@EABray0, you know, some of them did actually laugh, but there were no mikes on the audiences in those days. That said, some of Lehrer´s brilliant jokes would have gotten a lot more laughs in an English-speaking country, that´s for sure :-)
@joaormedeiros It's true though. The USA was neutral with a lot of support for Germany (after all they both held similar racist ideas) until Japan attacked them and by default that brought them into conflict with Germany they thought of as more of an ally against Communism involved in a local disagreement with the rest of western Europe.
@Saiaton At that time, Germany and the USSR were in a nonagression pact. It was typical totalitarian backstabbing ("We have always been at war with Eastasia."), and Germany and USSR were on fairly "good" terms after dividing Russia, it was only when Germany invaded Russia that Stalin got mad. I'm not saying that they were buddy-buddy, but they, like many nations, at least pretended to be for their own lusts for power.
Well, either Hitler attacked first, or Stalin would have...Problem is, both situations weren´t very good to begin with but attacking russia out of nowhere had better chances off success at that time then a brawl with the soviet invasion forces.
It dragged on for too long, winter hit, supply lines cut and the rest is history.
@Chrinik Exactly. One must also remember that almost none of the sides in WWII actually liked each other. Italy and Germany almost went to war with each other in 1934, and Germany officially supported China in their war with Japan up until 1939. Dollfuss(authoritarian ruler of Austria from 1932-34) believed that Nazism was too close to Stalinism, and proposed an Austro-Italian-Spanish fascist alliance against Germany and the USSR. The war could have turned out in a very different way.
From June 1964 to end of 1965 USS Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5) was part of a mixed-manning experiment for the proposed MLF. Its crew consisted of 10 officers and 164 crew from the US Navy with the remainder filled by sailors from West Germany, Italy, Greece, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Turkey. Though the MLF never was created, Secretary of the Navy Paul Nitze stated that the project on Claude V. Ricketts was successful.
@Fiddlemaster56, yeah, well, click on my (stupid) username, visit the channel page and find the playlist with the latest version of this video. You'll get to hear Lehrer's intro to this song. So-called "MILF's" did not exist in 1967, but if they had, Lehrer would not even have dreamed of singing a song about them.
@6funswede Oh I understood that the second the video started. I know the term wasn't even around in the '80s let alone the '60s. It's funny to me how meaning to words change so much from decade to decade.
@Fiddlemaster56 From June 1964 to end of 1965 USS Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5) was part of a mixed-manning experiment for the proposed MLF. Its crew consisted of 10 officers and 164 crew from the US Navy with the remainder filled by sailors from West Germany, Italy, Greece, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Turkey. Though the MLF never was created, Secretary of the Navy Paul Nitze stated that the project on Claude V. Ricketts was successful.
@Fiddlemaster56 From June 1964 to end of 1965 USS Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5) was part of a mixed-manning experiment for the proposed MLF. Its crew consisted of 10 officers and 164 crew from the US Navy with the remainder filled by sailors from West Germany, Italy, Greece, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Turkey. Though the MLF never was created, Secretary of the Navy Paul Nitze stated that the project on Claude V. Ricketts was successful.
@DovJo, yes. I got It From Agnes is my all time Tom Lehrer favorite. But if you click on "6funswede" and then find the "all you need to know" - link you will be able to read several Tom Lehrer interviews. They will tell you why Lehrer would not bother with topics such as girlfriends and relationships and flatulence and genitalia.
@Fiddlemaster56 "M.L.F." is an acronym for "Multi-Lateral Force", a proposal from the Kennedy era to allow NATO allies access to tactical nuclear weapons in Central Europe. It is hard for people to understand now, I suppose, but a nuclear war between the US and the USSR would have lasted 20 minutes to maybe as long as an hour. The MLF idea would have given the Germans an opportunity to launch tactical nukes against a Soviet invasion, or strategic nukes faster. MLF lost to MAD.
Nuclear deterrent force including our current friends, like france, and our traditional friends, like germany. here's a song about that called the mlf lullaby.
youtert, well a lot of people I can tell you. The video description for this version AND the newer HQ-version should contain a link to Wikipedia. In 1965 there were no "milf's" and Lehrer would never even dream of writing a song about them.
