9183]

Danielle Stryker bo Burnham is still good tho

[@tejaswoman]

The who???

[@QuinnF97]

YES!! I was just thinking this last night!

[@colinkueny]

Growing up this was the kind of entertainment I enjoyed during my formative years.

[@leemumbray-williams2440]

I’m always so impressed that my dear friend Tom Lehrer can play the piano so brilliantly without needing to look at the pian keyboard!

[@indymagicmonthly23]

I still have the 45 RPM of Poisoning Pigeons in the Park b/w The Masochism Tango. It's one of my most precious possessions.

[@leemumbray-williams2440]

Hi Cailin, not just “pretty handsome” - Tom is gorgeous! Such a lovely personality too. He used to share our house with my husband and me and I really miss him now he’s not here any more.....

[@6B8RX]

I hope that he's working on a sequel to his classic album "That Was the Year that Was". For 2020, it would be "That Was the Year that Wasn't".

[@egbertsouce3895]

Lyrics were changed somewhere along the way. Heard this on vinyl 50 years ago and first chorus had "Lena Horne and Sheriff Clarke are dancing cheek to cheek." Either way, did not kill in Norway, back in the day!

[@112428]

He frequently switched lyrics for the local audience and city he would play it in.

[@agentwashingtub9167]

@@112428 Or to better reflect current events

[@margueritejohnson6407]

Apart from his intelligence, wit and musicality, he was really attractive, especially his wicked smiles

[@Randomis3rist]

so good we need more good performers like Tom, good songs about science and society and lets work to have more songs like poisoning Pigeons in the park!

[@GuillemotWatcher]

@6funswede Norsk folk er slik høflig. Thank you for the upload, Tom's satire is timeless, but he spoiled my golf last Sunday. I couldn't get 'National Brotherhood Week' out of my head. It's impossible to focus when you're laughing inside.

[@6funswede]

Some ppl have been annoyed because of the never-ending intro and end credits on the HQ-versions of Lehrer's songs. They have a point, but if they want this concert uninterrupted they should get the fab DVD, out in the U.S. on April 13.

[@sarahadler8041]

My grandchildren love going to the park and singing the famous pigeon song!

[@TheTAddington]

used to listen to him in the early 60's when i was just a wee pup..........50 years later......i still find him just as pertinent nowadays as he was then. i can appreciate his humor WAY more now!!

[@stereorapier7919]

Heard this for the first time like 3 years ago and haven't listened to it much since. Judt listened tl it again and now that I know who Wallace was I can't help but chuckle at the line of Miss Wallace.

[@6funswede]

ArisztidZ, thanks. If you really want to scare your friends and enemies, tell them about the live videos on The Tom Lehrer Wisdom Channel :-)

[@mountainmango]

A timeless genius.

[@Demo12345]

What I would give to get the entire complete live recording. This is spectacular and I would love to watch the entire special.

[@andrewbuckley1675]

It’s sold on DVD in a box set

[@Orangeeclipse15]

If you look up "Tom Lehrer full performance" here on KZbin, both his Oslo and Copenhagen performances are there!

[@UnrelatedArchives]

Conspicuously republished on my birthday, isn't that nice? Including the full introduction to the show as well. This is a lovely gift! Thanks a lot...

[@gregoryjones1839]

this guy helped me make it laughing through high school

[@Ieishdragyn]

That’s where I was introduced to him!

[@aswimmer98]

You don't understand an American reference???? Don't worry, just call the American embassy

[@montydaniels1054]

I liked his song about math. Some o his songs were really stretching it considering it was in the 60's, like National Brotherhood Week.... Thanks for uploading them...

[@gabrielleoyen9997]

I was there! Students' club in Oslo 1968.

[@chappernoddle7374]

Who disliked?and why this man is a genius

[@YuriHabadakas]

All the jokes are totally going over the head of this audience... I wonder how many phone calls the embassy got :)

[@unematrix]

What makes you say that? They are laughing at the jokes. They get it. This isn't the USA where people start screaming and clapping for 10 minutes at every tiny joke. This is how the rest of the world laughs.

