In c 1974 I was a Vegetarian and lived in Palo Alto Ca, near Stanford. Lots of interesting stories, like the following:: Living with 6 Veg-bots, one of whom still manages today the Whole Earth Store in Menlo Park, (Hi, Rob and Linda), one day a bi-guy was phoning his boyfriends saying "Don't worry, it's not syphilis, it's just herpes". Girl across hall got it, her boyfriend got it and so on... And They would go to the bathroom together and do enema's! They ate raw food only.(I ate burrito's)
Love this! It's the only Tom Lehrer song that I did not have. Now I do, and it's my text ringtone. Just brilliant. He wrote it before AIDS became newsworthy. Everything he ever wrote in the 60s is relevant today. Nothing really changes.
@MegaMonkey1013 I really don't think you can get an STI from kissing a rock. It's meant to *sound* filthy, yes, but the joke is what your mind makes of it when nothing overtly sexual is mentioned.
@ilovearmadillos Its the flu, unless you have sex with your father or your spaniel dog and tried to sexually abuse the kissing stone in Ireland, which, given its positioning, might be difficult...
@thecerpent I don't know, but I do know that I got it the first time I heard this song sooo many years ago. I mean, it's Pierre, Francois, and Jacques, all French male names. Even as a kid, this was kind of obvious.
I think the sexual innuendos are quite intentional given that he purposely alternates sexes almost all the way down the line, not to mention the inference about piérre in a ménage à trois. I infer no reference to a particular infection or disease, however.
@sarahfromnatick It's intentionally unspecified, particularly for the sexual implications. Interesting that the daddy line stood out, but not the spaniel line. But it would be no fun if it's a cold or flu!
@distortionhead37 Yup! When the musical Tom Foolery opened in the early 80s, despite being 10 years after Lehrer's 'retirement' from music, he appeared on Parkinson's show. I don't think he performed in public again until 1998, and hasn't since.
@ZomBLord You're right, it's definitely not about AIDS. We didn't even know what AIDS was until the early 80s and it had been in Lehrer's repertoire long before then.
@gamerunknown One semester to graduation, three weeks until Friday Night Fights resumes and I pick up my regular beat on The Boxing Tribune (gotta plug my employer), and beyond that I won't bore YouTube with the details when all they want to do is laugh with Tom Lehrer. :)
Great to hear all is well anyway given I haven't been on PotD in an age (not sure if you have either). Was funny seeing you on youtube like that. Best of luck with everything and keep on laughing along with Tom Lehrer!
I adore Tom Lehrer! His sense of humor has had such a profound influence on me. He used to play piano for parties when my mom was at Wellesley in the early fiftes, and her friend Holly Hahn Noble used to sing with him. I grew up listening to my parents' Lehrer records, and it's one of my favorite childhood memories. Thanks for all the laughter, Tom!
had his records back in the 60s. but he got bored with touring and singing the same songs over and over. can't blame him. look up his career, fascinating man.
I watched this, or a version of it, a few years ago before going to help out at a camp. Because it was a camp for young boys and girls we were told that the game of "tag" wasn't okay to be played. So I used "it" as a verbal game of tag and the kids loved it. "It" was passed all around the camp and they have even used it in the years since I stopped being a councilor. :D Thank you Tom!
@gammoregan Yeah but some STDs can be given multiple times. E.g. you can get gonorrhea, get it treated and cleared up, then get it again from someone else (or, hell, the same person.)
I think its more likely it's a temporary disease that can be "got" multiple times, because of the loop at the beginning. So, not an STD, but possibly transferred the same way an STD could be transferred.
@SullivanKatie You could, but that possibility is unlikely given the fact that it is implied someone can be lucky by having it given to them by "Francois and Jacques"
Of course it's openended. But there are things that are hinted at.
@mishamonkey9 good Lord of course its an STD...dont you get it?? he was making a sardonic joke about people "getting lucky" and this guy was "lucky" cause he was done by 2 Frenchman. You can see, through the course of the song, that the relationships get kinker with every phrase. He pokes fun at homosexuality, incest and bestiality...all in a clever tongue -in -cheek way.
