Tom Lehrer - Tchaikovsky (and Other Russians) - a rap video lecture in 34 seconds!

[sadhustar]

Moniuszko is Polish!

[smiesznypol]

Moniuszko was not a Russian:(

[Clemsault]

what was that music at the end? I liked it.

[Londonrainwaters]

He forgot Kuryakin!!!!

[ShadowinaCave]

Friggin' awful idea to add the doof doof.

[6funswede]

@ShadowinaCave, that´s maybe true, but I´m trying to cover myself. Don´t blame Tom Lehrer, because he is totally innocent. I don´t think he likes drum machines at all.

[IOwnedThatPwner]

I have memorized this song, but Danny Kaye's version. Now I need a camera to record it for proof.

[DancingQueen9812]

At about 27 Seconds he somehow pronounces some names wrong 'till the end of the song, but I'm not saying anything. I couldn't sing hundreds of Russian names in only 34 seconds ;)

[brookenpeter23]

I've allways loved this song. My russian friends all hated it. Go fig'er it.

[jbbpr]

the best part is where he names all the Russians.

[MosMidnight]

his pronounciation and accents in the words are wrong, actually

[6funswede]

@MosMidnight, I believe Lehrer´s pronounciation is very similar to the version recorded by Danny Kaye, also available on YouTube.

[dkayefan]

Has anyone accepted this challenge yet? I don't see any video responses.

[6funswede]

@dkayefan, no luck. But it is rather difficult too. You are welcome to try :-)

[dkayefan]

@6funswede I can do Danny's version, but I think Tom's is a bit faster.

[6funswede]

@dkayefan, yes, and I cannot follow him either, no chance :-)

[MarkNie1]

shouldn't it be Tchaikovsky and other Soviets?

[TheLimbReaper]

@MarkNie1 I believe it would all depend on exactly where one was born or where they lived in the former Soviet Union. If they lived in Soviet Romania, Hungry, Yougoslavia or one of the many other Eastern Bloc countries then the names probably wouldn't rhyme so well for the song? But good point anyhow.

[Mirkwoodelves]

@MarkNie1

The list includes a bunch of composers who are Americans of Russian descent, and even ones from the Ukraine and Poland.

[yozzer56]

no sign of Nikolai Lobachevsky or Konstantin Stanislavski? bit dissapointed... :D

[Makaylaa08]

This actually sounds awesome...

[SimuLord]

I think he had a Ukrainian or two in there, who would be unpleasantly surprised to be called Russian.

[uztakts]

@SimuLord and a totally Polish Moniuszko :\

[Catonkeys]

"Markievitch" should be "Markiewicz," it means "Son of Mark" (English would be "Markson"), it is pronounced "mar-kYEH-vich" (run the k into the y sound so that it is only 1 syllable) and it is Polish, not Russian. Just FYI.

[Catonkeys]

Sorry for the redundant correction, next time I'll read ALL the pages of comments first LOL

[uztakts]

@Catonkeys and Moniuszko is our Polish guy too actually ;]

[SwirlingChords]

Rimsky-Cause a cough??!!

[1992Medusa]

Holy shit. If Tom was dead by now, he'd be laughing in his grave

[aweichert]

@1992Medusa but aren't you glad he isn't dead, and still appears occasionally in the "where are they now" pages?

[majadirks]

Where did this recording come from? And did Tom use that background beat or was it added later? I mean... it's just so different from his usual piano stuff.

[6funswede]

@majadirks, this is not an official Tom Lehrer recording, it´s just a joke, really. But the point here is to have people try out the same lyrics to the same beat. Check the video description.

[mabarry3]

@6funswede Ah, really? I thought this was a Lehrer song in which he decided to have more fun than his normal satirical songs (yes, he COULD have more fun than those songs, believe it or not).

[Supernan50]

Isn't that the song of Danny Kaye?

[ZiobroV]

That was cool. Even though, Moniuszko is not, or maybe more like was not, a Russian, but a Pole xP

[mabarry3]

The worst part is 6funswede had to find out how to SPELL all of those names (and I'm not questioning ANY...).

[AYchip]

@mabarry3 I'm questioning the fact that he spelt them with the Latin alphabet, when most Eastern Bloc countries use Cyrillics. This is particularly pertinent as there are many contradictory transliterations of most Russian names - I have seen a score by "Petr Illich Tschaikowsky", which is painfully wrong (my own transliteration would be "Pyotr Ily'ich Tchaikovskiy", but the Tch could arguably be a Ch instead. Much better to write Пётр Ильич Чайковский! Cool vid though.

[mabarry3]

When did Tom sing a ... rap?

[82ndMamasboy]

whats the name of that song at o:50

[6funswede]

@82ndMamasboy, the only song used in the video (apart from the "rap") is "Kalinka", written by the russian composer Ivan Larionov in 1860. Thanks for watching :-)

[UncleWaldemar]

Thanks! Another fascinating facet of the Danny Kaye/Tom Lehrer connection. But what is the audio source for Lehrer's voice on this track?

I recently heard Danny Kaye's "Stanislavsky" and was amazed at the close similarities to "Lobachevsky", even though Tom of course fully acknowledged his debt to his "idol since childbirth".

Also many thanks for the heads-up on the new collection. Woohoo!

[steve4nlanguage]

Being a Tom Lehrer fan back since '73, I'm excited to hear something I'd never heard before. Thanks for posting this 6funswede!

[Salivorin]

What a treat to hear Tom's voice on something new (for me) Thank you for this!

[6funswede]

@Salivorin, thank you for watching! ;D

[tuchacha]

Moniuszko, Godowski and Maliszewski weren't Russians. They were from Poland :D Nevermind.

[6funswede]

@tuchacha, yes, I guess you're right. But you know, the lyrics are Ira Gershwin's, and I didn't change the spelling or the title. I believe that they were never meant to be "one hundred percent" true, they were written just for fun ;D Please read the video description.

[6funswede]

Do you want to have a go at this? Open and READ the video description to get the audio files!

[ZergRushJohnny]

Gersh and Weill together? Man, I must be daft to not know this. And on that note, I need to learn this!

[tomlehrerchannel]

Please open and read the video description for this video ;D Thanks!

[l0lidude]

KALINKA :D

[6funswede]

@l0lidude, yeah! Cool? Send the video link to others and learn to spit out those consonants!

[tomlehrerchannel]

This video is uploaded to celebrate the April 13 release.