An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer
| An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer | ||||
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| Live album by Tom Lehrer | ||||
| Released | 1959 | |||
| Recorded | March, 1959 | |||
| Genre | Satire | |||
| Length | 42:23 | |||
| Label | Lehrer Records Reprise/Warner Bros. Records |
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| Producer | ? | |||
| Tom Lehrer chronology | ||||
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| Allmusic |  |
An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer is an album recorded by Tom Lehrer, the well-known satirist and Harvard lecturer. The recording was made on March 20–21, 1959 in Sanders Theater at Harvard.
The lyrics parody springtime songs.
As is common with Lehrer's songs, the self-described "corncrake-voiced" delivery is accompanied by a series of contrived rhymes. The poison names produce rhymes such as "try an' hide" with "cyanide", and "quickenin'" with "strychnine".
This song was also part of the studio-recorded album, More of Tom Lehrer, and had its moments. Before the first orchestra rehearsal, the pianist had seen the sheet music. It had only the notes, but no title or lyrics. At first glance, he recognized the style ("Oh, it's a waltz"). However, when the conductor announced the title, saying, "'Poisoning Pigeons in the Park', take one", the pianist shouted, "WHAT?!", and fell off his bench. Observing this, Lehrer remarked, "I had never seen anything like that."
This song borrows heavily from "The Whiffenpoof Song", the traditional signature song of the Yale Whiffenpoofs.
The lyrics of "The Elements" are a recitation of the names of all the chemical elements that were known at the time of writing, up to number 102, nobelium. It can be found on his albums Songs & More Songs by Tom Lehrer as well as An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer. The song is sung to the tune of Sir Arthur Sullivan's "Major General's Song" ("I am the very model of a modern major-general...") from The Pirates of Penzance. Here are the opening and closing lines:
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