Tom Lehrer: It Makes A Fellow Proud To Be A Soldier (concert live) (1959)

[@davidtaylor5204]

According to my brother, when he got out of boot camp, he was walking down the street and saluted a mailman.

[@LockeRobsta]

It's a small thing, but the way Tom pauses for comedic effect and applause while still playing the song is amazing to me.

[@rusdanibudiwicaksono1879]

Just in case if anyone wondering: 0:10 Radioactive Reserve: Well, they're not army reserve, but civilian volunteer. Basically, they only work if nukes were falling in US soil. 1:10 Well, the jokes is something about: 'The Army is Military, The Airforce is a Corporation, The Marine is Religion.' Or something like that. Feel free to correct me. 2:35 'Policing filter tips', I think this is either cigarette filter (he took up smoking to deal with stress) or NBC mask filter. Or maybe both. 3:26 Norman Vincent Peale was a Dutch Reformed Minister (in)famous for his self-help method of 'positive thinking'. So, all those self-help gurus? He basically their grandaddy (Let's just say he didn't liked very much by practicing psychiatrist of his time). 3:45 Half-shelter is a type of (emergency) tent, entrenching tool basically designated digging tool, like shovel, trovel, etc. The joke here is that in this time, the need of junior officers were so great (Vietnam War is no joke) that poor Ed basically just being graduated to fill the attrition rate of Junior Officers in 'Nam. 4:00 Most likely mess sergeant had been victim of chemical weapon in WW2, hence his ruined taste bud. 'Savory Collation' can meant his cooking is atrocious... or that he had _extremely_ foul mouth and/ or bitter attitude that makes everyone want to mess with him. Hence, 'esprit de corps'. He united everyone in hatred. 4:24 Boxtops here basically refers to upper lid of carton container (of cereals, powdered milk etc.) that can be mailed to radio/ company to get some prize. Standard advertising tactics in 60's. Either the captain is seen as eccentric... or he's seen as braggart incompetent who can only get so far by sucking to his superior. Maybe. Can anyone explain this better? Feel free to correct me.

[@Hypernefelos]

Love the explanations, but since this was performed in 1959 it would have been too early for Vietnam; and the sergeant's war would probably have been Korea. I don't think the US Army did much in the late 50s other than gawk at nuclear tests (hence radioactive reserve) and prepare for WWIII.

[@rusdanibudiwicaksono1879]

@@Hypernefelos And preparing for Russian Nukes. I think this is the time when McCarthy-ism start having traction? And thanks for insight and knowledge.

[@Hypernefelos]

@@rusdanibudiwicaksono1879 It was when McCarthyism was losing traction - it peaked in the early 50s but was challenged in the mid-50s - but I'm guessing it was still in the public consciousness. And yeah, the fear of nuclear war was growing, especially after Sputnik. If you want to cringe at the fears of the late 50s, I suggest the film "Rocket Attack USA", which is featured in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (arguably the best way to view it).

[@mattyboi7491]

Maybe filter tips as in the ones you stick on joints

[@rusdanibudiwicaksono1879]

@@mattyboi7491 ...Yea, that is cigarette filter. Don't matter if it's tobacco or something else entirely. Look like cigarette, lit like cigarette.

[@mrdunns3338]

Somewhere in our loft, we have an original vinyl of this album, get back to you in a couple of months when we've had a good clear out.

[@erikaswanson7072]

I have the original too! I got it from my grandmother - she and my grandfather went to see him in concert and bought the records. I listened to them all the time growing up and just bought myself a combo record player specifically for these records!

[@chs9999]

I actually have a copy of an evening wasted with Tom Lerher too I saw it in a record shop and I knew I had to have it. It's the same place I found my Monty Python vinyls

[@robertcraane7910]

This man is the funniest comedian and the best singer songwriter ever...

[@raspberrycrowns9494]

My favorite is still Paul Simon but Tom Lehrer is very underrated

[@fannybrasse]

the next guy Nah Paul ain’t that funny

[@raspberrycrowns9494]

@@fannybrasse his ego is tho

[@davidlafleche1142]

Weird Al is more talented.

[@biggusdickus1689]

@@davidlafleche1142 Agreed, he's basically the 21st century equivalent of this guy, only he came about 20 years ahead of his time!

[@gsilva220]

1959: "The army now also prohibits discrimination on the grounds of... Ability." McNamara: *Hold my beer*

[@lenny3735]

please explian this joke

[@TheNavalAviator]

@@lenny3735 MacNamara drafted morons into the Army thinking he could increase their IQ with videos.