@youtert Oh boy...am I embarrassed!I'm not a teenager & thought this was about that.I was thinking"OK..how's Tom Lehrer going to cover a song about MIILFs?" So I clicked it out of curiousity and..well let's just say my face is red with embarrassment right now.
feuherer (I probably spelled it wrong) used to just mean leader or boss ,but you dont hear that word bandied about any more,at least not by people who are disgusted by the atrocities of certain eras.but then its the intent of a word , not the word itself.and tom lehrer rocks
All the twelve Tom Lehrer songs from this channel have now been republished in better quality. Click the Lehrer icon or the username, go to the channel and select one of the uploaded HQ-versions :-) Don't forget to click the HQ-buttion.
'Heil' is, I think, 'Hail' and anyone who's watched any World War II movies or documentaries can hear it being used as a salute to Hitler: "Heil Hitler." The Wehrmacht was originally a generic term referring d to the national defence forces (of any nation) but the Nazi conscription law of March 1935 made it the official name of Germany's unified armed forces (army, navy and air force) from 1935 to 1945.
'Bundeswehr' was the name given in 1955 to West Germany's armed forces.
Heil is actually an old and friendly greeting which is still used in some parts of Austria and Italy. Not every word which was used by an nazi is something evil ...
Does anyone know the terms that he "accidentally" uses and then corrects? (1:16) -Just before "Hail our loyal allies" I tried to google them but clearly didn't have the spelling close enough to get anything.
Strictly speaking the Wehrmacht was the term used to refer to the German army to the end of WW II. The Bundeswehr was the German defence force set up after WW II. The "Heil" reference needs no translation.
"Heil, i mean Hail, the Wermacht, i mean the Bundeswher" brilliant. Tom lehrer is a genius. about a week ago i had never heard of him and now i´m listening to his songs every day:)
Twitcher64, If I'm not terribly mistaken Wernher Von Braun was much more willfully compliant than your account would imply. He, by his own account, was always interested in rocketry for the purpose of space exploration, and so did not have to be coerced into cooperating with American interests.
Also, he was taken prisoner by the Americans by his own intention, as he feared the harsher treatment that he would receive from the soviets.
And he played a key role in making the saturn rocket
Without the fear of the Russians, the US would have treated the Germans quite differently. Lehrer was probably right to be sceptical of the Germans, but at least these fears turned out to be wrong and Germany happend to get "bombs".
Thank you. Yes, I enjoy Minchin too, and maybe he was inspired by Lehrer? It must be in that order, because Minchin was born in 1975. Tom Lehrer was born in 1928. Take care!
johnBGG, thank you so much, no, I don't think it's weird, a lot of Lehrer's stuff is timeless and you just have good taste when it comes to satire. Take care :-)
There was a satirical television show hosted by David Frost called "That Was the Week that Was." Lehrer wrote these pieces for it. It was 1965, methinks. It's probably still available, but it was released on a vinyl called "That was the Year that Was." My CD has this designator:
It's a Reprise recording with barcode 7599-27434-2 .
Every bright person I know (I suspect you are one of them) has a Lehrer collection. His lyrics are always being quoted.
Iskarin, click on username 6funswede and check out the favorites from when Lehrer was on David Frost. Unfortunately not stored in broadcast quality anymore.
6funswede, thanks so much for sharing these Tom Lehrer videos! I used to cop these songs off records when I was a child - this one was always my favorite. Lehrer's acidic humor really puts the wood to the post-WWII FRG!
For one, I salute you for sharing 12 of the best videos I have viewed on this medium. After your explanation .....I embrace you. A genius like this should be past on through the generations, as I am doing, like the family jewels. Vale Tom, thank you for the tears and laughter.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
The worst of Lehrer songs, though it does make a clear implication that the BDR government was as responsible of genocide as those utter fuckers on trial at Nuernberg. True, it allows for scope of viewing the DDR objectively and historically - as is.
Why is this the worst? I think it has a lovely tune, and an even better joke about the Germans.... perhaps you missed the Second World War and thus missed the joke?