Somewhere i heard that it was supposed to give the impression that they all got a VD (std) from each other and all of the combinations were saying all the ways people "pleasure" themselves, it can be very pervy without any peversness being mentioned
@Spongebobfanaticify That and the fact that excepting Pierre, the blarney stone and the spaniel, it passes from girls to boys and boys to girls. (The dentist being unknown)
Obviously, it's intended to give you some interesting possibilities about what "it" is.
And yes, STD would be one of the first, but could also be any sexual favour you can think of. And kisses, if you want to be innocent about it.
@mishamonkey9 How do you know its not an innanimate object? It could be a watch or a picture! you cannot tell. That is how he wrote it so that you will never know. Genius!
@mishamonkey9 It can't just be something you can "get," it also has to be something you can keep. because Daniel's Spaniel didn't just "get" it, it still has it now. That sort of rules out kisses and sexual favors.
1 perosn got it from agnes (or maybe it was sue, Or Millie or Billie or Jillie or Willie or... Doesn't matter who) who got it from, jim, who got it from louise, who got it from harry who got it from them
So glad Mr Lehrer said you could keep this posted - I love it! Is it me or is he incredibly sexy? I'm still hoping he might (I said Might) give it to me...
@rainbowheydrich Good for you - you have excellent taste (if you'll pardon the expression). He is the epitome of cool; that combination of brains, wit and charm which is so lacking today. He is also naughty ...;-)
@zaygezunt Certainly! He just has a certain charm, it's hard to really explain, and wit is certainly part of that charm. I don't think there's anyone out there like him, especially not today. He's just unique~♥ x3
Tom Lehrer was one of the best comedic musicians ever. The fact that his music was based off of real events and people and he found a way to put a funny spin on it puts him in a class of his own. Truly a brilliant musician, it's a privilege to to see a live recording of this song.
@FerchOMulder I think there is a suggestion that it is VD. Lehrer himself never specifies, as far as I am aware. He did say, however, that when he wrote it, no-one knew nothing bout AIDS and that he would never have written it if he had.
I don't think having it up would affect sales. Mind you, the more I watch the YouTube, the more I want to go out and get that new CD/DVD collection. Worth every penny! <3
Too bad I have to wait til my check comes in. Can't wait to own all of that. I have most of his songs already--but the video footage! <3 I want! ^_^
Tom Lehrer, I love you and your amazing music. <333
I think my favorite thing is that he never says anything explicitly. It's only our interpretation that makes it seem like a song about STD's. Hell, it could be about a hat or a variety of things.
In all fairness, the beginning of the song doesn't necessarily imply a sexual relationship with the friends. They could just be very willing to share their things.
Nowhere does he ever explicitly say something about a sexual relationship. It's just how we are interpreting it (and how he wants people to interpret it, no doubt)
]I just find a lot of humor in the way the song is presented.
@TheWeasel You misunderstood. The beginning is a catalyst for us to imply subconsciously. It doesn't have to imply a certain thing for US to form an implication of something. Imply means something that the client feels as though something is a natural fact. It is natural for your subconscious to imply sexual relations when he says his words in that tone, length of syllables, and diction.
@TheWeasel I really don't understand why so many people keep arguing that it could be a fruitcake that's passed around or something innocent. Do you honestly get your hat 'in the pub, or in the club or in the LOO?' He may not state it explicitly, but he certainly uses slang. Go google 'Lucky Pierre'.
Honestly, I don't have an argument for it. I had no intent of arguing. I just find it funny that nothing explicitly happens. I'm not trying to say that it's the only way the song could be interpreted, or hell, that it even SHOULD be interpreted that way. I'm just saying that Tom Lehrer was pretty brilliant in how he wrote this song that is seen as being totally dirty while the lyrics only imply what is going on.
@mabarry3 Yeah, the loop always threw me, too... I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that. But then again, Edith gets it every spring, so I guess it's re-catchable. O_e
@mabarry3 well, it can't be something like a cold, even though "every spring" implies something re-catchable, because he uses the phrase "lucky pierre" and that's slang for something I won't write out because chances are there are young eyes reading this post.
