Tom Lehrer: The Irish Ballad (concert live) (1960)

[@paris5410]

Let us all have a moment of silence for the people that have not yet discovered Tom Lehrer.

[@madwhitehare3635]

Paris 54 ....I just have this very minute! 😍

[@maargenbx1454]

Thanks for your prayers...I’m here now!

[@LadyOrland0_]

I've discovered him 5 days ago and I can't stop listening

[@paris5410]

@@LadyOrland0_ That’s the way to go.

[@NemoNautilusEra]

That is the most tragic thing I heard today...

[@hipocampelofantocame]

One thing can definitely still be said, and that is that Tom Lehrer was, is, and shall be unique.

[@Galdring]

I agree there haven't been anyone like him, but that's strange... He seems like an archetype it would be easy to imitate. I guess Tim Minchin is inspired.

[@robertcraane7910]

Damn.. the lines on this man... he's still alive and 91 years old now... what a great singer and writer

[@cimbalok2972]

94 today! (unless he died in the last 24 hours)

[@oberonpanopticon]

I was shocked when I found out he’s still alive! (He’s 95 now, in case you couldn’t do the math based on the last comment)

[@zhard7890]

Just passing by to confirm that mathematics still work, making Tom 96 this year.

[@moderndaymasquerade7461]

He's joking but I'm using this for a song in my dnd bards repertoire

[@pennding3415]

i have an Irish bard planed this is definitely the perfect intro for her

[@kymboyle329]

Oddly enough, so am I!

[@evanperry6190]

Count me in too.

[@atommidas200]

My bard is Irish I should do so as well. He’s also a wizard. Like seriously he isn’t even a bard he’s a music based wizard he casts arcane magic with tunes the bards and wizards hate him.

[@thingsthathappenedtomymoth2816]

The real trick in any given Tom Lehrer song is its solid basis in the type of music it parodies. This one is very much in the mode of Thomas Moore’s songs written around 1800.

[@gsbealer]

I memorized “An Evening (Wasted) With Tom Lehrer” at age 10 (in 1961). I credit Mr. Lehrer with providing the foundation for my sense of humor.

[@terrifitzpatrick1768]

Me, tooooo! Credit goes to my dad that I was 4, though. The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was canceled on my 6th birthday -- also credit to my dad that I hadn't missed a night of it❤.

[@cimbalok2972]

Good for you! I have written (very irreverent and vulgar) songs that I could never have come up with without the valuable Lehrer foundation. Only one. "Cell Phone" is recorded on KZbin, but I suspect that after my death the others will become hits.

[@gsbealer]

I hope your wishes come to pass.

[@richardcleveland8549]

Well, he certainly added to mine when I started watching "That Was the Week That Was" in the mid-sixties! My father's bizarre sense of humor and fondness for bad puns were the start . . . .

[@waltermalone6915]

He’s like Bo Burnham and John Mulaney rolled into one and sent back in time.

[@tomisabighomosexual697]

That’s exactly what I thought

[@magicman4326]

I was about to comment he was 20th century bo burnham

[@carlmanvers5009]

@@magicman4326 Would not a more accurate statement be 'Bo Burnham is a 21st century him"?

[@magicman4326]

@@carlmanvers5009 I 100% agree.

[@lego4271]

I'd say a musical Norm Macdonald

[@HeartoftheDragonColo]

I learned this song when I was but a mere prat (to reference the Firesign Theatre) when my elder brother brought Tom's music home from college around 1962. Being a ghoulish young child, as many young children are, I especially loved this song. Many years later i brought this song to the attention of our Renaissance Faire group, the Bards of St. Andrew's,. As Renaissance Faires are often also ghoulish, it went over quite well.

[@bettykostelecky762]

I'm 60, I discovered Tom Lehrer when I was 16 on an old '78 record I found in a junk store. I loved him immediately, & I played guitar so I promptly wrote out the lyrics then added the guitar chords over them. These were songs no one had heard, i had a LOT of fun with them!! He helped me overcome some of my shyness, I love this guy to this day. You may have copyrights on lyrics, I had & sang these songs I would imagine before you were born. :0)

[@nevershine9105]

Nice

[@jack002tuber]

I'm 61, first heard him when I was maybe 16 on dr demento. Poisoning Pigeons in the park. I was hooked from then on

[@timmmahhhh]

@@jack002tuber I'm 53 and I also first heard Tom Lehrer on Dr Demento in 1983 with the song Be Prepared. Sadly I thought to myself who is this guy ripping off Mark Russell? I eventually learned the inverse was true thanks again to the good doctor.

