Key Takeaways
- Tom Lehrer, a musician and mathematician, died at the age of 97, leaving behind a legacy as a singer, songwriter, educator, and social critic.
- He gained fame in the 1950s and 1960s for his satirical songs on diverse topics, which became popular through word-of-mouth and later on the Dr. Demento Show.
- Lehrer served in the U.S. Army as a drafted enlisted man and claimed to have invented the Jello shot to circumvent alcohol bans.
- He never married and left his entire music catalog in the public domain in 2020, ensuring his songs will continue to be used in education, such as The Element Song in chemistry classes.
- Lehrer's work reflected American hypocrisy through humor, teaching us to laugh at ourselves and perhaps improve, as noted by his impact on both music and education.
Musician and mathematician, Professor Tom Lehrer has died at the age of 97. He was a singer, a songwriter, an educator, and a social critic and satirist.
A Special Tribute to Tom Lehrer, Tonight at 7pm Pacific
In honor of the musical legacy of Tom Lehrer, our own Strange Transmissions DJ David Llewyn airs a special presentation tonight in his honor, featuring the music of this singularly talented and influential man. The festivities begin tonight at 7 pm Pacific time, exclusively here on SCIFI.radio.
Thomas Andrew Lehrer was born April 9, 1928 in New York City, NY. He died July 26, 2025 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For most of his life he was affiliated with Harvard University, first as a student, then as an instructor.
Tom Lehrer was the Sultan of Satire, the Prince of Political momentary, the Master of the Macabre, the Knight of the Naughty, the Regent of the Risque .the Rajah of Rhyme, the Hoodoo of Humor. He wrote songs as such diverse topics as plagiarism, murder, mathematics, and drug dealing.
The 1967 concert in Copenhagen
From 1955 to 1957 Lehrer served in the U.S. Army. He did not enlist. He was drafted. Lehrer was what the British call a gentleman ranker, a man of education and breeding serving as an enlisted man, rather than being commissioned as an officer. Lehrer claimed to have invented the Jello shot when he was in the army, to get around the base’s ban on alcoholic beverages, He eventually achieved the rank of Specialist third class, which he explained as being a “corporal without portfolio”.
The New York Times once said, “Mr. Lehrer’s muse is not fettered by such inhabiting factors as taste.” That music critic was not entirely wrong. Tom Lehrer’s music is rather like Mel Brooks‘ movie Blazing Saddles (1974). It’s funny as hell, but completely devoid of anything resembling good taste or propriety. Be careful when introducing the younger generation to either.
Although Tom Lehrer began writing songs when he was still a teenager, he did not achieve fame until the 1950s and 1960s. He appeared on the television show That Was the Week That Was. His reputation grew largely through word-of-mouth. When the Dr. Demento Show was nationally syndicated in 1977, Tom Lehrer’s music became a staple of the Dr. Demento Show. You may have even heard his tunes on SciFi.Radio once or twice.
Oddly, the man known for hilariously funny dirty songs also wrote songs for the PBS children’s show Electric Company.
Tom Lehrer never married. He leaves no grieving widow or widower. However, he did leave a marvelous legacy to the world. In 2020, Tom Lehrer transferred the music and lyrics for all songs he had ever written into the public domain. Tom Lehrer may have died, but his music will live on for centuries. Hundreds of thousands of science students have used his The Element Song to pass basic chemistry. Now that the song is in public domain, I predict more teachers will include it in their lesson plans (though the Table of Elements has had a good many new additions since Lehrer wrote his musical version).
If you like silly songs of dubious taste, you’ll love Tom Lehrer. He taught mathematics and musical theater. He taught at Harvard University, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and UCSCU(niversity of California, Santa Cruz).
Lehrer worked on his doctorate for fifteen years. Unfortunately, he was distracted by teaching, composing, performing, and working for the NSA (National Security Agency), and never officially earned his doctorate.
It was in 2022 that Tom Lehrer released all of his work to the world.
I, Tom Lehrer, and the Tom Lehrer Trust 2007, hereby grant the following permissions:
All copyrights to lyrics or music written or composed by me have been relinquished, and therefore such songs are now in the public domain. All of my songs that have never been copyrighted, having been available for free for so long, are now also in the public domain.
The latter includes all lyrics which I have written to music by others, although the music to such parodies, if copyrighted by their composers, are of course not included without permission of their copyright owners. The translated songs on this website may be found on YouTube in their original languages.
Performing and recording rights to all of my songs are included in this permission. Translation rights are also included.
In particular, permission is hereby granted to anyone to set any of these lyrics to their own music, or to set any of this music to their own lyrics, and to publish or perform their parodies or distortions of these songs without payment or fear of legal action.
Some recording, movie, and television rights to songs written by me are merely licensed non-exclusively by me to recording, movie, or TV companies. All such rights are now released herewith and therefore do not require any permission from me or from Maelstrom Music, which is merely me in another hat, nor from the recording, movie, or TV companies involved.
In short, I no longer retain any rights to any of my songs.
So help yourselves, and don’t send me any money.
Tom Lehrer held a mirror up to American hypocrisy and made us laugh at ourselves, and maybe, just maybe improve. As Mark Twain pointed out: “Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand.”
Farewell, Professor Lehrer. You made us laugh at ourselves and our problems, and where the path was dark, you lit the way.
A Special Tribute Performance
Susan Macdonald is the author of the children's book "R is for Renaissance Faire", as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in "Alternative Truths", "Swords and Sorceress #30", Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, "Cat Tails" "Under Western Stars", and "Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid". Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio's web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions, Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows. Her nonfiction book THEY ENDURED will be published by B Cubed Press in 2025 or 2026.