Hi Pastrychef1985. For a start, the former West Germany was the BRD. Lehrer's satire was aimed at neither the BRD nor the DDR... please remember that in the early-mid 1960s the Second World War and all that went with it was only 20 years ago and still a potent political symbol. Hence Mr Lehrer's commentary about the BRD's involvement in the MLF. And if nothing else, this song was a great early example of the stupidity of abbreviations
Actually, I think this *was* aimed at the BRD and the way that many powerful figures from the Nazi era remained in power after the war - such as Gehlen, a Nazi spymaster who ran the post-war BDR's spy service. See the last part of H.H. Kirst's book "The Night of the Generals" for a fictional description of this phenomenon. Lehrer also refers to this in his song "Werner Von Braun"
Werner von Braun was captured by Americans after the war wasn't he? He was told he could work for them designing a space craft or go to jail (or possibly executed) as a POW and violating human rights. He designed the Saturn rocket I'm pretty sure.
Holy shit, would you look at this discussion? I'm 19 and I wish that my fellows would think & talk like this (in that order as well)! My college buddy turned me on to Lehrer a year ago and I just today started finding the songs that I've never heard of his. Organized religion is another problem for the youth of the U.S. Here in UT I met a girl who actually said to me (on the topic of the current war) "It's okay, the 2nd coming will have happened by the time the world wants to retaliate on us!"
It was meant to be a joke, he's saying that WWI didn't teach the Germans anything which led to WWII. And I think this was recorded sometime in the '60s.
Wrong, boss. Stanleyville, now called Kisangani, is the capital city of Congo, where African rebels took more than 1600 white hostages in 1964. Through Operation Dragon Rouge, America and Belgium, along with other professional soldiers, used military force to free the hostages.
Lehrer has an uncanny grasp of the repetition inherent in human history. Germany, once our greatest foe, is now one of our staunchest allies, but let us not forget that Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein were once our allies too.
No, and the lion's share of the credit for that goes to the German people. Sometimes it seems the only cure for a warfaring nature is the horror of war itself.
We've been lucky. The last war of major carnage in the U.S ended in 1865. And while it seems incredible to refer to over half a million dead in WWII as "getting off easy", compared to the 3 million killed in Germany and the 20 million in Russia, including millions of civilian deaths that the U.S. managed to avoid, one can understand our continuing cavalier attitude toward warfare. It's still a game to us. Damn shame.
I guess it is easy to shelter to civilian population from the reality of war when it is not in the middle of one themselves.
The tradgedy of the overseas soldier is still not that of the horrible trauma of what a civilian population endures.. U.S. or other countries not touched by war, we're all guilty of living in our sheltred existence.
Where's the student rebelions when we need them? Take some notes from the ol' brits and their ol' King Mob..
Good point. The people (mostly youths) who took to the streets in the 60's to protest Vietnam did this nation a great service, as for once the powers that be were compelled to listen to the will of the people. There are many trying now to end Bush's phony war, but without the catalyzing circumstance (aka the draft) a large part of the population, especially the young, can file it under SEP (somebody else's problem).
Maybe that's why there haven't been one (draft)? They don't want to risk it? I must say though that the french constantly amaze me on how quick they (their people, students, unions), still, show their miscontent and displeasure of their governing powers. Sweden feels a lot like the U.S. on all this, the reluctancy to express their (our) displeasure, sadly. Maybe the Anonymous "movement" will spread into somthing (not just against scientology) in the future? I'll keep an eye on that powderkeg.
By all means, we must keep an eye on it. The mistake "our side" tends to make is assuming that powderkeg has to blow before real justice can be installed. Hve we really reached the point as a nation, indeed as a species, where only violence can impel us to do the right thing? Maybe so. In the 2000 election one of our most precious freedoms, self determination, was taken away, and it was sad to see a nation that once defended our rights by any means shrug and do nothing.
Your 2000 election was scary and as some one recently commented on in an auditorial in our local news paper over here "if the U.S. is going to govern the world, then I want a vote to".
Sadly violence (riot-style) will only give them what they want, turn the now fear from the outside into a fear from with in.. And we've seen what that leads to when government fules the populations fear for each other.
Still over here it's the same thing, this numbness, a people sedated and removed.
I am impressed, my friend. You seem to have a better grip on the machinations of American politics than most Americans. The Vietnam protests of the 60's caught the powers that be off guard. Today they use the very tactics you describe. I went to one protest in Washington in 2004 where I was one of at least 35,00. A counter-protest featuring some country singer drew maybe 500. On the news that night the two events got equal coverage. A classic case of turning people against eachother.