[@LadyhawksLairDotCom]

I am a halfway decent vocalist and a very mediocre pianist. A couple of months ago, I managed to transpose and play the accompaniment for "Irish Ballad." Like most so-so tunes, it only has three chords. I just had to switch stuff around a bit so it didn't get too old...although the last verse is pretty much dead-on: "If you do not enjoy my song, you've yourselves to blame if it's too long. You should never have let me begin." I'm sure my neighbors are sick of it. XD I want to learn "The Vatican Rag." An issue I have is it takes me a long time to learn a piano tune, but the key I need to sing it in depends upon vocal circumstances. Sometimes when my voice is overused, I can't sing notes near my break, so I have to "cheat" by transposing my digital piano. When I sing in my tiny little venues, I wouldn't dream of using autotune or lip-syncing, but I'd sure as hell transpose the keyboard. ;) I guess as an amateur, I still have to cheat.

[@raddish72]

did you ever tell anyone in your life that you were interested in this style of comedy? how did they react to it?

[@benjaminjohannessanchez3310]

My goodness, the man is a genius.

[@ariel1234567890ful]

Absolutely!!!

[@Kittymouth]

It sounds so much like an actual Irish Ballad that it's messing with me head.

[@themaggattack]

Actually the music itself doesn't sound Irish but his accent isn't bad.

[@alanpennie8013]

@@themaggattack Sounds a little like, There is a Tavern in The Town (Welsh Ballad).

[@katlopez6555]

@@alanpennie8013 Nothing at all like it.

[@paolareyes9117]

Thank God I got bored at midnight! Or else I would've never found this hilarious man!

[@richardcleveland8549]

"Genius" is HARDLY strong enough to describe this demented National Treasure!

[@CynderLambert]

the song proper starts at 2:28

[@erroryara]

Thanks

[@emilyscloset2648]

@@erroryara but then you are missing all the fun :P

[@bobschauer5045]

I bought Tom Lehrer's album that included this in 1964, and played it endlessly for friends. The other songs were equally memorable. Good memories.

[@goulz3959]

This is a song that you would hear in a Tim Burton movie sung by a female ghost wearing an all white tattered dress on a piano made of bones I love it!

[@oscarfox6726]

I dunno why but I could see that happening. I could picture it vividly 😂😍

[@casvandijck9338]

1. Tim Burton did a lot of work with Depp 2. Depp can sing, as proven in Sweeney Todd These are facts, make of those what you will

[@accordingtosophia]

Have been listening to Irish folk music for years; this is... really not that far off from a lot of the real ones. (Check out "Bean Phaidin," for instance.)

[@singulartrout]

He is so incredibly dry and I love it

[@kraftpr]

I'm just discovering Tom Lehrer -- HILARIOUS!!!

[@martm216]

Me too. I was introduced to him only this week, by a good friend to whom I now profoundly indebted.

[@simonpeters2128]

And so am I

[@davidnewbury2918]

Still grinning stupidly from discovering him in July 2019. I've definitely binged on WORSE things though!

[@nonamej1591]

same here in 50 years late.

[@SteffiRowen]

Its 2019. I just discovered him thanks to KZbin Algorithm Thanks YT

[@zymelin21]

the crew in abbey tavern, howth ireland used to sing this song with gusto. wonder if they still do

[@otooleger]

You do realise this is not a real Irish song and is largely unknown in Howth?

[@Mnnvint]

The OP was probably just making a joke, but there are plenty of real traditional drinking songs which are over the top macabre like this, so I'm sure it could be adopted easily enough.

[@zymelin21]

@@otooleger I have known the origins of this song since 1962. Tom Lehrer an american mathematician wrote it, and many other scathing songs - hilarious too.

[@gabbyhyman1246]

In 1972, Tom joined the faculty of the University of California, Santa Cruz, teaching an introductory course entitled The Nature of Mathematics for liberal arts majors . The truth! He graduated magna cum laude in mathematics from Harvard.

[@rabbi120348]

Fight fiercely Harvard, fight fight fight! Demonstrate to them our skill. Albeit they possess the might Nonetheless we have the will. Oh we will celebrate our victory We shall invite the whole team out to tea - how jolly! So hurl that spheroid down the field and fight, fight fight -- and do fight fiercely... My son entered Harvard in 1999. The next Harvard-Yale game that was in Boston (2000) I prevailed upon him to go, just for the experience. Harvard lost and I called him to rag on him a bit (I went to Columbia, which owns the longest NCAA football losing streak at 44 games). He commented, "My HS team could beat either of those teams." Probably true, but very few of his HS classmates will be pulling the levers of industry and government and academia in the next decades.

