Tom Lehrer - Poisoning Pigeons in the Park - with intro - now on DVD

[seanmartn]

I love Tom Lehrer! So irreverent, intelligent, and FUN! And (perhaps somewhat worrisome to parents everywhere) he wrote much of the music on the PBS children's show The Electric Company. Remember "Silent E" - a Tom Lehrer classic!

[LABCall]

I have to admit, this is a very clever song. I've heard one or two of his, but so far not reached the "tipping point" of becoming a fan. However, I'm going to give it a shot now.

[trippletrain77]

howd u get all these videos? do u have a collection or do u have a buddy who recorded them?

[GIMMEADOLLAR1]

9/11/67 Never forget!



[milsani1991]

This is stolen by Tom Lehrer!

The original is made by Georg Kreisler, an austrian satirist.

[6funswede]

@milsani1991, you are wrong. Please open and read the video description under the video window.

[VelvetChain]

@milsani1991 Incorrect. As the uploader already stated, your "Austrian satirist" actually stole it from Lehrer.

[needmorebrain]

@VelvetChain also not correct. While the theme is identical Kreisler goes for his own approach to the subject. He would spare the squirrels - also in german-austrian society Audubon does not exist so he won't mention it. Instead in his german version he minds the careful listener to be aware of sparrows which could interfere the pigeon killing. Also Kreisler discusses several types of poison like cyanide and arsene. His tune is different too.

[BloorigardEtcetera]

Does anyone know where I could find the sheet music for this? I've already tried music notes dot com, and they don't have it. I know asking here is kind of a shot in the dark, but I'd be very grateful if someone knew where I could find this.

[Longuncattr]

This song is excellent for karaoke.

[OofusTwillip]

Last year, I sang this song at a retirement home. After the show, one of the residents tore a strip off me for advocating animal cruelty.

How wonderful to know that Tom's songs still have the power to offend those with an axe to grind and no sense of humour!

[xlbrooklyn]

2 people like to dress up as pigeons

[LeopardInTheMist]

Shale +15 approval.

[GoatBeach]

I learned this song at age six in the early '60s....

[3Days2LiveX]

This song changed my life.

[Catergory5Hurricane]

The only "dislike" was given by a pigeon.

[SimuLord]

Learning to play this song on a piano will make you a hit at parties, because inevitably someone with a piano bought more as accessory than means of making music will inquire if anyone knows how to play---and boy, won't they all be surprised when this song comes out.

Throw in "I Got It From Agnes" and "We Will All Go Together When We Go" and you're all but guaranteed to take the coolest single girl at the party home. Not necessarily the prettiest, but the most likely to stay for breakfast.

[6funswede]

@SimuLord, needless to say, I loved this comment.

[andrewclunn]

@SimuLord

I rarely come across comments on YouTube that I love and agree with as much as this one.

[mabarry3]

*SHOPPING LIST*

Peanuts

Cyanide

Microscope

Scalpel

[mabarry3]

Wait, if Tom isn't married, who then is his "sweetheart"? It must be his friend's wife that he talked about in When You Are Old and Gray, then killed in I Hold Your Hand In Mine.

[mabarry3]

Okay, there are no dislikes for this song. The pigeons got LUCKY. :D

[MsSarjen]

Great humor :D

[gradeadouchebag]

i piosioned a few pigeons myself this spring,luckily,i wasn't arrested

[Reaper2252]

this is the first vide othat ive found which is live:)

[Mccampbellthomas]

well looks like i know what i'll be playing next high school talent show

[swordfish1929]

I'm free to go any day

[mabarry3]

@swordfish1929 Wanna meet next Tuesday? Or is Sunday just the best day for it?

[searchingly]

this is for all those who have been 'bombed' by the pigeons in the park. you go, tom lehrer!

[bodybwan2be1]

so did people actually do this? poison pigeons, I mean.

[headlessrd]

He's not even looking at the god damn piano.

What a show man!

[6funswede]

@headlessrd, heh heh, yes. Lehrer didn't need to look at the keyboard, because (quote) "when he was sitting at the piano it was automatic...." And of course he is an accomplished pianist as well as a satirist ;D

[efil4own1]

No need to do in a squirrel or two...those buggers have death wishes! I live in an area where squirrels play 'chicken' with oncoming traffic!

[feckingbillgates]

Would be brilliant if it could go straight into the song instead of having 20 seconds of self-congratulatory titles at the start.