[@rob585]

@@unematrix Please, that is only in crappy talent shows like American Idol or in laff tracks in TV shows. Americans are people too, who react in human ways.

[@isabell.etkind9765]

@@unematrix Tom Lehrer was a math professor at Harvard before he started publicizing these songs.

[@MegaJakeroo]

I'm a Jewish kid, and Tom Lehrer is my IDOL. He's a genius comedian. I'm writing a song called "The GOP Dance" and am thinking of putting it up on my channel. To Lehrer!

[@heidifarinas3283]

Im a jewish kid too, but I have a question, it is very common that in other communities people mostly laugh with each other of how almost every one hate us jews?

[@heidifarinas3283]

I just realize that that comment is 12 years old XD

[@berenicebauer72]

And it's very relevant in 2020.

[@alephnole7009]

i cant even.

[@sarahhobaugh9297]

his music shouldn't be this relevant...

[@cemalley1273]

"If you predict the worst, you'll be hailed as a prophet" - Tom Lehrer himself

[@6funswede]

Tom Lehrer was universe-bending, because he is out on DVD on April 2010. Yup, this performance, but in much better quality ;D

[@triplea657aaa]

We could really use national brotherhood week again....

[@swolby9230]

I love this guy!

[@__8120]

Hey this was posted in my birthday!

[@nealhurwitz]

of course this is the kind of guy that Horace Mann and Harvard produce!!! :) Love him!

[@edwardw6622]

I don't think those institutions produced him, he was who he was before then.

[@JasonRoggasch]

Mark Russell saw this as a young man and said "Hey i can do that much much worse"

[@mbj057]

I love this, absolutely fantastic :P

[@MrShoe321]

I need to learn an instrument.

[@thepablorz]

Yes, you really should.

[@swolby9230]

I need to play the piano again.

[@leemumbray-williams2440]

If you can ever play the piano as well as Tom Lehrer can, it will be a miracle!

[@Geplion]

It is now my life goal to dance the Viennese waltz at the age of 65 with someone to "When you are old and grey"

[@nealhurwitz]

love him!!!

[@JasonRoggasch]

BRILLIANT MAN AND HILARIOUS

[@libertariantranslator1929]

My family, like the David Dodge family, sang these with all the words in my childhood. His suggestion for American references is reminiscent of Richard Feynman's ""note to foreign readers" elucidations.

[@KingBobDole]

Is Lehrer still alive? That'd be too bad if he wasn't. He was really ahead of his time and an amazing artist.

[@Heckishretching]

He is 93 or smh

[@Syed.talha968]

@@Heckishretching thank you for replying 14 years later xd

[@6funswede]

@ThirteenthMuse, you know, the man to thank here is Tom Lehrer, not me. Even after the Shout! Factory release I got a message through his gatekeepers, stating that he is still OK with "6funswede's" Lehrer channel.

[@Inquisitorpink]

One of the sexiest men on the planet.

[@unclelouie3828]

He's Brilliant.

[@azazel7599]

Incredible man my grandfather taught with him at UCLA

[@206BenJammin]

a true Mensch!

[@6funswede]

I love you too :-)

[@6funswede]

Yes, I agree. Tom Lehrer was a good-looking satirist as well as a clever satirist :-)

[@6funswede]

This video is now out on DVD. Please read the updated video description or visit the channel page!

[@nickdryad]

The Tom Lehrer Wisdom Channel what’s a DVD?

[@6funswede]

@dannycraft24, that's a very good question. The only thing I know is that people read books in the days when this song was written. Thanks for watching the song. Click the Lehrer icon to enjoy the whole 1967 performance :-)

[@marshafinelt-brook4616]

Still current! Sadly

[@6funswede]

@ScattySafari, I really enjoyed this comment :-) Thank you!

[@Rajsaday1]

Nothing has changed!!

