When you’re a mathematician by trade and you moonlight as one of the cleverest songwriters around, you’re uniquely qualified to perform something like Tom Lehrer’s “New Math” which, by our calculations, is enjoyable and confounding in equal parts.
Video of the Week: Tom Lehrer’s “New Math”
11 Jun 2023 Leave a comment
in Video of the Week Tags: new math, tom lehrer
Video of the Week: ‘Every Major’s Terrible’
15 Apr 2017 Leave a comment
in On a Lighter Note, Video of the Week Tags: every major's terrible, major general song, the elements, tom lehrer
Performed by Ben Miller. Lyric from Randall Munroe’s comic xkcd.
Original melody from Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Major General’s Song”, also parodied by Tom Lehrer’s “The Elements”.
Video of the Week: Tom Lehrer–We Will All Go Together When We Go
10 Mar 2017 Leave a comment
in Video of the Week Tags: tom lehrer, we will all go together when we go
Tom Lehrer, the wickedly smart (multiple math degrees from Harvard, teaching gigs at his alma mater as well as MIT and others) shows that his musical and lyrical talents are equally keen in this satirical ditty.
Considering his musical career was a secondary avocation, his abilities are astounding. He could devastatingly satirize with a lyric, and his command of key modulation was astonishing. Both traits are on display in “We Will All Go Together When We Go”.
If you think Weird Al is good, Lehrer will blow your mind.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/03/14/tom-lehrer-the-elements/
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/04/14/tom-lehrer-teaches-the-new-math/
Video of the Week: Tom Lehrer–The Elements, Live 1967
21 May 2014 Leave a comment
in On a Lighter Note, Video of the Week Tags: tom lehrer
Tom Lehrer Teaches ‘The New Math’
14 Apr 2013 Leave a comment
in On a Lighter Note Tags: new math, tom lehrer
Tom Lehrer, who just turned 85, has mathematics degrees from Harvard and a wit that can’t be taught. Combine it with some serious musical talent and you have a guy who can give a lesson that feels more like entertainment, which is why he was featured on public television’s The Electric Company in the 1970’s. Here he spins your head with “The New Math”, looking for solutions among the convolutions.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/03/14/tom-lehrer-the-elements/
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2017/03/10/video-of-the-week-tom-lehrer-we-will-all-go-together-when-we-go/
Every Moment Has A Song 