The real damn shame is stupidity. Nuclear proliferation is a perfectly acceptable occurrence. It like the Second Amendment for nations, it prevents nations from pissing each other off too much. But it relies on both nations having the capacity to obliterate each other; no sane nation or person will commit sucide. The problem today is people of questionable sanity (radical Muslims) who have access to nuclear weapons and believe that they will be rewarded for the annhilation of the human race.
Two major flaws in your reasoning, coach. #1. The second amendment, at least under its current outdated application, is a total failure. No civilized nation in history has seen the carnage that gun violence visits upon America. #2. Radical Muslims are a tiny, and generally uneducated minority with neither the know how nor the capital to obtain nuclear weapons. Radical Christians, especially those in executive positions, are a much greater threat to humanity.
You really think muslims are a tiny minority?? try to get a map of the religions around the world and you'll be surprised, and frightened. THEY are the majority...!!! I agree with you that radical catholics are as dangerous... exactly for the reason you give: power. In my country, argentina, they even intervene in the desitions of the supreme court....
Bienvenidos a Argentina de Los Estados Unidos. Please re-read my statement. "Radical" muslims are a minority, just as child molesting Catholic priests are a minority. This is exactly why they get the press.
Religious fanatics of all stripes skew the political process, even in the United States with our "separation of church and state". Rational minds must presevere, and I applaud any and all who fight them, be they here, in Argentina or in muslim nations. We are on the same side, amigo.
OK. I think I got you. The problem is fanticism. Of any kind. ANd there are so many fanatics. And they do pull the strings in any society. It's sad and bad.Hello from buenos aires.
So true, my friend. The blind, mindless absolutism of having some kind of God on your side renders rational debate impossible and fosters fanaticism to the point of criminality. In facing off against these dangers, good people of all faiths and nations need to stand up and have the courage to say, "If that is what your God wants, your God is wrong!" Greetings from Texas.
I couldn't agree more with you. God makes so many wrongs.... I wasn't raised in religion, and i'm glad it was like that. Greetings from from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
I too was raised to think for myself, and we are blessed for it. Have you seen the Foz de Iguacu? If I could see only one sight for the rest of my life, that is what I would choose.
Finally someone gets it. Ever since the september eleventh catastrophe there's been so much bias against Islam (theree's always been a lot but now its worse.) My parents attempted to sabotage my friendship with a childhood friend of mine because of it. All us sane folks better do something quick or prepare for WWIII because things are getting waaaay too out of hand. If you can see it and I can see it why is the rest of the world blind and deaf to reason?
Why would anyone be biased against a religion where cutting people's heads off because they're not a member and stoning women in the street because they went outside without a permission note from a male relative, or because they were raped is accepted practice?
That's just the extremists. Just because there are a few Muslims who are completely off their nut doesn't mean there can't be a few perfectly respectable folks who believe in a different sect of the same religion. Just like you'll find some crazy Jews or Insane Christians or Hindus or Buddhists or Taoists etc etc the rest are all fine. I don't know about you, but I for one don't believe in labeling hundreds of thousands of people based upon the psychotic acts of a few knuckleheads.
Being only 14 years old, and living in the United States (where difference of religion is tolerated...there is literally a "church of Satan" in the USA...do you think such a thing would be allowed in Iran? In Saudi Arabia?)
So? According to old Jewish law, adultery was punishable by stoning (remember the famous scene in the Bible where Jesus says, 'LET HE WHO IS WITHOUT SIN CAST THE FIRST STONE'?). Likewise, Christian law was just as oppressive for centuries. The issue isn't religion in itself; rather, it's separation of church and state. The West has it; the Middle East, with a few exceptions, does not.
The key word there is "was"...with Sharia law, the key word is "is."
There IS no separation of church and state in Islam...the church IS the state. That's what Sharia law IS. Go watch the movie "Fitna" here on YouTube. That's not stuff that happened centuries ago, that's happening TODAY.