@Carloshache Yeah. Although, anyone who sings this song is supposed to look in the audience to pick someone to say the final line to, as Tom did here.
This is one of the best comedy songs ever written, and that's not an opinion, it's a fact. And it's both a pleasure and an honor to be able to watch Tom Lehrer himself performing it. Thanks for the posting.
@Denon3333, yes, this is (maybe) my all-time favorite Tom Lehrer song. The recording is included in The Tom Lehrer Collection (CD/DVD) and in much more decent quality :-)
In c 1974 I was a Vegetarian and lived in Palo Alto Ca, near Stanford. Lots of interesting stories, like the following:: Living with 6 Veg-bots, one of whom still manages today the Whole Earth Store in Menlo Park, (Hi, Rob and Linda), one day a bi-guy was phoning his boyfriends saying "Don't worry, it's not syphilis, it's just herpes". Girl across hall got it, her boyfriend got it and so on... And They would go to the bathroom together and do enema's! They ate raw food only.(I ate burrito's)
IExposeMormonism 2 hours ago
What do you mean it's not about cookies??
SamuraiEntertainment 1 week ago
HIV :) thats what it should be about
ligerx45 1 week ago
This is definitely about sex. The line 'Lucky Pierre' (as a reference to the guy in the middle in a threesome) doesn't help.
maygirl 1 week ago
Grande
bluenotesus1 2 weeks ago
This is about the norovirus.
LogoMan8888 2 weeks ago
There's an imbedded link to a pharma SPAM in here; DON'T SHARE!!
wanglydiaplt 3 weeks ago
@mzmadmike: Have you read the second paragraph under MUSICAL CAREER in his wikipedia bio?
VickiOsb 4 weeks ago
look the whole overveiw is to make you think of sti/std
MegaMonkey1013 1 month ago
I've been listening to tom leher since i was seven. It took me a few years to realise what this song was about
tigerlili97 1 month ago
Love this! It's the only Tom Lehrer song that I did not have. Now I do, and it's my text ringtone. Just brilliant. He wrote it before AIDS became newsworthy. Everything he ever wrote in the 60s is relevant today. Nothing really changes.
suzie106 1 month ago
mzmadmike are you idiot? its sexual transmitted desease or infection
MegaMonkey1013 1 month ago
@MegaMonkey1013 I really don't think you can get an STI from kissing a rock. It's meant to *sound* filthy, yes, but the joke is what your mind makes of it when nothing overtly sexual is mentioned.
SoundGraffiti 1 month ago 2
@MegaMonkey1013 get an STI every spring? sounds unlikely.
quzishen 1 month ago in playlist YouTube Mix for Tom Lehrer
I wish there was more footage of Tom performing. His facial expressions add so much to the song, like the smirk at 0:35.
kanakawase 1 month ago 2
Lucky Pierre, HA!
neonshoji 2 months ago
I don't think it's the flu... with the alternating sexes and all...
ilovearmadillos 3 months ago
@ilovearmadillos Its the flu, unless you have sex with your father or your spaniel dog and tried to sexually abuse the kissing stone in Ireland, which, given its positioning, might be difficult...
xavierrrr 3 months ago
@xavierrrr Well... I think that's the joke. How is giving your dog the flu funny? I am pretty sure he's talking about an STD.
ilovearmadillos 3 months ago
@ilovearmadillos its the implication thats funny, rather than the exact wording
xavierrrr 3 months ago
Comment removed
IngunnLK 3 months ago
Brilliant...the notion of letting the listener use his imagination is pretty well a dead art by now.
BaronEmpain 3 months ago
"Lucky Pierre!"
