An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer
Album by Tom Lehrer
Released	1959
Recorded	March, 1959
Genre	Satire
Length	42:23
Label	Lehrer Records
Producer(s)	?
Professional reviews
All Music Guide (4.5/5) link Image File history File links Album cover for the 1959 album An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer, performed by Tom Lehrer This image is of a music album or single cover, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the album or the artist... An album is a collection of related audio tracks, released together commercially in an audio format to the public. ... Tom Lehrer in 1960. ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which exposes the follies of its subject (for example, individuals, organizations, or states) to ridicule, often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the performers, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. ...
Tom Lehrer chronology
Songs by Tom Lehrer (1953)	An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer (1959)	More of Tom Lehrer (1959)

An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer is an album recorded by Tom Lehrer, the well-known satirist and Harvard lecturer. The recording was made in March 20-21 of 1959 in Sanders Theater at Harvard. Tom Lehrer in 1960. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1953 calendar). ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An album is a collection of related audio tracks, released together commercially in an audio format to the public. ... Tom Lehrer in 1960. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... Sanders Theater or Sanders Theatre is the premiere lecture and concert hall at Harvard University. ...

Track listing

1. "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" - 2:38
2. "Bright College Days" - 3:03
3. "A Christmas Carol" - 2:54
4. "The Elements" (Music by Sullivan) - 2:16
5. "Oedipus Rex" - 3:41
6. "In Old Mexico" - 6:26
7. "Clementine" - 4:40
8. "It Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier" - 4:50
9. "She's My Girl" - 2:53
10. "The Masochism Tango" - 3:30
11. "We Will All Go Together When We Go" - 5:32

An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer is an album recorded by Tom Lehrer, the well-known satirist and Harvard professor. ... An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer is an album recorded by Tom Lehrer, the well-known satirist and Harvard professor. ... Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (May 13, 1842 – November 22, 1900) was a British composer best known for his operatic collaborations with librettist William S. Gilbert. ... A witty tour de force parody of how the old folk song, My Darling Clementine, might have turned out if it had been written by various composers in widely different styles of music. ... An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer is an album recorded by Tom Lehrer, the well-known satirist and Harvard professor. ...

Song Highlights

"Poisoning Pigeons in the Park"

The lyrics parody springtime songs.

The song begins:

Spring is here, a-spuh-ring is here

Life is skittles and life is beer...

As is common with Lehrer's songs, the self-described "corncrake-voiced" delivery is accompanied by a series of dire rhymes. The poison names produce rhymes such as "try an' hide" with "cyanide", and "quickening" with "strychnine".

"The Elements"

The lyrics are a recitation of the names of all the chemical elements that were known at the time of writing, up to number 102, nobelium. (There are now 116.) It can be found on his albums 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: The Elements (1959) is a song by Tom Lehrer that recites the names of all the chemical elements that were known at the time of writing, up to number 102, nobelium. ... A chemical element, often called simply element, is a chemical substance that cannot be divided or changed into other chemical substances by any ordinary chemical technique. ... General Name, Symbol, Number nobelium, No, 102 Chemical series actinides Group, Period, Block ?, 7, f Appearance unknown, probably silvery white or metallic gray Atomic mass (259) g/mol Electron configuration [Rn] 5f14 7s2 Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 8, 2 Physical properties Phase solid Melting point 1100... Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (May 13, 1842 – November 22, 1900) was a British composer best known for his operatic collaborations with librettist William S. Gilbert. ... The Major Generals Song is a patter song from Gilbert and Sullivans 1879 comic operetta The Pirates of Penzance. ... The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. ...

There's antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium,

And hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium,

....

And chlorine, carbon, cobalt, copper, tungsten, tin, and sodium.

These are the only ones of which the news has come to Harvard,

And there may be many others but they haven't been discovered.