Uh, yeah. That's...what I just said. Actually, it isn't, but it almost is. The church/state thing isn't inherent in Islam. It is, however, inherent in the authoritarian political systems of many middle eastern nations. Listen, I happen to know quite a few Muslim Americans, and every single one of them is a strong believer in separation of church and state.
I guess what I was saying was that any religion can be twisted to support an authoritarian social system, not just Islam.
That's just the extremists. Just because there are a few Muslims who are completely off their nut doesn't mean there can't be a few perfectly respectable folks who believe in a different sect of the same religion. Just like you'll find some crazy Jews or Insane Christians or Hindus or Buddhists or Taoists etc etc the rest are all fine. I don't know about you, but I for one don't believe in labeling hundreds of thousands of people based upon the psychotic acts of a few knuckleheads.
Interesting that you think you separate church and state: Why then did E Pluribus Unum give way to "In God We Trust" ? Many people even think the two synonomous. I put it to you that we in England separate the church but America scares us because all its leaders have that religious zeal that excites the voters and their old time belief . . . it is comforting to know you are not the fanatics.
I assume you refer to the US in general when you say "..you think you separate church and state." While I definitely feel full separation of the two entities is essential to a free society, I do not delude myself into thinking we have achieved it. Quite the contrary, the religious right has a virtual stranglehold on all three branches of our government, and it is a terrifying situation. One stroke of a pen could reinstitute the inquisition or launch a crusade (2003, for example.)
According to my admittedly rudimentary knowledge of English history, the separation of church and state in England had its roots in Henry VIII wanting to screw around. If so, we desperately need Bill Clinton back in the White House. :)
Er no Henry VIII (who did indeed want to screw around) made himself head of the church of england Joining church and state (head of state is also head of the church of england) whilst breaking from Rome and the pope
I stand corrected. (Note the "rudimentary knowledge" concession) I guess Henry simply traded one religion dominating the state for another. Divine right of kings and all that rot. Still, I did get his motivation right, didn't I? Find 'em, fool 'em, behead 'em.
His idea was more along the lines of 'The church must act in the interest of the state (ie me) or at least not oppose it Rather than the state (ie me) be expected to act in the interest of church (ie the pope) The pope excommunicated him and the rest is history so to speak. But at the root of it was his desire for a divorce Find 'em Fool 'em Get rid of them one way or another!
Hard to say which is worse, the church acting in the interest of the state, or vice versa, as many seem to think it should be today. On the bright side, a state working in tandem with the predominant church should be able to tax the living guacamole out of it. When it comes to growth industries, the evangelical churches make Exxon-Mobil look like Skippy's Handy Mart.
John Galt hmm? You certainly aren't spouting his philosophies here.
Nuclear proliferation doesn't rest on the capacity of both nations to obliterate each other...that sounds like a tense, irksome communism. And while suicide may be considered insane in one culture, it's perfectly acceptable in others. If someone doesn't believe what they're doing is wrong, is it? And how do you plan to convince them of that?
Nuclear weapons aren't desirable, but perhaps the best word is inevitable.
As I see it, the problem here is that it only takes one person or a very small group of people to launch a nuke and cause the death of hundreds of thousands both in their own nations and in others. By that reasoning, I would hardly call using nukes "suicide." Just because the leaders of a country or the people in charge decide something is right doesn't mean everybody agrees - the current US government is proof of that!
A beautiful lullaby if you just listen to the music, that was a huge part of his genius, the music itself. Also, I always wondered about his reference to the fact that the Germans were taught a lesson in 1918, and hadn't bothered us since then. What about WWII though? I think they made their presence felt a bit in the 1940s, no?
What hwe sings about is clearly USA "forgetting" that Germany betrayed the peace once and could do so again, even worse since the USA plans to give them nukes.
Ad if the Germans were nothing against the americans, the war wouldn't have been so long. Overzealousness shouldn't come at the xpence of reality.
Awesome song!
Lehrer was always funny and insightful....
pugnut403 3 months ago
I like This Short Video
datingfree1a1 4 months ago
MLF? It's like MILF? Or what?
UglySean 7 months ago
@UglySean
Multi Lateral Force, which was an early non-communist counterweight to the Warsaw Pact.
