I am both saddened and surprised by this, as I honestly had not realised he was still alive. He was a delightful performer and composer of wickedly good songs.
Cleo Laine, too. An outstanding singer with the biggest stage presence I have ever seen.
Seriously, when I'm at my lowest I remind myself that I need to stay alive so I can dance on that man's grave. (there are actually several graves I want to dance on tbh)
Seriously, when I'm at my lowest I remind myself that I need to stay alive so I can dance on that man's grave. (there are actually several graves I want to dance on tbh)
You could even, using a funnel and a bottle, piss in to a bottle in a toilet cubicle and then pour the piss out on the grave later!
I'm sad, but reading obituaries and retrospectives has rarely made me laugh so much: of course, they're full of his words, both lyrics and acidic quotes.
I've known two people who made it to over one hundred years old. One was my great-uncle, who was in full possession of his mental faculties as of the (hell of a) party we threw for him on his 100th birthday and only died, just shy of his 101st, because his body was falling apart. He was still lucid and recognizing people right up till the day he died.
The other centenarian I knew had an even better story. I met a guy in France in the late 1980s who was a veteran of the FIRST World War. He was 103 when I knew him, and did not unlike my great-uncle know what was going on around him, but damn. I mean, there were photographs of him in uniform. In the fucking trenches.
I remember watching "The Electric Company" on PBS in the early 70's; my father overheard one of the songs and said "Wait -- is that Tom Lehrer?" Yes, it was, singing about "Silent E". (My brother and I were both reading too fluently by the time "The Electric Company" came out to be the target audience, but the show was such fun...)
I had of course grown up on his two main albums, and knew most of the words by heart by the time I was eight, even the ones I didn't quite understand.
In the 1980's I went with my mother and stepfather to watch the stage show, "Tomfoolery", at the Arena Stage in Washington, DC. It was mostly old favorites, but Lehrer had written some new (and hilarious) verses for "When You are Old and Gray", to be sung by an aging queen to a younger man.
Kids these days haven't heard of him, of course; I usually oversimplify and say "he's the previous generation's Weird Al Yankovic".
It was mostly old favorites, but Lehrer had written some new (and hilarious) verses for "When You are Old and Gray", to be sung by an aging queen to a younger man.
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cimorene
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Date: 2025-07-28 07:24 pm (UTC)Cleo Laine, too. An outstanding singer with the biggest stage presence I have ever seen.
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Date: 2025-07-30 01:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-07-30 07:24 am (UTC)https://www.youtube.com/shorts/m6XgFm5xX5s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpv85IXdjQk&list=RDJpv85IXdjQk&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTX4q6Lq5wI&list=RDJpv85IXdjQk&index=2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSr9V6asnyk&list=RDJpv85IXdjQk&index=11
Johnny Dankworth was her husband.
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Date: 2025-07-28 07:29 pm (UTC)He lived a good, long life.
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Date: 2025-07-28 07:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-07-28 07:41 pm (UTC)Seriously, when I'm at my lowest I remind myself that I need to stay alive so I can dance on that man's grave. (there are actually several graves I want to dance on tbh)
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Date: 2025-07-28 10:05 pm (UTC)You could even, using a funnel and a bottle, piss in to a bottle in a toilet cubicle and then pour the piss out on the grave later!
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Date: 2025-07-28 11:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-07-29 12:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-07-28 08:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-07-28 09:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-07-28 10:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-07-30 01:21 am (UTC)(Sorry, it's hot and miserable, it's on my mind!)
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Date: 2025-07-28 10:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-07-29 02:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-07-29 12:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-07-29 02:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-07-29 10:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-07-29 06:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-07-29 07:10 pm (UTC)I've known two people who made it to over one hundred years old. One was my great-uncle, who was in full possession of his mental faculties as of the (hell of a) party we threw for him on his 100th birthday and only died, just shy of his 101st, because his body was falling apart. He was still lucid and recognizing people right up till the day he died.
The other centenarian I knew had an even better story. I met a guy in France in the late 1980s who was a veteran of the FIRST World War. He was 103 when I knew him, and did not unlike my great-uncle know what was going on around him, but damn. I mean, there were photographs of him in uniform. In the fucking trenches.
He had fought in the FIRST World War.
Damn.
no subject
Date: 2025-07-29 01:11 pm (UTC)I had of course grown up on his two main albums, and knew most of the words by heart by the time I was eight, even the ones I didn't quite understand.
In the 1980's I went with my mother and stepfather to watch the stage show, "Tomfoolery", at the Arena Stage in Washington, DC. It was mostly old favorites, but Lehrer had written some new (and hilarious) verses for "When You are Old and Gray", to be sung by an aging queen to a younger man.
Kids these days haven't heard of him, of course; I usually oversimplify and say "he's the previous generation's Weird Al Yankovic".
no subject
Date: 2025-07-30 01:22 am (UTC)Because he's fucking amazing!
no subject
Date: 2025-08-01 06:52 pm (UTC)(Also, the link to the AP News story you provided got mangled somehow and doesn't go where it's supposed to.)