Songs by Tom Lehrer

As the Abe Burrows of GSAS, Tom Lehrer has been convulsing party, night club, and House Dance audiences with the wit and skillful presentations of songs he has composed. He has made his mark as versifier, mathematician, pianist, teacher, and actor, but he evidently needs some further introduction to the Harvard community, because his lately-released recording has been only a moderate success.

The thoroughly delightful long-playing record includes twelve of his most widely heard and entertaining songs. And there can be no doubt as to their author since the clever lyrics, fine piano work, and professional quality of the music mark them as Lehrer at his best. So does the morbid references to various refinements of violent death, including cannibalism and necrophilia, that wind through the dittics. Also, a generous sprinkling of dirty jokes will probably discourage the cautious student from sending the disc as a Mothers' Day gift.

Above all, Lehrer is a satirist, and his greatest talent lies in parodying the conventional run of popular numbers. He tweaks the sentimental home town, commemorating the kindly school master who sells French postal cards after class, and then jibes at the Irish Ballad, the love song, and cowboys' lament.

His tenderly moving music conceals pleasantly depraved themes. "I hold your hand in mine," be croons gently, adding later, "if only you were here." "Be Prepared!" is his rousing exhortation to the Boy Scouts, "to hold your liquor well." Then he goes on to advise his little friends, "Never solicit for your sister. It isn't nice . . . , unless you get a good percentage of the price."

But he saves his true longing for the South, "the land of the boll weevil, where the laws are medieval," And he whines, "I want to go back to Swance, Where pellagra makes you scrawny," and then he swears, "Old times there are not forgotten, Whoppin' slaves and sellin' cotton. . ."

Among the other tid-bits of hilarity is "Fight Fircely, Harvard," an epic fight song that ranks with the equally spirited "Yo Ho." Also included in the collection is "Lobschevsky," with the guaranteed receipt for academic success: "Plagerizel Only be sure, please, to call it research."

For those who have sat enthralled with Lehrer's personal appearances, the record will serve as a pleasant reminder of past joys. And his new fans find restraint hard to maintain, because Lehrer is as good on wax as in the flesh. As does his lovable Old Dope Peddler, he continues, "spreading joy wherever he goes."