[6funswede]

@feckingbillgates, yes, I agree, but to get an uninterrupted performance buy the new DVD.

[wmc98]

@feckingbillgates how can it be "self congratulatory" when the guy's been dead for years? ;-P The guy was a genius. Plain simple English.

[feckingbillgates]

@wmc98 By self-congratulation I'm talking about the "thousands of youtube views" bit, which is more about the profile of the uploader than Tom Lehrer himself. It's irrelevant information when you just want the song. But I agree it doesn't really matter.

[6funswede]

@feckingbillgates, look, I don't disagree with you, because those endless intro and end credits are horrible. But I wanted to use them just in case a DVD would be coming, so that people would get fed up with the cred's and buy the DVD instead. It's only a few dollars and now the DVD is out. People should get it instead of being annoyed by the YouTube versions.

[feckingbillgates]

@6funswede I've bought the DVD already. And I would put a link to this clip in my facebook profile so that my friends might do the same, but they'll not get as far as the song because they'll have turned off during the intro credit. It's okay if you love Tom Lehrer and know the song, because you'll tolerate the intro credit to get there, but if you don't you're not going to sit through them.

[6funswede]

@feckingbillgates, yeah, well, you know, if you visit the channel (click on my stupid username) you'll see that the versions posted in 2007 don't have much intro credits. But I reposted the stuff to get 480p and that was when I used these endless text stuff. I hope people go for the 2007 versions rather than this "better" one ;D

[6funswede]

@wmc98, as a matter of fact Tom Lehrer isn't dead. He is very much alive ;D

[6funswede]

This video is now out on DVD. Please read the updated video description or visit the channel page!

[Membrane556]

Sounds like fun what about geese? I hate fraking geese.

[Sukiinpink]

I once saw a guy with an opened bag of Lays being chased by a flock of geese.

[krudmonger]

Perfect song for this fine spring day. ':)

[radripper2]

what year was this

[no1sjester]

"Recording date: September 10th 1967"

Check the video description next time.

¬_¬

[Alanthewhite]

sorry thanks

[lovelyfairy27]

That was funny, but at the same time his voice is wonderful!

[CuntryDriver]

Excellent!

Pretty nice quality as well

[LakeMonsterManiak]

What about starlings?!

[tsukinohime3]

2:11 DOWN WITH THE SQUIRRELS!! \^0^/

[hkfreak]

I thoroughly agree with the above statement of a Miku fan. Heh, I guess Tom Lehrer can attract all audiences. ALL of them.

[LakeMonsterManiak]

I totally agree; I shoot paintballs at them with my slingshot! X D

[warren52nz]

It doesn't get much better than this when it comes to musical satire. Is Tom still around?

I play this song on guitar at parties and it always gets a laugh. Still have to work out the right chords in the middle, it's more complicated than it sounds. Such a great pianist.

[6funswede]

warren52nz, yes, you're absolutely right. Not that I'm objective here, but in reality the world has rarely seen a musical satirist comparable to Tom Lehrer. Keep playing the song(s :-)

[Nicarambas]

@6funswede I guess if Bill Hicks had played the piano, he might have come close. ^_^

[6funswede]

Nicarambas, yes, Hicks was (is) a favorite. But Lehrer´s piano playing and his clever lyrics -- without any F-words -- puts him in a league of hos own :-)

[0ShadowG0]

He still lives. Hi's 81 now.

[wmc98]

@0ShadowG0 *blushes* Jeez! I must've gotten him mixed up with another famous commedian. ... Yup, just checked! Forgive me, Tom, I gotcha mixed up with Vaughn Meader! *kowtows* I AM NOT WORTHY!

[ShanaNoFlameHaze]

what i find really funny is that this song was stolen by an austrian comedian 20 years later and translated in german and he got soo famous with it, even after such a long time, people still know the german version (though sadly not tom lehrer)

[Funaru]

actually, Georg Kreisler (the austrian comedian) released his poisoning-pidgeon-waltz also in the mid-50s, about at the same time as Lehrer. It is not clear who plagiarised whom or if they maybe just both had the same idea... melody and texts are also rather different. Have a look at the Wikipedia article about Kreisler if you want to know more.

[tsukinohime3]

it's not plagiarizing, it's "research" :P

[hugo1089]

A true musical subversive! and a classic!

[nickr753]

lol, the piano at 2:00... hilarious anticlimax

[Mathematician2]

This is my all-time favorite Tom Lehrer song. As I've mentioned before, I lip-synced this song in Theater class and people at school still remember it.