[@joe18425]

@@TheNavalAviator mcnamaras morons, They were dangerous, yeah to their platoon.

[@ComradeGrimmGames]

@@lenny3735 This is the whole joke of the song. The initiative was already under way at 1959 and would only get worse with the Vietnam era.

[@lenny3735]

@@ComradeGrimmGames i mean i dont know who mc namara is

[@dashingdahlias8873]

Us fellers frum Georgia do so do be talkin' the language good!

[@georgeandrews6454]

I was fortunate to grow up in Southern California, the radio home of Doctor Demento, with his LIVE FOUR Hour show every Sunday evening on KMET ( " Little bit of Heaven, Ninety-Four point Seven, K M E T - Los Angeles " ). Tom Lehrer was my absolute favorite artist, as he made me THINK !!! My Dad, being raised as a Catholic, really HATED The Vatican Rag; I have it memorized. " The Elements " helped me in science class, while my mother ( a bookkeeper ) strictly FORBID me from learning NEW MATH in grade school.

[@gorlheck5574]

What was the Vatican rag about?

[@willvickers2982]

​@@gorlheck5574 it was basically showing adults how to check arithmetic homework.

[@alexsysoev7774]

Vatican Rag is a riff on Catholicism and Christianity as a whole. Tom is very clearly anty-church.​@@gorlheck5574

[@StLennyBruce]

I tried to join the army because of this song. I auditioned with this song and, well, the whole affair was just disheartening.

[@rolandcolyer5199]

Tom Lehrer; the mathematical musician who became who became an institution. His cynicism beats Swift and compared to Wylde deserves an Oscar. Thanks for the memories, stay safe 😂

[@user-mn2mw1og8u]

Came here after listening to "I steal oil for the motherland" for an actually funny song dunking on the army

[@owenhammond1880]

Honestly I'd rather have this as the song I sing every morning. It'll make thinga alot less dull.

[@ADragonAmongRoses]

I feel bad that I don't get a single joke in this song. Gonna have to search the comments for a translation.

[@rabidbunnies2]

Not getting it is the best form of getting it, even today. Because quite frankly nobody in the army has a fucking clue what they're really doing or why they're doing it, regardless of whatever excuse they're given.

[@casey6556]

I’ll do my best: - “Policing up the filter tips”: filter tips are cigarette butts. In other words, Al signed up for the army to fight for liberty but ended up cleaning up litter. - Pete being “real RA material”: Lehrer wrote this song in a time when the US military still ran a draft; the RA was the Regular Army, the permanent professional force as opposed to those only temporarily drafted. Accordingly, Lehrer is joking that a violent criminal who was pleased to trade cheap street weapons for military hardware was found to be the most suitable as a professional soldier. - Johnny saluting “a Good Humor Man, an usher, and a nun”: he’s been drilled so heavily to salute superior officers (and perhaps isn’t super bright) and accordingly he salutes anyone who wears any kind of uniform, including ice cream vendors, ushers (as in the people in theatres), and nuns. - Fred is implied to be an idiot who thinks he’s smart: Norman Vincent Peale was a popular psychology/theology quack and the author of the book The Power of Positive Thinking; he enjoys the army because he thinks it makes him more well rounded. - Ed: an entrenching tool is a military shovel; a shelter half is a kind of tent commonly called a “pup tent” in US English. The fact that Ed can’t tell the difference is, to put it mildly, not a compliment to his intelligence. Nonetheless, he has the highest grades of his class at Officer Candidate School (OCS), a training program for enlisted soldiers to become officers. This would imply something about the intelligence of the officer class. - The chef’s food is somehow made of or with plastic but he doesn’t notice - It’s implied that the Lieutenant will be promoted merely for turning in enough “box tops” - a reference to an old tradition of cereal companies giving away toys and other trinkets if people sent off enough tops of boxes to prove they’d purchased a certain amount of products. - The captain has a Southern US accent so strong it’s nearly incomprehensible as English and was formerly the head of the US’s most infamous prison

[@ADragonAmongRoses]

@@casey6556 Thank you for clarifying all of the verses! I really appreciate it!

[@ernesthill4017]

In that case, you're clearly officer material !