Indeed, since that time, 14 more have been discovered (or synthesized, technically), and 9 of those have been named. Those 9 are lawrencium, rutherfordium, dubnium, seaborgium, bohrium, hassium, meitnerium, darmstadtium, and roentgenium. General Name, Symbol, Number antimony, Sb, 51 Chemical series metalloids Group, Period, Block 15, 5, p Appearance silvery lustrous grey Atomic mass 121. ... General Name, Symbol, Number arsenic, As, 33 Chemical series metalloids Group, Period, Block 15, 4, p Appearance metallic gray Atomic mass 74. ... Aluminum is a soft and lightweight metal with a dull silvery appearance, due to a thin layer of oxidation that forms quickly when it is exposed to air. ... SE redirects here. ... General Name, Symbol, Number hydrogen, H, 1 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 1, 1, s Appearance colorless Atomic mass 1. ... General Name, Symbol, Number oxygen, O, 8 Chemical series Nonmetals, chalcogens Group, Period, Block 16, 2, p Appearance colorless Atomic mass 15. ... General Name, Symbol, Number nitrogen, N, 7 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 15, 2, p Appearance colorless Atomic mass 14. ... General Name, Symbol, Number rhenium, Re, 75 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 7, 6, d Appearance grayish white Atomic mass 186. ... Chlorine is the current Good Article Collaboration of the week! Please help to improve this article to the highest of standards. ... General Name, Symbol, Number carbon, C, 6 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 14, 2, p Appearance black (graphite) colorless (diamond) Atomic mass 12. ... General Name, Symbol, Number cobalt, Co, 27 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 9, 4, d Appearance metallic with gray tinge Atomic mass 58. ... General Name, Symbol, Number copper, Cu, 29 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 4, d Appearance metallic brown Atomic mass 63. ... General Name, Symbol, Number tungsten, W, 74 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 6, 6, d Appearance grayish white, lustrous Atomic mass 183. ... General Name, Symbol, Number tin, Sn, 50 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 5, p Appearance silvery lustrous gray Atomic mass 118. ... General Name, Symbol, Number sodium, Na, 11 Chemical series alkali metals Group, Period, Block 1, 3, s Appearance silvery white Atomic mass 22. ... Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and a member of the Ivy League. ... This article or section should be merged with Timeline of chemical element discovery The story of the discoveries of the chemical elements is presented here in chronological order. ... General Name, Symbol, Number lawrencium, Lr, 103 Chemical series actinides Group, Period, Block n/a, 7, d Appearance unknown, probably silvery white or metallic gray Atomic mass (262) g/mol Electron configuration probably [Rn] 5f14 7s2 7p1 Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 8, 3 Phase presumably a... General Name, Symbol, Number rutherfordium, Rf, 104 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 4, 7, d Appearance unknown, probably silvery white or metallic gray Atomic mass (261) g/mol Electron configuration probably [Rn] 5f14 6d2 7s2 Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 10, 2 Phase presumably a... General Name, Symbol, Number dubnium, Db, 105 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 5, 7, d Appearance unknown, probably silvery white or metallic gray Atomic mass (262) g/mol Electron configuration perhaps [Rn] 5f14 6d3 7s2 (guess based on tantalum) Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 11... General Name, Symbol, Number seaborgium, Sg, 106 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 6, 7, d Appearance unknown, probably silvery white or metallic gray Atomic mass (266) g/mol Electron configuration perhaps [Rn] 5f14 6d4 7s2 (guess based on tungsten) Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 12... General Name, Symbol, Number bohrium, Bh, 107 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 7, 7, d Appearance unknown, probably silvery white or metallic gray Atomic mass (264) g/mol Electron configuration perhaps [Rn] 5f14 6d5 7s2 (guess based on rhenium) Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 13... General Name, Symbol, Number hassium, Hs, 108 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 8, 7, d Appearance unknown, probably silvery white or metallic gray Atomic mass (269) g/mol Electron configuration perhaps [Rn] 5f14 6d6 7s2 (guess based on osmium) Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 14... General Name, Symbol, Number meitnerium, Mt, 109 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 9, 7, d Appearance unknown, probably silvery white or metallic gray Atomic mass (268) g/mol Electron configuration perhaps [Rn] 5f14 6d7 7s2 (guess based on iridium) Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 15... General Name, Symbol, Number darmstadtium, Ds, 110 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 10, 7, d Appearance unknown, probably silvery white or metallic gray Atomic mass (281) g/mol Electron configuration perhaps [Rn] 5f14 6d9 7s1 (guess based on platinum) Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 17... General Name, Symbol, Number roentgenium, Rg, 111 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 7, d Appearance unknown, probably yellow or orange metallic Atomic mass (272) g/mol Electron configuration perhaps [Rn] 5f14 6d10 7s1 (guess based on gold) Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 18, 1...

At some concerts he also played a version he claims is based on Aristotle's elements, which goes like this:
There's earth and air and fire and water. Aristotle (Ancient Greek: Aristotelēs 384–March 7 322 BCE) was an ancient Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Water is one of the four classical elements in ancient Greek philosophy and science. ...

As a note, the final rhyme of "Harvard" and "discovered" is delivered in an exaggerated parody of a Boston accent. The Boston accent is the dialect of English not only of the city of Boston itself, but more generally of all of eastern Massachusetts; it shares much in common with the accents of New Hampshire and Southern Maine. ...

"The Masochism Tango"

To the tune of a traditional tango, that generally asks the singer's dancing partner to "consume you in a kiss of fire", the lyrics form a love note to the sadistic inflicter of such glorious pain. Tango music is traditionally played by an orquesta típica, which often includes violin, piano, guitar, flute, and especially bandoneon. ...

The song ranges from comical:

I ache for the touch of your lips, dear,

But much more for the touch of your whips, dear.

You can raise welts

Like nobody else,

As we dance to the Masochism Tango.

To somewhat exaggerated:

Blacken my eye,

Set fire to my tie,

As we dance to the Masochism Tango.

And even a little violent:

Bash in my brain,

And make me scream with pain,

Then kick me once again,

And say we'll never part.

But all the while keeps its mocking tone common of the works of Tom Lehrer. Sung as a live performance at the Sanders Theater at Harvard, the laughter of the well-to-do audience ensures that the song of course is all in good fun, perhaps even a little more fun to some. Sanders Theater or Sanders Theatre is the premiere lecture and concert hall at Harvard University. ...

See also

• Tom Lehrer Revisited
• That Was The Year That Was
• The Elements

Tom Lehrer Revisited is features live-recorded versions of songs performed in Songs & More Songs By Tom Lehrer, as well as two additional tracks performed for the television show The Electric Company // Track Listing Introduction (3:27) I Wanna Go Back to Dixie (2:56) The Wild West is Where... That Was The Year That Was (1965) is an album made up of a collection of songs performed by Tom Lehrer for the NBC version of the BBC series That Was The Week That Was. ... The Elements (1959) is a song by Tom Lehrer that recites the names of all the chemical elements that were known at the time of writing, up to number 102, nobelium. ...

External links

• Guitar chords from alt.guitar.tab newsgroup
• Flash animation of elements song