[@johanwestin3030]

Fuming with rage that i onlh just now learned of his existence.

[@pearlashley101]

=) love his lyrics =)

[@lefdee]

He’s funny and all but his piano playing is amazing. When people used to do things, they did them well

[@Cthlhu4President]

I first found out about Tom Lehrer with the elements song on NCIS

[@leemumbray-williams2440]

I finally managed to buy a copy of Tom Lehrer’s CD “That Was The Year That Was”, which he recorded at the hungry i nightclub in San Francisco. It’s brilliant, as all Tom’s music is, and I’m so pleased that the copy I ordered quite a while ago has finally arrived! It will embarrass Tom though, when he finds that not only do I now have several copies of that CD but also 2 copies of his boxed set, The Remains of Tom Lehrer. Horrible title! The

[@6funswede]

KingBobDole, yes, he is. Lehrer retired from his work as a mathematician and university lecturer in 200,1 and is living quiet-LY in the United States.

[@6funswede]

@CpRegiment, oh man, did I love this comment? Yes!

[@livedandletdie]

National Brotherhood Week is the most based song in the world.

[@erede007]

Oh my god great idea Jonathon Coultan + Tom lehrer

[@tejaswoman]

Never asked him, never seen him mention it in any of his write-ups, but I would still guarantee you JoCo grew up on Lehrer.

[@theladystoic]

@2Mal13 Tom Lehrer together with Jon Stewart would be so incredibly awesome...

[@Marlene55M]

Thanks!

[@6funswede]

randomstick43, thanks. Click on the Tom Lehrer icon, visit the channel's front page, check the whole HQ main playlist and tell your friends about this rare stuff :-)

[@VisuNews]

Lehrer is Bo Burnham for the boomer crowd. (I'm 41 and have been a fan since I was like 8.)

[@ernesthill4017]

This kind of witty, intelligent entertainment would never fly today, sadly 😥

[@ian-duh]

@danitiwa So true. Weird Al does cite him as an influence, actually.

[@tejaswoman]

FYI and FWIW, the link to the Norwegian information, the last link in the description if I recall correctly, no longer works all these years later.

[@6funswede]

@mabarry3, well yes, it's hard to contradict his message in "When You Are Old And Gray", isn't it? How about sending an email with the video link to a married couple you know? But they must have a sense of humor...

[@0RedTree0]

i love you 6funswede!!!!! *subs and favs*

[@6funswede]

@colinkueny, thank you for this comment. Click on my (stupid) username 6funswede and visit the channel. It's Tom Lehrer, and Lehrer only, so please read the profile description and use the links under "preview" and "more". If you like it, tell your friends :-)

[@leemumbray-williams2440]

National Brotherhood Week caused some problems in my household. Not only are many of my granddaughter’s school friends Muslim but also she is of a Jewish family so “everyone hates the Jews” did not go down well with her! We told her not to take it personally, that Tom would not know that her granddad is Jewish but that the man she has always known as “Uncle Tom” is himself Jewish!

[@6funswede]

Quizli, yes it was :-)

[@TheRachaelLefler]

He doesn't seem to get as many laughs in Norway during National Brotherhood Week as he's gotten from American audiences, a lot of the jokes are Ameri-centric.

[@JanoschNr1]

You deserve what you tollerate

[@labibbidabibbadum]

Funny to imagine a Norwegian satirist singing fast, biting, ironic wordplay in Norwegian in America and finding an audience.

[@chopkins57]

@erede007 Thank God Tom Lehrer is retired so this can't happen. Millions of geeks (myself included) would die from joy and an overload of pure awesome.

[@6funswede]

@YellowMagi, lol, you know, if you click on the stupid username "6funswede" and visit the channel page, find the link for the favorite reviews and read that ;D

[@rc148mful]

National brotherhood week defi itely describes the times. I think Stab Freeberg's Take an Indian to lunch capturs it better.

[@6funswede]

ArisztidZ, thanks!