Tom Lehrer - The Vatican Rag - fabulous version - LIVE FILM From Copenhagen in 1967 

What an amazing story... standing in the presence of greatness

That must have been a moment for the ages. I am jealous. What a genius he was (and is!)

My introduction to his work was "The Elements" om a 45 disc distributed by scientific instruments manufacturer PERKIN-ELMER'. The 'Diatribe on Detection Limits', a commercial message from P-E was almost as funny as the Lehrer song.

an excellent story, but it isn't actually very long

My dad actually attended the university while Mr. Lehrer taught there, and had heard of him as he was something of a well known character on campus, but didn't know him personally.

I wish he'd gloat.

I refuse to ever let Tom pass on

"As of writing this comment" wtf does that mean?

@@MURDERPILLOW. that Lehrer isn't dead yet, or rather, he wasn't dead when I wrote the comment?

@@GallowglassVT i meant, how can it change that he outlived him?

Ouch!! Lehrer BURNZ! Seriously though that's a hilarious comeback. I love it!

So, the "fine Corinthian leather" guy didn't like Lehrer?

Lehrer = why u don't mess with Harvard :P

Doug Montgomery Ricardo Montablen? That same actor who played Khan in Star Trek?

Hey Riccardo, get a grip. People wanting to die for their religion rather than actually practice it is one of the banes of mankind.

I was especially impressed with "want, if" with "pontiff."

@@CindyBcr Every say his own Kyrie eleison

Absolutely. Another great one was in We Will All Go Together When We Go

Pretty sure he just rhymed it with 'eight'.

@@wheedler Yeah, but it's usually very hard to find those rhymes, and English has it easier than most! This is one I would not be able to translate into spanish

I remember the first time I heard this, thinking "Okay, this'll be a cutesy little effort," but this line smacked me right in the face--both this and the "transubstantiate" lines are indelibly mischevious.

I'ts great, but I think I prefer "Ave Maria, gee, it's good to see ya".

'guy with religion'll/original' is mine I think

His skill with rhymes is up there with (or better than) Cole Porter. See also "Christmas Carol", "We will all ...", and most of his other works. "Relations, sparing no expense'll\send some useless old utensil"; "When you attend a funeral,\It is sad to think that sooner or l-" ... For similar (and she credits TL as one of her muses), see (some of) the work of Dillie Keane (often found under Fascinating Aida). E. g.. Sequin.

@@TweEkc That's the one that gets me every time.

He was a brilliant lyricist. The only one I know who equals -- and even surpasses -- him is Stephen Sondheim.

@@danacarpendersketoloworno2043 I think that Tim Minchin can touch this genius at times.

@@qwertyTRiG his "thank you god" deffo measures up even tho its not fully comparable

I came here again after watching Bo Burnham "Welcome to the Internet" (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-k1BneeJTDcU.html) which reminded me of Tom Lehrer. I used to listen to his records in the sixties and absolutely die laughing.

@@mhand00 omg its like tom lehrer with 2% of tim burton

Ah, I heard he stubbed his toe this morning, so he's in some pain and not well. Just wanted to update your update. Let us know how he is tomorrow.

WOW!! HI TOM LEHRER!

And he made his works public domain! It makes sense at that age, but hardly anyone does it. But now his works can be enjoyed by anyone, anywhere, in any way, and no law can stop them.

And he's going for another year still!

Brilliant

I wonder why. Could it be that these nuns don't realise how open the Jews are to having their faith lampooned by Catholics?

they had to hold it in till they got out of students' earshot

"Nuns...no sense of humor." -- The Kurgan

Jay Reidy we laughed our butts off to my moms old records. Good times!

I first heard this song when he was on the Gong Show and dressed up as a priest and three (if I remember correctly) persons dressed as nuns danced to it. I about died laughing, probably because, as a child, I went to a Catholic school up through the 12th grade, and here he was butchering a sacred cow that took over 12 years for the nuns, priests and brothers to create and nurture. That song was pure artistic genius to me.

I personally like "Two, four, six, eight, Time to transubstantiate!"

@@kioku119 "...There the guy who's got religion'll Tell you if your sin's original....."

I'm so grateful for the enlightened teachers I've had. It's rare when another perdon can wake you up.

He's not doing it Pro Bono - the gov't can't afford to pay him... Somebody clone this teacher, he is what will save this world.

You were a lucky lad sir if you had a teacher that open minded.