TheSpiralDownward 6 months ago in playlist tom lehrer
@UglySean What.
manthasagittarius1 2 months ago
The crowd in these videos is always such a downer! They barely laugh :C
EABray0 8 months ago in playlist Tom Lehrer 11
@EABray0, you know, some of them did actually laugh, but there were no mikes on the audiences in those days. That said, some of Lehrer´s brilliant jokes would have gotten a lot more laughs in an English-speaking country, that´s for sure :-)
6funswede 8 months ago 2
"...we taught then a lesson in 1918 and they hardly bothered us since then" - lolololololol
joaormedeiros 11 months ago 20
@joaormedeiros, yes, that was a good one (as always with Lehrer).
6funswede 11 months ago
@joaormedeiros It's true though. The USA was neutral with a lot of support for Germany (after all they both held similar racist ideas) until Japan attacked them and by default that brought them into conflict with Germany they thought of as more of an ally against Communism involved in a local disagreement with the rest of western Europe.
Saiaton 10 months ago
@Saiaton At that time, Germany and the USSR were in a nonagression pact. It was typical totalitarian backstabbing ("We have always been at war with Eastasia."), and Germany and USSR were on fairly "good" terms after dividing Russia, it was only when Germany invaded Russia that Stalin got mad. I'm not saying that they were buddy-buddy, but they, like many nations, at least pretended to be for their own lusts for power.
thenutintheushanka18 7 months ago
@thenutintheushanka18
Well, either Hitler attacked first, or Stalin would have...Problem is, both situations weren´t very good to begin with but attacking russia out of nowhere had better chances off success at that time then a brawl with the soviet invasion forces.
It dragged on for too long, winter hit, supply lines cut and the rest is history.
Chrinik 1 month ago
@Chrinik Exactly. One must also remember that almost none of the sides in WWII actually liked each other. Italy and Germany almost went to war with each other in 1934, and Germany officially supported China in their war with Japan up until 1939. Dollfuss(authoritarian ruler of Austria from 1932-34) believed that Nazism was too close to Stalinism, and proposed an Austro-Italian-Spanish fascist alliance against Germany and the USSR. The war could have turned out in a very different way.
thenutintheushanka18 1 month ago
I have no doubt that Mr. Lehrer could make a brilliant, subtle, entertaining, funny and elegant song about flatulence.
MARGARELON 11 months ago
hmm so schnuffig heute bin wer mag texten
sulihprabawati 1 year ago 18
I have the LP this is on! rare, you bet!
Spartreeman 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
From June 1964 to end of 1965 USS Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5) was part of a mixed-manning experiment for the proposed MLF. Its crew consisted of 10 officers and 164 crew from the US Navy with the remainder filled by sailors from West Germany, Italy, Greece, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Turkey. Though the MLF never was created, Secretary of the Navy Paul Nitze stated that the project on Claude V. Ricketts was successful.
tomling9696969 1 year ago
I thought it was going to be "Medial Longitudinal Fasciculus...." Blah blah blah Internuclear ophthalmoplegiaaaaaaaaaa!
/still about "nuclear" something or other...
Yossarian06 1 year ago
Lol... Half as scared as I... Best line ever...
TylerFawcett 1 year ago
@TylerFawcett I am from Germany and I would be scared to death with a nuke on our side...
enoschadz 1 year ago 2
mother lets fuck-mlf
dropdeadESCAPE 1 year ago
lol He had a great save at, "No danger lurks." xD
MrSpockify 1 year ago
MULTILATERAL FORCE - NATO control of nuclear submarines
SPSMain 1 year ago
I thought it was MILF too and I'm 29. :D
Fiddlemaster56 1 year ago 21
@Fiddlemaster56, yeah, well, click on my (stupid) username, visit the channel page and find the playlist with the latest version of this video. You'll get to hear Lehrer's intro to this song. So-called "MILF's" did not exist in 1967, but if they had, Lehrer would not even have dreamed of singing a song about them.
6funswede 1 year ago
@6funswede Oh I understood that the second the video started. I know the term wasn't even around in the '80s let alone the '60s. It's funny to me how meaning to words change so much from decade to decade.
