Musician and political satirist Tom Lehrer died Saturday, July 26. He was 97. According to NPR, Lehrer died in his Cambridge, MA home. News of his passing was confirmed by his friend David Herder. Lehrer was the forerunner of musical comedians like Weird Al Yankovic, Rachel Bloom, and the Lonely Island. Yankovic tributed Lehrer on Sunday, writing “My last living musical hero is still my hero but unfortunately no longer living. RIP to the great, great Mr. Tom Lehrer.”
Like so many comedians, Lehrer got his start by going to Harvard. He wrote and recorded his first song, “Fight Fiercely Harvard,” at the age of 17. Lehrer entered the mainstream in the 60’s, contributing to That Was the Week That Was, a topical comedy show on NBC. He also contributed songs to The Electric Company.
Lehrer was a proponent of dark humor, sending up attitudes he found odious by pretending to embrace them in his lyrics. “Who’s Next?” was an ode to nuclear proliferation, and writing a song calling out from Nazi scientist (and then-NASA/Disney scientist) Wernher von Braun. His song “Send the Marines” took on new relevance this summer with Trump deploying the National Guard in Los Angeles.
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Lehrer retired from performing in the 70s, turning to teaching math. He worked at UC Santa Cruz. He donated all of his lyrics and music to the public domain in 2020. So if you want to record any cover tributes, go off.