@@stardust86x Is the song critical of anything? It seems like it's only meant as harmless fun

Same--even the Deacon played this--I went to Cath School --back in the Vatican II days and it was take as hilarious.

+Steeltrap me too and yes it is. :)

Hi Steeltrap. Tom Lehrer is a musical genius but I wish his recording company hadn’t chosen such an offensive title as “An Evening wasted with Tom Lehrer” for a recent CD. No evening spent listening to Tom’s wonderful music is ever wasted!

@@leemumbray-williams2440 Well, it was the title of the album since it was first released in the 1950's and it was Lehrer's own choice. :)

@@leemumbray-williams2440 Actually he himself named the album. He had no trouble at all laughing at himself, and he knew his songs would only appeal to a relatively small group of contrarians, like you and me!

He brought down on himself some very weak and watery cancel culture

Subversiveness lives!! Good for you! Glad your efforts were appreciated, and supported by your audience. Any religious faith that can poke fun at itself, will thrive.

Who the hell converts to Catholicism? Lmao 😂

@@ericjohnston591Many people do, what do you mean

@@valurimist9861 Masochists (assuming I can assume the content of the comment)

So sad that you've decided to throw your life away. That's not a jab, either, it really is sad to know you've chosen to give up your basic human freedom for religious dogma. I wish you well and hope you recover

People mock catholics all the time.

Today he would be Neil Cicierega.

It was about time somebody criticised Werner von Braun! Apart from the bombs dropped on England, that man worked people to death in order to develop those bombs. What an absolutely adorable human being.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

@INTERNETWORK Agree 100%

Oh 100%

Best comment ever! Going to sleep now. Thanks for making my day!!

And intelligence of course

Úžasné dobře napsané texty!

Yikes..

T Y. I can now Sing Along in my garden as my Papist neighbours hurl abuse and threats of violence at me after exchanging the Kiss of Peace at their gold-encrusted church.

@@aaadiymail5476 follow it up with zappa's 'catholic girls' or 'token of my extreme.' from joe's garage.

Yikes is right...I wouldn't want to be him when being judged on that "chew the wafer" line...

Unfortunately, he has a missing lung, so he can't even sing for religious events. I'm pretty sure this wouldn't be his top priority.

***** Of course he hasn't changed dogma. Dogma is literally unchangeable. That's why it's dogma. -A Roman Catholic

+EyeOfEld Dogma can be changed. Religion, however, refuses to be changed, which is why it's dying out, and the number of atheists and irreligious folk are increasing. We are a progressive race, so when our ideas cannot progress with us, we abandon them.

Edgar Vilhelm You seem to be mistaken. Dogma is literally the unchangeable beliefs of the Catholic Church laid out long ago by men far wiser than you or I. Tradition can be changed, but it is mostly concerned with exact rituals and extra folklore of the church. But Dogma, the commandments of God, the things Catholics must believe in to be Catholic, has not changed since the birth of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

EyeOfEld Dogma simply means a set of strong beliefs, and is a part of all religions, not just Catholicism or Christianity. The beliefs of the Catholic church were not laid out by men far wiser than us. The bible itself is full of contradictions, provably false statements, and questionable morals, and it has changed over time. The bible has been rewritten and translated throughout its existence, and some laws have changed due to mistakes in translation. But even if the Bible is unchanging, the practices of the Church are. Holidays such as Christmas and Easter are of Pagan origin, but were adopted by Christianity. As well, the Bible advocates the stoning of adulterers, homosexuals, and nonbelievers, but the modern day Church has never come out in favor of stoning individuals (at least, explicitly). There are laws in the Bible which also say a woman must marry her rapist, and a wife can be taken by an enemy soldier if her husband is killed in battle, but I'm sure the Church doesn't condone that.

I would call him a sit-down comedian. His humour is so much more apparently gentle than most stand-ups. (Note I said _apparently_ . It's delightfully vicious really, just not in-your-face!)

As for "Pigeons", I heard that, for the orchestral recording, the sheet music was only handed out shortly before the recording (presumably with no title or just Pigeons or similar0, and there were comments along the lines of "what a charming little waltz"; when someone tapped and said "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, take 1", there were some jaws dropped!

As an argentinian I must say The Masochism Tango is one of the catchiest this side of El Choclo, even if some of my compatriots would hesitate to call it tango

Funeral with "sooner or l-" is good

Could've been?! He was!