[@dale19532]

Somehow seem to have lost my comment - anyway, though I did not sing anything except background in production of "Tomfoolery" in tnis song but I did get to do the introduction. Also, I was assigned to play the violin during the show. I'd never played a string instrument in my life, but somehow managed to play it badly but close enough to be funny. Reminiscent of "Man Who Came To Dinner", when they taught me simple chords to play on the piano for my character, Beverly Carlton (Noel Coward). One night, I lost track of the keyboard and made a total hash of what I was supposed to play. Director later told me he heard a commend from an audience member, "He must be a MARVELOUS musician to play that badly that well!"

[@ariel1234567890ful]

:-)

[@annettesorah8918]

I first heard Tom Lehrer via my brother's record in the mid fifties. I was approximately 8 or 9 years old (I literally wore out the record) and have been a fan of his musical satire and commentary ever since.

[@bigweld4328]

this man was clearly a pioneer of modal jazz

[@taitano12]

As an avid consumer and singer of folk music, I think this qualifies as an instant traditional classic. Step it Out Mary, Whiskey in the Jar, Drunken Sailor, and many more, this one fits right in. Perhaps I'll introduce it to the Irish Folk group I often sing with; see if they can even tell it's from less than a century ago. 😂

[@MURDERPILLOW.]

How much i wish this song was 10 minutes longer...

[@jgstudios6696]

The sense of sight is what guides us right when we go out on walks

[@SunnyMackey]

Song starts at 2:28

[@James-mm2zc]

The original Bo Burnham.

[@Fanatic_Foremem]

Now i want to hear mark hamill singing this in his joker voice....

[@ryane269]

I go loooooney!

[@jessicaoctostar9730]

That would be the best thing ever. I'd also like to hear him do that with "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park"

[@annettebutler7899]

YES THANK YOU

[@PiracyandDumbbells]

@@ryane269 Positively looooonyyy..

[@DieFlabbergast]

"... will sit around enthralled ..."

[@AlexSh789]

Maybe, but my 17-year-old self wasn't familiar with that word at the time. (I'm 23 now.)

[@DieFlabbergast]

@@AlexSh789 Not maybe - definitely.

[@therevmaurer626]

Would love to meet this dude

[@billschwan1599]

Holy cow, this song is as old as me.

[@whattheduck3615]

Only just found tom wich confirms my childhood assumption that none of my parets/grandparents had a sense of humour, well if they did i wud already know these songs.

[@davemartin9557]

I’m surprised the Smothers Brothers didn’t cover this song.😄

[@brunapavan9286]

Unique

[@nealhurwitz]

I sing this since 1953!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@cerberaodollam]

Hahaha. Making fun of my roots never was so....funny. :D

[@soulbound2]

Song starts 2:28

[@js66613]

I think he secretly worships that "idiotic refrain" even now.

[@unplayednamer0165]

And so shall we!

[@EuRoWeIrD]

Was in puberty while singing this 😂

[@erichudson2195]

Dr. Demento used to play this version on his show in the early 90s (as well as the Hunting Song) - helped me rediscover Tom Lehrer, and remind me that he was also behind several songs from The Electric Company that I'd watched in reruns when I was very young - absolutely brilliant stuff!

[@MostlyPennyCat]

I was taught this at school when we were 10.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

In 1988

[@MostlyPennyCat]

This and the jobs worth song

[@MostlyPennyCat]

Jobsworth song: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nKuXZZKJpZV-bqM

[@MXB2001]

In the dictionary under "Black Humour" it only says, see Tom Lehrer's The Irish Ballad. ; )

[@graceho7479]

Or “I hold your hand in mine”

[@evelina2363]

Fantastic piano work on this version

[@johngadeikis2146]

Check out “The Elements” by Tom Lehrer.

[@TokyoBlue587]

Even darker humor than his other songs

[@AlexSh789]

Really? Even darker than "I Hold Your Hand In Mine"...?

[@martincohen8991]

@@AlexSh789 Only one person died in that one.

[@AlexSh789]

@@martincohen8991 - Touché!

[@jacksimpson-rogers1069]

This also is brilliant. I do know several folk songs, some of them quite vulgar, but he's right about several of the recently-born "folk songs".