Oh yeah. Francois AND Jacques? You sexy fiend, you.
bluehaxor88 3 months ago
@bluehaxor88 I've always wondered how many people realize that Francois and Jacques are men's names.
thecerpent 1 month ago
@thecerpent I don't know, but I do know that I got it the first time I heard this song sooo many years ago. I mean, it's Pierre, Francois, and Jacques, all French male names. Even as a kid, this was kind of obvious.
bluehaxor88 4 weeks ago
I think the sexual innuendos are quite intentional given that he purposely alternates sexes almost all the way down the line, not to mention the inference about piérre in a ménage à trois. I infer no reference to a particular infection or disease, however.
cskog001 3 months ago 2
@cskog001 I always assumed it was mono, but my parents (who saw him in concert) keep saying it's about the flu.
bluehaxor88 3 months ago
I hope to God it's not about gonnorhea based on the line "she got it from her daddy". Ewwwww. I think it maybe refers to a cold or flu. Or nothing.
sarahfromnatick 4 months ago
@sarahfromnatick It's intentionally unspecified, particularly for the sexual implications. Interesting that the daddy line stood out, but not the spaniel line. But it would be no fun if it's a cold or flu!
DannyHiggs 3 months ago
oh gooooooooood XD !! and I love how it was in the 50's
ThingsMarchBrings 4 months ago
It's actually about Gonorrhea - A.K.A. "the clap" :P
propertyofranger 4 months ago
Btw, i'm pretty sure Tom himself doesn't know what "it" is.
Part of the joke is on the ones jumping to conclusions. ^^
distortionhead37 4 months ago 8
Is the nasty looking guy at the end Michael Parkinson?
distortionhead37 4 months ago
@distortionhead37 Yup! When the musical Tom Foolery opened in the early 80s, despite being 10 years after Lehrer's 'retirement' from music, he appeared on Parkinson's show. I don't think he performed in public again until 1998, and hasn't since.
Nogli 2 months ago
"Max got it from Edith, who gets it every spring."
How do you get AIDS every spring? I don't think it's about AIDS.
ZomBLord 4 months ago
@ZomBLord its about a fruitcake bro, its an innocent song that sounds dirty. good times right?
larry40k 4 months ago 2
@ZomBLord You're right, it's definitely not about AIDS. We didn't even know what AIDS was until the early 80s and it had been in Lehrer's repertoire long before then.
DannyHiggs 3 months ago
I...
What did I just listen to?
Oh.
... OH GOD.
Nemzal 4 months ago 2
I'm gonna go with Mono, actually.
Janiemanie1993 5 months ago
fantastic, a song about std's.
iainknowsthis 5 months ago
We share... AIDS？
teslashark 5 months ago
This song is only as dirty as your mind is.
XXGDUBSXX 5 months ago 5
2 People know how the dentist got it...
Debbie321lopez 5 months ago 3
Talk about screwing around.......
DemonDancingDove 6 months ago
The song is about the flu, of course, and you people should be ashamed of yourselves.
mzmadmike 6 months ago 116
@mzmadmike I thought it was a about cold-sores xD
Although it really does sound like STDs xD
juloph 2 weeks ago
@mzmadmike hypocrites should be ashamed of theyselves. People shouldn't.
tinedel 1 week ago
It would be so much fun if it's about a lambchop...XD
schizomaybe 6 months ago
Two people forgot to cover their stump before they humped......
pfeeses7n 6 months ago
something to view
reel1840 6 months ago
Michael J. Fox saw this video, and laughed the whole way through... until he saw PARKINSON flash on the screen and flipped out.
5star555555555 6 months ago
I LOVE TOM LEHRER
SpartanOmega360 7 months ago
This is like a funnier classier version of Trapped in the Closet.
albuspotter9 7 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
I'm so scared.
pheros24 7 months ago
Groucho Marx once said "Any fool can tell a dirty joke and get a laugh but it takes talent to get a laugh from a clean joke."
To which I say Tom Lehrer is not just any fool.
