'' 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.
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Poisoning Pigeons In The Park " – 2:38
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Bright College Days " – 3:03
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A Christmas Carol " – 2:54
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The Elements " – 2:16
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Oedipus Rex " – 3:41
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In Old Mexico " – 6:26
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Clementine " – 4:40
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It Makes A Fellow Proud To Be A Soldier " – 4:50
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She's My Girl " – 2:53
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The Masochism Tango " – 3:30
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We Will All Go Together When We Go " – 5:32
The lyrics parody springtime songs.
Spring is here, a-suh-puh-ring is here.
Life is skittles and life is beer.
:''I think the loveliest time of the year
Is the spring! I do - Don't you? 'Course you do.
He then goes on to describe his favorite Spring pastime:
All the world seems in tune
When we're poisoning pigeons in the park ...
And the criticism that it has attracted:
But it's not against any religion
To want to dispose of a pigeon ...
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 "quickenin'" with "strychnine".
See Also: The Elements (song)
The lyrics are a recitation of the names of all the
Chemical Element s that were known at the time of writing, up to number 102,
Nobelium . (There are now 118.) 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:
These are the only ones of which the news has come to Ha'vard ,
And there may be many others, but they haven't been discovered.
:
coda: Shave And A Haircut, Two Bits
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 .
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 .''
As a note, the final rhyme of "Harvard" and "discovered" is delivered in an exaggerated parody of a
Boston Accent .
is a 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. The first verse was in the style of
Cole Porter , the second verse in the style of
Mozart , the third verse in the style of the
Beatnik "Cool School," and the rousing finale that was, in Lehrer's paraphrase of
Shakespeare , "full of words and music, and signifying nothing," in the style of
Gilbert And Sullivan .
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.
The song ranges from comical:
I ache for the touch of your lips, dear,
But much more for the touch of your whips, dear.
As we dance to the Masochism Tango.
To somewhat exaggerated:
:''Take your cigarette from its holder
:''And burn your initials on my shoulder
As we dance to the Masochism Tango.
And even a little violent:
And make me scream with pain,
And say we'll never part.
But all the while keeps its mocking tone common of the works of Tom Lehrer:
My heart is in my hand... eccch!