[@rabidbunnies2]

There were a lot of people pissed off in the comments for "it makes a fellow proud to be a soldier". Odd that everyone is so much cooler about this song.

[@SentientTent]

Must say that i dislike the inclusion of the additional song at the start, but other than that I must say it is rather enjoyable.

[@andrew_ray]

+ForgotenTemplar I totally agree with you on that

[@humanbeing2084]

+ForgotenTemplar I love that intro, it's hilarious! If you not like, you're a fool

[@humanbeing2084]

+ForgotenTemplar The signature slide is necessary, as it shows who is making the video, however it is enjoyable. Though another slide could have been used.

[@michaelj.garman4789]

What about the description?

[@michaelj.garman4789]

You could say who made the video there

[@yellowloafer65]

DEAR GOD

[@erushen6629]

I love it

[@alanpennie8013]

Old Tom wasn't too happy with that, "Three chords and the truth" schtick.

[@omeragam8628]

It just sounds like what you would expect from Game of Thrones after hearing about it but before actually seing the show...

[@Randall_Kildare]

...maybe. Certainly, before it's desecration this season.

[@paris5410]

I can confirm. I have never watched it, and this is precisely what I expect, except with a lot more sex and incest.

[@alanpennie8013]

@@paris5410 Oh the songs in the actual show were quite a bit more disturbing. Particularly, It's always Summer beneath The Sea.

[@paris5410]

@@alanpennie8013 Oh dear I need to listen to that

[@alanpennie8013]

@@paris5410 It's definitely on KZbin.

[@Icebartelby]

Still Brilliant

[@BlueCloud361]

Thanks for uploading, I haven't heard this one before :) But at 0:39, I'm pretty sure he said "enthralled"?

[@DieFlabbergast]

He did, without a shadow of a doubt. Anything else would have been ungrammatical, and Mr. Lehrer was a highly educated man.

[@pukulu]

a macabre tale made into a song. I wonder why Tom Lehrer was fond of performing it.

[@TJ52359]

gallows Humor

[@Cybonator]

The Quarantine Ballad

[@robertlehnert4148]

Tom wasn't exaggerating (much). Look up the old ballads, plenty of drowning people in rivers and such.

[@lordofduct]

They're called 'murder ballads'. They've existed for centuries. It's a long tradition in folk music all over northern parts of Europe to sing the ballads of those who've been murdered and who've committed murder. It was basically like an oral history equivalent to homicide records. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_ballad Nick Cave has a fantastic album of contemporary murder ballads: www.amazon.com/Murder-Ballads-Nick-Cave-Seeds/dp/B000002N5S

[@zymelin21]

are you thinking of "the old woman from Wexford"??

[@zymelin21]

and the is a nordic song "Ebbe Skammelsøn". He does his family in also, including his bethroed!

[@lisagordon6355]

What is the referral to Davy Jones please?

[@AlexSh789]

Davy Jones' locker is a common term for the bottom of the sea.

[@lisagordon6355]

Alexander Shekhtman thank you kindly, this ballad just became more morbid!

[@jerelull2619]

Lehrer was delightfully demented.

[@shanemorrissey192]

Has a Rob Zombie "House of a thousand corpses" about the pieces of skin. Lol still tryin to figure him out but what a great singer! #Thanks

[@acdorr267]

2:27

[@Randall_Kildare]

All thanks to my introduction to the Phenomena that is Tom Lehrer are due to Eric Wienstien. To think!? I might have gone my whole life without this otherwise!

[@AlexSh789]

I believe every fan of Tom Lehrer is indebted to the person who introduced him to them. I am indebted to my middle school physics teacher, Mr. Kestenbaum.

[@spmoran4703]

For some one who was not Irish . AYE HE GOT IT RIGHT ! I am Irish and I am laughing . 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣. Sure its daft.

[@Quasihamster]

Dunno who that girl is but I like her :)

[@oberonpanopticon]

Interesting, so older people have always hated the popular music of their current day and age.

[@AlexSh789]

No, it's just buggy. - ET3 Alexander B. Shekhtman, USN

[@WonderfulLizardOfOz]

Needs a verse about her execution.

[@vulpesinculta3238]

Try 'The River Saile'/'Weile Waile'.

[@brettknoss486]

She invited the nrighbours with a modest proposal.

[@AlexSh789]

@jabiel1210 Honestly, I don't know. I've never heard of it.

[@jabiel1210]

is the "remember pearl Habor" song this song? /watch?v=5Nf_SzRFlHY

[@kjburned9668]

I don't understand his Sessue Hayakawa joke. Can someone explain?