SimuLord 7 months ago 54
@SimuLord
Hey Simu, how's work?
gamerunknown 3 months ago
@gamerunknown One semester to graduation, three weeks until Friday Night Fights resumes and I pick up my regular beat on The Boxing Tribune (gotta plug my employer), and beyond that I won't bore YouTube with the details when all they want to do is laugh with Tom Lehrer. :)
SimuLord 3 months ago
@SimuLord
Great to hear all is well anyway given I haven't been on PotD in an age (not sure if you have either). Was funny seeing you on youtube like that. Best of luck with everything and keep on laughing along with Tom Lehrer!
gamerunknown 3 months ago
@SimuLord Oy Vay!
tjrxk7 2 weeks ago
Yes!!! I got it from Tom....because I'm Marie ;-)
erdiliel 7 months ago
Song on std's. AWESOME!
universialpasserby22 7 months ago
he's soo coooool!!
sfsf96 8 months ago
what was the original broadcast date on this?
1014paulb 8 months ago
It's the cheeky grin at 0.35 that makes this for me. Bloody brilliant.
Nepas3 8 months ago 3
I adore Tom Lehrer! His sense of humor has had such a profound influence on me. He used to play piano for parties when my mom was at Wellesley in the early fiftes, and her friend Holly Hahn Noble used to sing with him. I grew up listening to my parents' Lehrer records, and it's one of my favorite childhood memories. Thanks for all the laughter, Tom!
ArsenicJulep 8 months ago
had his records back in the 60s. but he got bored with touring and singing the same songs over and over. can't blame him. look up his career, fascinating man.
ReneODeay 8 months ago
<3<3<3XDXDXDXD
123thecooldood 9 months ago in playlist Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer is an icon, a genius. I've been listening to him since my parents got his first record way back when.
brumpbm 10 months ago
How old was Tom Lehrer in this video?
RagPiano1 10 months ago
@RagPiano1 He was born in the late 1920s, '28 I think, and this was recorded in 1980 -- so, he was around 52.
miginaustria 10 months ago
Classic!
Allotmenteer2 10 months ago
NO, THIS SONG IS ABOUT A COOKIE!!!
AuraDud 10 months ago 6
Song about aids O_O
AuraDud 10 months ago
I watched this, or a version of it, a few years ago before going to help out at a camp. Because it was a camp for young boys and girls we were told that the game of "tag" wasn't okay to be played. So I used "it" as a verbal game of tag and the kids loved it. "It" was passed all around the camp and they have even used it in the years since I stopped being a councilor. :D Thank you Tom!
ThunaerLemniscate 10 months ago 3
Bet it's mono.
OttoIsMyBuddha 10 months ago
Tom Lehrer's skin isn't gray? What the Hell? XD
KissMeQuenley 10 months ago
@gammoregan Yeah but some STDs can be given multiple times. E.g. you can get gonorrhea, get it treated and cleared up, then get it again from someone else (or, hell, the same person.)
freakymarie 11 months ago
I think its more likely it's a temporary disease that can be "got" multiple times, because of the loop at the beginning. So, not an STD, but possibly transferred the same way an STD could be transferred.
gammoregan 11 months ago
What is "it"?
186mjn 11 months ago
@186mjn - "It" is whatever your own filthy little mind thinks "it" is.
Because, as Tom observed in his ode to "Smut": "Filth, I'm glad to say, is in the mind of the beholder".
OofusTwillip 11 months ago 4
how can you dislike this song??
LadyofTalent 11 months ago
It's funnier if you think about "it" being an STD
urmomjkjk 11 months ago 2
@SullivanKatie You could, but that possibility is unlikely given the fact that it is implied someone can be lucky by having it given to them by "Francois and Jacques"
Of course it's openended. But there are things that are hinted at.
mishamonkey9 11 months ago
@mishamonkey9
...look up lucky Pierre...
Lyrina25 11 months ago 3
@mishamonkey9 good Lord of course its an STD...dont you get it?? he was making a sardonic joke about people "getting lucky" and this guy was "lucky" cause he was done by 2 Frenchman. You can see, through the course of the song, that the relationships get kinker with every phrase. He pokes fun at homosexuality, incest and bestiality...all in a clever tongue -in -cheek way.
taraterm3 10 months ago
If you dont believe me look up the definition of Lucky Pierre...the middle guy in a threesome getting anally penetrated.
taraterm3 10 months ago 5
What was the "it"???
