Too Many Songs by Tom Lehrer: With Not Enough Drawings by Ronald Searle - Couverture souple

Lehrer, Tom

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0394749308 ISBN 13 : 9780394749303

Editeur : Pantheon, 1981

Synopsis

RO60110642. TOO MANY SONGS BY TOM LEHRER WITH NOT ENOUGH DRAWINGS BY RONALD SEARLE. 1981. In-4. Broché. Etat d'usage, Couv. légèrement passée, Dos satisfaisant, Intérieur acceptable. 160 pages. Dessin en noir et blanc en frontispice. Illustré de quelques dessins en noir et blanc hors texte. Partitions et paroles. Annotation en page de garde (ex-libris). Tranche salie.. . . . Classification Dewey : 420-Langue anglaise. Anglo-saxon

A propos du livre

Extrait :

FOREWORD
 
The songs in this book were written between World Wars II and III, and all but three of them are from the three LPs I recorded during that memorable period in history. Most of them were intended at the time of conception either as takeoffs on various song types of the day, particularly the more sentimental species, or as commentaries on current events, so that I regarded them as fugacious ephemera which by not should have been of artifactual interest only to scholars (although in what field I can’t imagine). It is therefore a source of considerable delight to me that publication of this agglomeration should be warranted at all at this late date. Any royalties will naturally be a source of even greater delight.
 
Three of the songs are not from my three records. Two of them, “Silent E” and “L-Y,” were written in the early seventies for an American television series called The Electric Company, which was produced by the Children’s Television workshop in a desperate attempt to help young children learn to read. An animated film accompanied each song. The third, “I Got It from Agnes,” is a recently revised version of a song I used to perform in night clubs in the fifties but did not record because it was what was called in those days a “party song,” i.e., a bit naughty. Today, of course, even though the revision made it naughtier, its innocence borders on naïvté.
 
The musical congeries that follows owes its existence in part to a rather curious event. An intrepid but not entirely ration young British producer named Cameron Mackintosh took it into his head that what had previously been done to every songwriter from Jacques Brel to Stephen Songheim might be done to me, namely, a stage production embalming my old songs. The result was a revue entitled Tomfoolery, which opened in London in 1980 and has since been produced in various other cities throughout the world without any noticeable ill effects. All the songs used in that show are in this book, including certain alternate lyrics which I wrote for the show.
 
Revisiting these lighthearted and heavy-handed songs (some say it’s the other way around) was somewhat like looking at one’s own baby pictures: was that me? (Before I began spending so much time in California, I would have said “Was that I?”) I haven’t written any songs of this type lately and probably won’t be doing so, this volume may be regarded as a definitive agglutination. (Well-wishers, however, are constantly suggesting hilarious subject matter, such as the Viet Nam war, the gradual destruction of the environment, our recent presidents, etc., so that I have often felt like a resident of Pompeii who has been asked for some humorous comments on lava.) Anyway, what good are laurels if you can’t rest on them?
 
This is my first foreword, so please forgive me if I’m not doing it right. I believe one is supposed to thank people, but I can’t think of anyone.
 
Except you, of course.
 
Tom Lehrer, April 1981
 
***
 
“The Irish Ballad”
Words and Music by Tom Lehrer
 
[musical score included]
 
1. About a maid I’ll sing a song
Sing rick-e-ty tick-e-ty tin.
About a maid I’ll sing a song
Who didn’t have her fam’ly long.
Not only did she do them wrong,
She did ev’ry one of them in (them in).
She did ev’ry one of them in.
 
2. One morning in a fit of pique,
Sing rick-e-ty tick-e-ty tin.
One morning in a fit of pique
She drowned her father in the creek.
The water tasted bad for a week,
And we had to make do with gin (with gin).
We had to make do with gin.
 
3. Her mother she could never stand,
Sing rick-e-ty tick-e-ty tin.
Her mother she could never stand
And so a cyanide soup she planned.
The mother died with the spoon in her hand,
And her face in a hideous grin (a grin).
Her face in a hideous grin.
 
4. She set her sister’s hair on fire,
Sing rick-e-ty tick-e-ty tin.
She set her sister’s hair on fire
And as the smoke and flame rose high’r.
Danced around the funeral pyre,
Playing a violin (-olin).
Playing a violin.
 
5. She weighted her brother down with stones,
Sing rick-e-ty tick-e-ty tin.
She weighted her brother down with stones
And sent his off to Davy Jones.
All they ever found were some bones,
And occasional pieces of skin (of skin).
Occasional pieces of skin.
 
6. One day when she had nothing to do,
Sing rick-e-ty tick-e-ty tin.
One day when she had nothing to do
She cut her baby bother in two.
And served him up as an Irish stew,
And invited the neighbors in (-bors in).
Invited the neighbors in.
 
7. And when at last the police came by,
Sing rick-e-ty tick-e-ty tin.
And when at last the police came by
Her little pranks she did not deny.
To do so, she would have had to lie,
And lying, she knew was a sin (a sin).
Lying she knew was a sin.
 
8. My tragic tale I won’t prolong,
Sing rick-e-ty tick-e-ty tin.
My tragic tale I won’t prolong
And if you do not enjoy my song—
You’ve yourselves to blame if it’s too long,
You should never have let me begin (begin).
You should never have let me begin.

Présentation de l'éditeur :

The subversive songs of Tom Lehrer, the sardonic piano-wielding fugitive from Harvard, have corrupted generations of Americans since he first began recording and performing in the 1950s. His uniquely depraved wit has been forced again on an unsuspecting public' via Tom Foolery, the stage revue based on his ever-trenchant observation of the American scene. This new songbook, with old favorites unavailable for years as well as never-published songs, is the most comprehensive ever assembled. It contains the words, tunes, piano accompaniments, and guitar chords for these thirty-four classics:

The Irish Ballad

Fight Fiercely, Harvard!

Be Prepared

The Old Dope Peddler

The Wild West Is Where I

Want to Be

I Wanna Go Back to Dixie

Lobachevsky

The Hunting Song

I Hold Your Hand in Mine

My Home Town

L-Y

When You Are Old and Gray

The Wiener Schnitzel Waltz

Poisoning Pigeons in the Park

A Christmas Carol

Bright College Days

In Old Mexico

She's My Girl

The Elements

The Masochism Tango

National Brotherhood Week

MLF Lullaby

The Folk Song Army

Smut

Send the Marines

New Math

Pollution

So Long, Mom

Who's Next?

Wemher Von Braun

We Will All Go Together

When We Go

I Got It from Agnes

Silent E

The Vatican Rag

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Pantheon
• Date d'édition: 1981
• ISBN 10: 0394749308
• ISBN 13: 9780394749303
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 160