[@AlexSh789]

I'll respond to your question, with a question: Who attacked Pearl Harbor?

[@e.blessssssingg]

The name is Japanese, the Japanese attacked pearl harbor

[@zakeraka6547]

Song starts at 2:32 right?

[@AlexSh789]

Zakeraka Gaming - Yup, this is the concert recorded version. If you'd like to hear the studio recorded version that begins right away, you can find it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hpDNm4WEgrSipqM .

[@mintywatzit]

He says "in thrall" It means the same thing as enthralled though.

[@DieFlabbergast]

No, he doesn't: I would see an ear specialist if I were you. And, no, while "in thrall to" means the same as "enthralled with," Lehrer here says "...will sit around enthralled, singing..." , in which case, it goes without saying, "...will sit around in thrall, singing..." would not be grammatically correct English, and would therefore be inconceivable from this supremely literate man.

[@DieFlabbergast]

He does NOT say "in thrall": that would be ungrammatical, as one cannot use "in thrall" one its own, without reference to whatever it is the person is in thrall to. He quite clearly says "enthralled." If you cannot hear this, I suggest you see a doctor.

[@winter4265]

@@DieFlabbergast quiet your coochie doctor serious

[@scottylilacleona9193]

Legitimately a good song for me at least.

[@anthonylepore516]

You just know George Carlin loved this guy!!!

[@timturner9396]

perfect for halloween :)

[@michaeltravisano1161]

Tom Lehrer said this song is modal so which mode or modes does it use?

[@zubuxstein]

I love YT!

[@sagev4388]

Me

[@campbellsoup93]

Good song. Could've used a few more verses though.

[@lisescheiman5092]

Prescient!

[@vampireist7964]

Wow people back than got away with a lot more stuff now a days. I was cooking singing this song and police were almost called on me XD I wish I was born in this time!!!

[@alwinpriven2400]

wat?

[@flaviusclaudius7510]

Am I the only one that always freezes for about ten seconds at 0:04?

[@x0x89]

Wow how can it be that i never encountered him before... what is wrong with people

[@michaelbox4394]

The nerd as rockstar

[@cherylanne57]

Twisted

[@pixelmaniac8534]

I didn't know you could copyright copyrighted lyrics... The more you know!

[@pixelmaniac8534]

It was more of a joke than an actual claim, but thanks for replying.

[@finnflaherty8704]

***** It's always bothered me a little bit that you put other music before the music, in the Masochism Tango it actually covers up Tom Lehrer, and the © bothers me a little, if I want to know who published the video, which I don't, I'll look below it. Because of that, I and possibly many other people, actively avoid your videos. Also, I can tell who wrote the comment from your username, you don't need to sign it. -Finn B. Flaherty

[@finnflaherty8704]

That's actually strange how many there are. The thing that bothered me wasn't the trademark, it was the fact that a music video had music I didn't come to hear. If you're wondering, it was the Masochism Tango which had your music covering up the D and D# in the beginning. I'm not angry that your channel is successful, I'm happy for you, I'm just saying that there are probably other people like me who avoid your videos. I shouldn't have gotten so angry, and for that, I apologize. I'd like it if you'd take off the other song, especially for the Masochism Tango, but I recognize that I can't reasonably make requests of you, and that being a KZbinr is hard. Thanks for responding.

[@Languslangus]

🇮🇪

[@donmoblack]

@ jabiel1210 - That was a joke. There is no such song.

[@viralpatel6494]

I am here because of better call Saul

[@johngadeikis2146]

Viral Patel -Thats where I heard this!! Perfect for Gale the lab geek, right?? The song he was singing on Breaking Bad was pretty hard to memorize as well... ‘Crapa Pelada.’ There’s probably a video clip here with him singing it..

[@francescaderimini4422]

He loved making fun out of Irish Catholics Mexicans!

[@dcllaw677]

Started out funny, quickly became disturbing

[@Nareimooncatt]

After seeding Pandora with an Irish group, I've come to realize a lot of Irish/Celtic style music is disturbing.

[@lemmetalkaboutthis]

this is like if Bo Burnham was born a few decades earlier

[@davidscothern8513]

This one is too dark for me. Not the concept, but the specifics.

[@rabbi120348]

Try "I Will Hold Your Hand in Mine."

[@austincolschen6249]

I love this version but Darby O’Gills is better I just can find it so

[@galrjkldd]

enthralled not, and thrall.

[@bean2706]

2019?

[@hydethepenguin]

god this is hilarious