[@casey6556]

Coming back to this I’ll cover the intro: - the “Radioactive Reserve”: Lehrer implied a few times in his recordings that he worked on the nuclear program (in fact he worked with the NSA but its very existence was still classified at that time) and the US at that time was still doing atmospheric atomic bomb tests, which meant that soldiers would be exposed to radioactive materials. The line is a play on “Active Reserve”, a status of soldiers who have served their enlistment or draft period but are eligible for short-term recall for several years after - the unfrocked Marine: Lehrer’s superior was formerly in the Marine Corps but is now in the Army; “unfrocked” (a synonym for defrocked) implying that he was removed from the Marines for some kind of misconduct. The use of “unfrocked” rather than “ex” may also be playing on the fact that it is a cultural taboo in the Marine Corps to call someone an “ex-Marine” because once a Marine always a Marine (often the alternative is “retired Marine”). - having to memorize a new serial number: while between 1974 and 2011 the US military simply used Social Security Numbers to identify soldiers, they previously used and now again use a system where a soldier is given a unique numerical identifier that they have to use on a wide variety of forms and identifying documents. The unfrocked Marine, having changed services, has been given an Army serial number that differs from his Marine number and is having difficulty memorizing the new one. This is perhaps a joke at his intelligence; serial numbers are used constantly and aren’t that long (7 or 8 digits) so it shouldn’t be hard to memorize one. It may also be a joke in that such a minor thing is the biggest difficulty and struggle in having been tossed out of the Marines. - “Roommates”: Enlisted soldiers often have communal sleeping/living quarters; Lehrer is comparing this to more voluntary shared living situations. - “Excuse me, didn’t have no official song”: Tom mocks the unfrocked Marine for the technically-incorrect use of the double negative - “suggested we work on this in our copious free time”: perhaps a joke about how generally there’s always grunt work to be done, thus “copious” is perhaps a strong word in describing their availability of free time - “Blatant favouritism on the part of the judges”: the song is deeply cynical and satirical; there’s no way it would even be considered as an official anthem

[@lurking2182]

I see by the comments that no one recalls That Was The Week That Was. TW3 was on for 2 years in 1964 and 5, and had a very notable cast. Tom Lehrer was one of the writers. The show was like Monty Python meets SNL. Fast subtle humour. I still have 2 33s of audio.

[@otiebrown9999]

Having been drafted into the Army, 1962 - this song hits home

[@qwmx]

What does "policing the filter tips" mean? Were cigarette banned or were checked for spy stuff or something?

[@AlexSh789]

Policing the filter tips means picking up cigarette butts left on the ground, analogous to policing your shell casings at the firing range after a shooting exercise. So, cleaning the smoke pit, basically.

[@benandemmasmom]

I grew up listening to Tom's albums.

[@shaunablack]

This song gives all military flashbacks to boot camp regardless of the type or the country

[@woesmevrou5673]

I learnt so much from Tom Lehrer from the age of about 8. Better than school for expanding vocabulary and cultural issues: radio active reserve, discrimination and the grounds for its operation, which in APartheid governed South Africa was a real phenomenon. My brother and I loved this song but Anchors Away and Up in the air Junior birdman had zero meaning for us. This was a favourite, along with Christmas Carol and Poisoning Pigeons. Guess we both grasped satire. Wheat is box tops had cards of birds of prey which we were slowly collecting. The Lieutenant collecting box tops says it all!

[@natalya6091]

Thank you for Tom Lehrer. Thank you for subtitles. Sheer joy. Nice Sundau, Sasha.

[@TheHutchy01]

I've recently being watching the old chef Keith Floyd a bit and it's been quite fun to hear him single little bits of these songs, In one case it was a riff on the Chef in this song, and in another it was the whole bit about the mayor's son from my hometown.

[@littleferrhis]

0:29 *Robert McNamara has entered the chat*

[@maryz9319]

They were roommates!

[@christopherfree9012]

Oh my god they were roommates!

[@jalenxavier2072]

Who?

[@teenytinykittycat5702]

Oh my god

[@joeraymer2781]

The Norman Vincent Peale jab is even funnier when you know that he is one of Trump's role models.

[@howarddouglas4244]

Oh my god yes 😂😂😂

[@SDW90808]

‘effing awesome. Another new one to me.

[@outofbluepills]

Taste buds shot off in the war. Genius!

[@faresmasarani]

the ending is phenomenal, fantastic, and funny. the 3 f's (and yes, i know that "Phenomenal doesnt start with an f)

[@juanig4198]

In spanish it does

[@Hyraethian]

Lehrer droppin bombs

[@felixroux]

So don't wait up for him...

[@leemumbray-williams2440]

Tom had the great misfortune, as a young man, to be drafted into the US army. According to what he told me about his experiences as a soldier, he HATED the experience!

[@davidlafleche1142]

Lehrer gave up his deferment after the Korean War ended, saying, "I might as well get it over with, while there is a hiatus between wars."

[@martincohen8991]

@@davidlafleche1142 Exactly right. This could only have been written between Korea and Viet Nam. After that, no more funny songs.

