Tom Lerre, a professor, best known as the creator of satirical songs, pianist and performer, whose sardonic lyrics made him a beloved musician of many Americans, died at the age of 97, reported Sunday’s media reported yesterday.
The scientist, songwriter, composer and singer died on Saturday at his home in Cambridge, near Boston, in the state of Massachusetts (northeast), David Hurder confirmed his personal friend, according to a New York Times.
The sarcastic, often dark lyrics of Tom Lerre, accompanied by desperate cheerful piano melodies, a reflection of his worship for Broadway’s musical comedies, fascinated many music fans during the 1950s and 1960s.
Tom Lerr: the caustic humor, the rhyme rhyme
A miracle child, received a degree from Harvard at 19 and then began teaching mathematics at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) University.
With views far ahead of his time on issues such as environmental pollution, or the spread of nuclear weapons, Tom Lerre became famous for his caustic humor and rhyme.
He was liked by caustic jokes, on issues from murder to marital tensions, from chemistry to his aversion to pigeons.
“Poisoning pigeons in the park” was also the title of one of Tom Lerre’s most iconic songs, which refers to a couple who kills their time in the spring by killing pigeons with strychnine (“a pinch so long!”).
But the themes he was dealing with in his songs were often much more serious, such as “Who’s Next”, nuclear weapons, or “Pollution” (“pollution”), in which he warned: “You can still brush/with the latest fashionable fashion/fashion.”
His great admirer said by Daniel Radcliff, the actor who embodied Harry Potter: “In my opinion, Tom Lerre is the most intelligent, funniest guy of the 20th century”, “in a way is my hero,” he said.
The miracle child – from Harvard to MIT and from Mathematics to Music
Born on April 9, 1928, a child of a popular Jewish family, Tom Lerre grew up in Apop Side, Manhattan, New York. He began his studies at Harvard at the age of 15, got his degree three and some years later, with a very good degree. He then began teaching mathematics at MIT, Harvard and other universities, including California School.
His relationship with the music he created, mainly to entertain himself and his friends, and with concerts was often uncomfortable – he had been confused that public applause was annoyed.
Asked why he stopped writing lyrics and composing songs, he would give the disarming answer “The political satire became an outrageous genre when they awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Henry Kisser”.
