Too Many Songs By Tom Lehrer

With not enough drawings by Ronald Searle (Methuen)
ISBN: 978-0-41374-230-8

Christmas Time is here by Golly
Disapproval would be folly.
Deck the hall with hunks of Holly,
Fill the cups and don’t say “when…”

Are you musical? I already know that you are a lover of graphic and narrative excellence, so the wonderfully dark, sinister, disturbing and utterly brilliant cartoon illustrations of Ronald Searle will delight you.

But the name of mathematician, songwriter, satirist, Intellectual and early proponent of sick and bad taste humour Tom Lehrer is not so well known, although his achievements are as remarkable and far-reaching. If you know of him you’ll know why I’m pushing my self-imposed criteria to include him, and if not, Google or Wikipedia him. It will be the most fun you’ve had in ages.

This book, re-issued as a comedy classic, contains the music and lyrics of his many and various comedy songs. From such classics as “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park”, the deeply disturbing and hilarious “I Hold your Hand in Mine”, “The Old Dope Peddler” and “The Masochism Tango” to the light and spiky “Be Prepared” or “I Got it from Agnes”, Lehrer makes smart people laugh, venal people squirm and all people think. There are even examples from his tenure as songwriter for “That Was The Week That Was” and educational ditties penned for the Electric Company/Children’s Television Workshop.

Combined with the razor-edged drawings of Searle this is an astoundingly entertaining book and what every liberal should make the piano-teacher use on the kids. This book is a terpsichorean equivalent of EC horror comics, and I can’t resist ending with a quote. Just remember please this is not a malicious man, just that observant Wit who claimed he’d stopped doing satire because “Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Henry Kissinger made political satire obsolete”.

© 1981 Tom Lehrer. Illustrations © 1981 Ronald Searle.