[@qwmx]

I'm surprised, in an interview he said he actually enjoyed his time in the army.

[@Languslangus]

Marvelous

[@justaamateur6533]

2:03 song begins!

[@prestonhale4159]

The setup comedy makes the video

[@steverobson8827]

You only fear me on the P yano.

[@austoncortez8923]

He seems like that one old uncle

[@jmwoods190]

I somehow can't help but suspect that Tom Lehrer has since written a few extra private verses for the current state of the US Army in light of several Tiktok videos, and a certain recent ad that unfortunately failed to convey what the US Army is supposed to be about.

[@goodgoodnotbad9573]

The army's always been woke, since long before Lehrer was even born. It's a fighting force for liberty for all, no exceptions, unless they have the audacity to, in the past-want anything other than American capitalism, and these days- have oil and not sell it to the US.

[@zeetwenty-three150]

@@goodgoodnotbad9573 Yeah this is exactly right lol, it is genuinely "we're all together for liberty", it's just that liberty varies in definition depending on the enemy lmfao

[@goodgoodnotbad9573]

@zeetwenty-three150 thankfully, its in universal opposition to slavery.

[@weareallbornmad410]

​@@goodgoodnotbad9573 Oh I'm sure.

[@sevenandthelittlestmew]

I doubt that. He voted for Obama. He did an off-record interview and when asked if there was anything he wanted to say on-record, he said “Tell them I’m voting for Obama.”

[@father0ates969]

World war three anthem

[@njones420]

"We will all go together when we go" may be more appropriate ;)

[@father0ates969]

N Jones my thoughts is the drafted are called to wear the curious costumes

[@njones420]

@@father0ates969 sorry, I cant go, I have bone-spurs...

[@sethleoric2598]

Nah "So Long Mom" will always be the anthem

[@cheeselord3655]

@@sethleoric2598 indeed it will be

[@chriskeller5113]

As a kid played my parents Lehrer records dozens of times. Non sequelitoialy why do I find Republicans so amusing as an older adult. Is that a real word?

[@fivebrosstopmos]

Wisdom becomes more palletable as you grow older.

[@goodgoodnotbad9573]

Because they are amusing. It's the blind leading the blind through fields of barbed wire and poison ivy, and they all find it very fun.

[@wrongturnVfor]

Because you are becoming wiser my friend. And no the word is non sequitur. And the correct use would be "as a non sequitur ......"

[@wrongturnVfor]

​@@goodgoodnotbad9573 nah men, libs are no fun. They are the official fun deleters.

[@sevenandthelittlestmew]

@@fivebrosstopmos*palatable

[@lucas-mc2]

WOW!

[@Nerdofparadisecawcaw]

Shout out to Zev...

[@meredithwilloughby3263]

Bo Burnham is the modern Tom Lehrer

[@fiercestpond4722]

Firedancer oh shit you're right

[@smakyakproductions4466]

I said nearly the exact thing.

[@ewanfox6076]

They both have a new math song.

[@KolchaksGhost]

No

[@natalya6091]

Спасибо, Саша. Where were you born and bred?

[@AlexSh789]

USA (США)

[@natalya6091]

@@AlexSh789 WooHoo, state?

[@AlexSh789]

New York

[@NoNameAtAll2]

> bred >_>

[@beritbranch2436]

basic training at UofA At ease soldiel

[@thrupert]

m e m e

[@austinholt8987]

It’s pronounced “Mhm”

[@calebkreis294]

Could really do without the intro/outro while watching these...

[@jafarsolorio7634]

Those are the best parts

[@ragnarokangaroo]

Complete with a "copyright" on something he doesn't own

[@JoshFreilich]

@@jafarsolorio7634 I believe by that, Caleb means the intro and outro music, not the speeches.

[@cactusguy4363]

o7

[@leemumbray-williams2440]

Oh no, Shire Varlin, Tom Lehrer is MUCH more talented than Bo Burnham!

[@Inphormatika]

Bo Burnham is as good as Tom, he's just from a different generation and speaks to a different generation. I think he would absutely love Bo.

[@chuckecheese2230]

Both. Both is good

[@nintendofan1749]

@@chuckecheese2230 indeed

[@billyjoeparker8054]

take me i wanna go, ah UwU

[@billyjoeparker8054]

i posted this on the wrong video

[@billyjoeparker8054]

@dolphfan this was supposed to be a joke on trixie mattel's Malibu just ignore me

[@billyjoeparker8054]

@@talentedanimator2859 couldnt you just keep scrolling?

[@AlexSh789]

Well, then *I* could delete your comment, if you insist.