SwirlingChords 1 year ago
Somewhere i heard that it was supposed to give the impression that they all got a VD (std) from each other and all of the combinations were saying all the ways people "pleasure" themselves, it can be very pervy without any peversness being mentioned
Spongebobfanaticify 1 year ago
@Spongebobfanaticify That and the fact that excepting Pierre, the blarney stone and the spaniel, it passes from girls to boys and boys to girls. (The dentist being unknown)
Obviously, it's intended to give you some interesting possibilities about what "it" is.
And yes, STD would be one of the first, but could also be any sexual favour you can think of. And kisses, if you want to be innocent about it.
mishamonkey9 1 year ago
@mishamonkey9 How do you know its not an innanimate object? It could be a watch or a picture! you cannot tell. That is how he wrote it so that you will never know. Genius!
SullivanKatie 1 year ago
@mishamonkey9 It can't just be something you can "get," it also has to be something you can keep. because Daniel's Spaniel didn't just "get" it, it still has it now. That sort of rules out kisses and sexual favors.
gammoregan 11 months ago
The notation on the sheet music requests that this be played "contagiously" LOL.
jasonlesliestevens 1 year ago 31
@jasonlesliestevens It actually says to play it "Infectiously" (at least, in the "Too Many Songs by Tom Lehrer" book), but that's close enough. XD
TruelySonicHOG 1 year ago 2
@jasonlesliestevens No way! hahah
Goatmon 3 months ago
@jasonlesliestevens Infectious, isn't it?
5610winston 3 months ago
now i c where whose line is it anyway gets their ho-down from
YungMalThaKid 1 year ago
1+ person couldn't follow it
DoctorWhoovian 1 year ago
I wonder if the guy ever goes on the internet.
DoctorExplosion 1 year ago
I wonder what they all got?
karasuaka 1 year ago
@karasuaka this could be the theme song for valtrex...
GranolaGraffiti 1 year ago
@karasuaka The mumps. That, or they got what Billy, Lilly, Molly, and Solly got.
ClarkeMarek 1 year ago
@karasuaka presents that none really wanted and kept passing on...
BigAndTall666 1 year ago
This dates to 1980, when Tom appeared on BBC-TV's Michael Parkinson Show.
RatPfink66 1 year ago
poor Tom Leher, he hates preforming, but he still does it to make people happy...
KomicKake 1 year ago
@zaygezunt: No, it's not just you! I am a young gay guy and I find him strangely sexy. I think it's that "sick puppy" grin of his.
miginaustria 1 year ago 2
@miginaustria Glad I'm not alone!
zaygezunt 1 year ago
1 perosn got it from agnes (or maybe it was sue, Or Millie or Billie or Jillie or Willie or... Doesn't matter who) who got it from, jim, who got it from louise, who got it from harry who got it from them
chrisjg210 1 year ago
So glad Mr Lehrer said you could keep this posted - I love it! Is it me or is he incredibly sexy? I'm still hoping he might (I said Might) give it to me...
zaygezunt 1 year ago 2
@zaygezunt It's not just you. I have had a crush on him since I was 16. I am now 19, and he is still my celebrity crush! =P
rainbowheydrich 1 year ago
@rainbowheydrich Good for you - you have excellent taste (if you'll pardon the expression). He is the epitome of cool; that combination of brains, wit and charm which is so lacking today. He is also naughty ...;-)
zaygezunt 1 year ago
@zaygezunt Certainly! He just has a certain charm, it's hard to really explain, and wit is certainly part of that charm. I don't think there's anyone out there like him, especially not today. He's just unique~♥ x3
rainbowheydrich 1 year ago
Tom Lehrer was one of the best comedic musicians ever. The fact that his music was based off of real events and people and he found a way to put a funny spin on it puts him in a class of his own. Truly a brilliant musician, it's a privilege to to see a live recording of this song.
koyama121 1 year ago
I'm still thinking what is the whole song about... what did they all get?