I attended a Catholic grade school from 1966 to 1974 where we had to go to mass every day before classes began, in addition to the required Sunda mass. I must have devoured the flesh of the Prince of Peace at least five times. (Burp!)

I always thought the implication was that He was shrunk down, so you were always eating a copy of the whole thing.

To transubstiate, you were eating the whole thing​@wheedler

Ive still got my copy of that record. A true gem!

+Ladyhawk Feathers-in-her-Hair Er... let's see ... you grew up in a cave in the mountains? You've only just arrived on Earth from elsewhere? I give up ... why didn't you know about the greatest musical humorist of all time?

+Ladyhawk Feathers-in-her-Hair Don't feel bad, I just found him myself a few months ago when my daughter's choir did Hanukkah in Santa Monica. He's an amazing talent.

+DieFlabbergast I never heard of him until a year ago, where I discovered him pretty randomly, and neither my family nor any of my friends know who he is.

Well, if you're younger than a certain age you wouldn't have been around, or old enough, to hear him. His popularity now is spreading like his early popularity -- word of mouth from friend to friend. A similar musician is Mark Russell. You can find his works here on RU-vid, too. A great political satirist!

Lawrence Brady Tom Lehrer is associated in my mind with Tim Minchin. I'd not heard of Mark Russell. Shall look him up.

Like Stewie Griffin?

@@wheedlerI sort of know who you are talking about, but I live in Mexico and have only seen it once or twice. But….yes! 😂

us too ! back when the only youtube was when adults brought comedy records home, and every so often you could sneak out of your room and listen...

And "Laventure" means "the adventure" in French ... coincidence? I think not.

Perfect!

Nominative determinism at play there.

Thank you I’m glad to have one more bit to add to the delight that is Tom Lehrer.

That's helerr interesting!

Not "was", " is". Tom is still kicking at the age of 97.

I totally agree. I love him.❤

My grandmother introduced me to him when I was in my late teens :D....Now that I have kids, they both know who he is....

you mean the 60's, don't you?

@@stevenmeyer9674 : You are completely correct. I'm 88, so I often mess up on times.

Doug Montgomery k

I'm Catholic and this song is hilarious.

Little bit of Heaven, 94.7, KMET!

I had a surveying technology teacher at the TVI in Albuquerque. He brought in the album or CD. Back in 1988. This is only 2nd time hearing it..all I remembered was genuflect./. ./. ./.

+Rachel Shaskin No.

he's got those golden check bones, a glistening butt chin, and short curly hair. he's perfect

With a name like that, you seem Jewish. Like attracts like, and Lehrer is a Jew.

+Vulpes Inculta I'm pretty sure I wouldn't care if a guy was Jewish (unless he was unreasonably devout) Also, on my father's side i'm descended from Ukrainians who were Greek Orthodox.

I think he's cute too.

That's the kind of perversion we don't need...

I don’t think our Father Kevin would go for it.

😂

@@BuzzLOLOL it's clearly a bit of harmless fun. Especially compared to what the other priests are getting up to with their altar boys.

6/16/21 I think u can find that entire album on RU-vid ...as a refresher course. 😲🤣😎

@@lauramilagros5472 Thanks for the tip! I will look for it. 😁

it was a live night club performance.

It might as well have been a lip-synch for all the audience (non) reaction while he was performing it. Such a contrast to the Hungry i recording, with its gales of laughter throughout.

Why do you say “in this time” as if fundamentalism wasnt overwhelmingly more common in ages prior? It’s dying out very rapidly

Fundamentalism keeps surfacing and also regrettably in high places such as House Speaker or leader of opposition in US. That's pretty noticeable.

@@pauledeneau1486Noticeable and frightening.

"National Brotherhood Week" is a good one

Be grateful that it doesn't last all year.

"Everybody hates the Jews."

we will all go together when we go. I love the rymes where he splits a word between two lines like rhyming tragic with ajec and the next line starting with 'tives. (adjectives)' Rhyming funeral with sooner-or-l ... ater. (sooner or later)

@@number3Ihatetoontown do the whole stanza: catholics hate the protestants and the protestants hate the catholics. the hindus hate the Muslims and everybody hates the jews.... later: all of my folks hate all of your folks. it's as American as apple pie!

Or, as said in [the film] "Victor Victoria" (possibly quoting from somewhere else), "Kill 'em, but don't kiss 'em".

OK for a soldier to kill a man on Friday but a sin to eat him on Friday.