[@billyjoeparker8054]

@@AlexSh789 what if I was in your house and room

[@gracenisbet7052]

😂😂😂😂

[@andrewrisio8608]

The I’mk mmh nixg Pooling

[@cheeselord3655]

Pooling indeed

[@ormbunkar7387]

Yeah

[@Johnny.Picklez]

Agreed

[@leemumbray-williams2440]

As I said before, the subtitles on this performance are utter rubbish. Robert E Lee appeared on my iPad as “rubbery Lee”! The lovely Tom Lehrer would be shocked if he saw such rubbish...

[@Rissa_1322]

Nobody MADE those, it's just youtube's best guess to caption a video when no captions have been submitted. I don't think Tom would waste energy being shocked.

[@jpm199]

What an annoying thing to bust balls for

[@jpm199]

Bitch ass lee mumbray-williams, posh name and the mind of a pauper

[@sethflix]

He said “UM-1” ( its an outdated rifle) NOT “a new M-1.” He also said “esprit decor” NOT “esprit de corps.” You might want to fix these mistakes, for the sake of accuracy.”

[@AlexSh789]

Wrong, and wrong. No such rifle exists.

[@ExInvaderRay]

I think you need to get your ears checked, mate.

[@AlexSh789]

ExInvaderRay - Which one of us?

[@ExInvaderRay]

not you, sorry. The person you were correcting.

[@AlexSh789]

ExInvaderRay - Ah. Ok. The reply system didn't make it clear, that's why I asked.

[@TheAyeAye1]

Well. He was always more clever than funny or wise. He really let his snobbery come out to play on this one.

[@joshuaposey9594]

You might want to go read up on a little old side project the US military tries to gloss over called "Mcnamara's Morons"

[@thymic1761]

>he doesn’t know marines eat crayons

[@peterpluim7912]

No bone spurs though. He served his country in the NSA, probably leaving wreck full of deflated ego’s behind him. I did 18 months national service “graduating” as a first lieutenant in 81. I had to work with a US armoured division in Germany. Great guys, but they were stoned most of the time while driving an M60 so you had to be careful. This song captures the atmosphere of that time wonderfully.

[@johannes-diederik2538]

"He's funny until he sings about me!"

[@musicfan6282]

@@joshuaposey9594 You really might want to brush up on your knowledge of the program, instituted by McNamara under Great Society political leadership - not military - direction that indeed put into play the concept of not discriminating on the basis of ability of qualifications. "McNamra's Fifty Thousand" did not originate amongst the uniformed suits of the military leadership which railed unsuccessful against it, and McNamra, which you fail to note, was not a military man. He was a political appointee performing dance steps to tunes called by political leadership which was happy to ignore or discard military advice. As a consequence a minor percentage of misfits and miscreants accounted for the large majority of behavioral and judicial headaches and organizational turmoil of the armed forces, to the detriment of the rest of those folks within the ranks. But, hey, don't feel the need to assign blame properly. Of course, not requiring competence currently has become mainstream in our political, academic and business institutions .

[@sethflix]

He said “esprit decor” NOT “esprit de corps.”

[@AlexSh789]

Wrong.

[@spaghettibadger647]

that is how you pronounce espirt de corps (it's French)

[@TheMarkFlanagan]

it means spirit of the corps, as in the army, dummy

[@bothersomebertie1195]

weak bait is weak

[@plaguedoct0r]

He finally got his wish, that the army wouldn't discriminate by ability. Fitness and strength standards have been ignored in order to meet "diversity quotas" of women in the marines.

[@theangryholmesian4556]

Other armies have women in combat divisions...so what are you getting your panties in a knot about?

[@davidlafleche1142]

Even worse: How about firefighters? Women want equality, yet they demand the right to cheat on physical standards testing.

[@ComradeGrimmGames]

Man your comment is even funnier than the song... No really, I think you didn't listen very carefully. He's poking fun at the fact that during the Vietnam era the U.S. Army would send any man of age off to war since they were so short of hand. The copious amount of mentally handicapped- literally, by psychiatrist standards- soldiers that were brought into the Army were known as 'McNamara's Morons'. And of course, young repeat criminals could also have been drafted. That was the joke. And you have to make some dumb fuss about how women supposedly can't preform in a modern military? Or civil forces like firefighters? Come on, Ed!

[@ComradeGrimmGames]

@@davidlafleche1142 So any woman that makes it as a fire fighter necessarily must have cheated. LOL sure bud

[@davidlafleche1142]

@@ComradeGrimmGames Absolutely! A firefighter must be able to carry a 200lb. man down a ladder, if necessary. The average woman can't do that.