FerchOMulder 1 year ago
@FerchOMulder VD.
TheJohnnyCotts 1 year ago
@FerchOMulder I think there is a suggestion that it is VD. Lehrer himself never specifies, as far as I am aware. He did say, however, that when he wrote it, no-one knew nothing bout AIDS and that he would never have written it if he had.
mtheadedwally 1 year ago
I wish he were still doing songs
dcbongo 1 year ago
I might even let him give it to me (if he still was this age that is)
ShadowThePixie 1 year ago
Isaac Asimov stated that watching Lehrer peform this song was "the best time in a nightclub I ever had"
kubert57 1 year ago
Aha, at last... the only Tom Lehrer song I knew of that I'd never actually heard. And on Parkie too! Glory be.
djpheeze 1 year ago
0:56 lmfao..
Munky360 1 year ago
:45 he's trying not to laugh about the Pierre line coming up :)
nanbarberable 1 year ago
I love double entendres! ,-)
InACountryGarden 1 year ago
Love it!
AzaneaE 1 year ago
I don't think having it up would affect sales. Mind you, the more I watch the YouTube, the more I want to go out and get that new CD/DVD collection. Worth every penny! <3
Too bad I have to wait til my check comes in. Can't wait to own all of that. I have most of his songs already--but the video footage! <3 I want! ^_^
Tom Lehrer, I love you and your amazing music. <333
rainbowheydrich 1 year ago
I think my favorite thing is that he never says anything explicitly. It's only our interpretation that makes it seem like a song about STD's. Hell, it could be about a hat or a variety of things.
TheWeasel 1 year ago
@TheWeasel Well... It's not JUST our 'interpretation'. He gave us a catalyst in the beginning of the song.
HabeKeinMitleid 1 year ago
@HabeKeinMitleid
In all fairness, the beginning of the song doesn't necessarily imply a sexual relationship with the friends. They could just be very willing to share their things.
Nowhere does he ever explicitly say something about a sexual relationship. It's just how we are interpreting it (and how he wants people to interpret it, no doubt)
]I just find a lot of humor in the way the song is presented.
TheWeasel 1 year ago
@TheWeasel You misunderstood. The beginning is a catalyst for us to imply subconsciously. It doesn't have to imply a certain thing for US to form an implication of something. Imply means something that the client feels as though something is a natural fact. It is natural for your subconscious to imply sexual relations when he says his words in that tone, length of syllables, and diction.
HabeKeinMitleid 1 year ago
@TheWeasel I really don't understand why so many people keep arguing that it could be a fruitcake that's passed around or something innocent. Do you honestly get your hat 'in the pub, or in the club or in the LOO?' He may not state it explicitly, but he certainly uses slang. Go google 'Lucky Pierre'.
isnook2 1 year ago
@isnook2
Honestly, I don't have an argument for it. I had no intent of arguing. I just find it funny that nothing explicitly happens. I'm not trying to say that it's the only way the song could be interpreted, or hell, that it even SHOULD be interpreted that way. I'm just saying that Tom Lehrer was pretty brilliant in how he wrote this song that is seen as being totally dirty while the lyrics only imply what is going on.
TheWeasel 1 year ago
@isnook2 I just did.
My my, I NEVER knew that! Sort of puts the song into a whole new light.
mtheadedwally 1 year ago
The beginning makes a loop Marie >> Harry >> Louise >> Jim >> Agnes >> Tom >> Marie o.O
"Aha, Lucky Pierre!"
"She got it from her daddy, who just gives her everything."
"Or maybe it Sue, Or Millie or Billie or Jillie or Willie or... Doesn't matter who"
LOVE IT!
mabarry3 1 year ago 65
@mabarry3 Yeah, the loop always threw me, too... I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that. But then again, Edith gets it every spring, so I guess it's re-catchable. O_e
lijluvr356 1 year ago
@lijluvr356 But then again, he could have gotten it from Sue, Millie, Billie, Jillie, or Willie, so....
mabarry3 1 year ago
@mabarry3 Yes, but who did THEY get it from?
lijluvr356 1 year ago
@lijluvr356 That information is.... off of the record. Top secret, only Tom and his friends that he loves (and are as close as they can be) know.
mabarry3 1 year ago
@mabarry3 well, he does offer to make US his friends, so we may soon know!
lijluvr356 1 year ago
@lijluvr356 That makes sense, because the US government can't share a secret ever, even if it is as important as this secret from Tom is ;D.
mabarry3 1 year ago
@mabarry3 These days it might be more accurate to say Tom's secret is better kept than those of the US government...
lijluvr356 1 year ago
@mabarry3
Well of course, since Tom gave it to Marie, who then brought it further...
PSReldus 1 year ago
@PSReldus And if Edith could get it every spring, so could Tom and Marie!
mabarry3 1 year ago
@mabarry3
I know...I'm still wondering how he got it from Agnes if he gave it to Marie. XD
monny287 7 months ago
@monny287 Never says when he got it from Agnes. Could be after he got better/gave it away. ;D
heyy13 6 months ago
Soo... Tom has STDs :) lol
mabarry3 1 year ago 29
Wait wait wait... How can Edith get it every spring??
mabarry3 1 year ago 12
This has been flagged as spam show
@mabarry3 What is 'it'? When you answer that question, you will be able answer your question.
HabeKeinMitleid 1 year ago
@mabarry3 well, it can't be something like a cold, even though "every spring" implies something re-catchable, because he uses the phrase "lucky pierre" and that's slang for something I won't write out because chances are there are young eyes reading this post.
lijluvr356 1 year ago
Comment removed
mabarry3 1 year ago
I've always seen his videos in black-and-white. Seeing it in color is almost surreal, but certainly enjoyable.
Notebooked 1 year ago
I think the one thing that really makes this great song even more amazing is his creepy (yet awesome) smile :) lol
thechiliman500 1 year ago
what are they talking about :o
KaristaSwiss 1 year ago
@KaristaSwiss It's a song about STDs, without explicitly saying so.
TruelySonicHOG 1 year ago
Oddly, this song is a nearly perfect metaphor for offline file sharing.
CarterVMaddux 1 year ago 8
@CarterVMaddux that's it!!! We've found it! He wrote a song about offline file sharing way back then because he's ahead of his time!! XD
lijluvr356 1 year ago
Please never ever take this down off youtube. EVER.
crazypianolady 1 year ago 8
wonderful!
MrCrassuswild 1 year ago
I love his silly grin...
MrSpockify 1 year ago 13
I love how Tom looks away in a ridiculous way before the last line - such great timing!
Carloshache 1 year ago 2
@Carloshache Yeah. Although, anyone who sings this song is supposed to look in the audience to pick someone to say the final line to, as Tom did here.
TruelySonicHOG 1 year ago
The song is perfect for a UK audience. Fits in perfectly with slightly smutty British humor.
LostCenobite 1 year ago
so funny...
Revanchist8525 1 year ago
This is a new Lehrer song for me. Fun with STDs ...
christophergarcia1 1 year ago 2
Wow! What a treat!
screwyootube1 1 year ago
This video is now out on DVD. Please click on the username 6funswede and visit the channel page!
6funswede 2 years ago
Great video description!
Thorneycroft1937 2 years ago 2
Brill!
DebenValleyLightRail 2 years ago
This is one of the best comedy songs ever written, and that's not an opinion, it's a fact. And it's both a pleasure and an honor to be able to watch Tom Lehrer himself performing it. Thanks for the posting.
6funswede 2 years ago 87
@6funswede Yay, Tom Lehrer in colour TV!
Denon3333 1 year ago
@Denon3333, yes, this is (maybe) my all-time favorite Tom Lehrer song. The recording is included in The Tom Lehrer Collection (CD/DVD) and in much more decent quality :-)
6funswede 1 year ago
Superb!
SlaveToNoOne 2 years ago
Very nice video! Tom Lehrer is the best.
mirkwoodlodge 2 years ago 2