Fiddlemaster56 1 year ago
@Fiddlemaster56 From June 1964 to end of 1965 USS Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5) was part of a mixed-manning experiment for the proposed MLF. Its crew consisted of 10 officers and 164 crew from the US Navy with the remainder filled by sailors from West Germany, Italy, Greece, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Turkey. Though the MLF never was created, Secretary of the Navy Paul Nitze stated that the project on Claude V. Ricketts was successful.
tomling9696969 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@Fiddlemaster56 From June 1964 to end of 1965 USS Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5) was part of a mixed-manning experiment for the proposed MLF. Its crew consisted of 10 officers and 164 crew from the US Navy with the remainder filled by sailors from West Germany, Italy, Greece, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Turkey. Though the MLF never was created, Secretary of the Navy Paul Nitze stated that the project on Claude V. Ricketts was successful.
tomling9696969 1 year ago
@6funswede
I disagree that he would not even have dreamed of singing a song about them. Have you listened to "I got it from Agnes"?
DovJo 1 year ago 5
@DovJo, yes. I got It From Agnes is my all time Tom Lehrer favorite. But if you click on "6funswede" and then find the "all you need to know" - link you will be able to read several Tom Lehrer interviews. They will tell you why Lehrer would not bother with topics such as girlfriends and relationships and flatulence and genitalia.
6funswede 1 year ago
@6funswede I know this was a long while ago, but I also disagree ... listen to "Smut". He would have leaped at the opportunity!
ariana1984 9 months ago
@Fiddlemaster56
Multi International Lateral Force?
XxFireSongxX 1 year ago
@Fiddlemaster56 "M.L.F." is an acronym for "Multi-Lateral Force", a proposal from the Kennedy era to allow NATO allies access to tactical nuclear weapons in Central Europe. It is hard for people to understand now, I suppose, but a nuclear war between the US and the USSR would have lasted 20 minutes to maybe as long as an hour. The MLF idea would have given the Germans an opportunity to launch tactical nukes against a Soviet invasion, or strategic nukes faster. MLF lost to MAD.
pedonbio 1 year ago
It's that grin that makes me love him as an artist. That demented, and yet so honest grin.
He'll give you the truth, albeit twisted.
Notebooked 1 year ago
I miss the audiance reaction from the albums...
Waltham1892 1 year ago
This video is now out on DVD. Please read the updated video description or visit the channel page!
6funswede 1 year ago
Tom Lehrer was big in the sixties people, and he is an American. This song was performed in the early sixties.
Kristenbear01 2 years ago
BundleHastings : thanx fer yer info...,tom
tomwmloppe 2 years ago
Nuclear deterrent force including our current friends, like france, and our traditional friends, like germany. here's a song about that called the mlf lullaby.
bundleHastings 2 years ago
What country are you from to have Germany as a "traditional" ally, and France as only a current ally?
JoetehElph 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
the guy is english.. the english have always hated the french. remember to forget the last two world wars when it comes to germany, though.
teoferrazzi 2 years ago
Wikipedia him... He's American; went to school in Connecticut.
shakeypitt 1 year ago
multi-lateral force
bundleHastings 2 years ago
plz xplain... wut is M L F ???
tomwmloppe 2 years ago
multi-lateral force
bundleHastings 2 years ago
@tomwmloppe
Multi Lateral Force --- An early non-communist counterweight to the Warsaw Pact.
A1l2l2e2n4 9 months ago
I'm not quite sure he knew about German history too well, otherwise he wouldn't really draw that comparison.
Gonnakillyou 2 years ago 2
I wonder how many young people clicked on this and expected to hear a song about MILFs.
youtert 2 years ago 69
i did
morphine4465 2 years ago
youtert, well a lot of people I can tell you. The video description for this version AND the newer HQ-version should contain a link to Wikipedia. In 1965 there were no "milf's" and Lehrer would never even dream of writing a song about them.
6funswede 2 years ago 4
@youtert Oh boy...am I embarrassed!I'm not a teenager & thought this was about that.I was thinking"OK..how's Tom Lehrer going to cover a song about MIILFs?" So I clicked it out of curiousity and..well let's just say my face is red with embarrassment right now.
Katzi 1 year ago
feuherer (I probably spelled it wrong) used to just mean leader or boss ,but you dont hear that word bandied about any more,at least not by people who are disgusted by the atrocities of certain eras.but then its the intent of a word , not the word itself.and tom lehrer rocks
thanksforthemessdick 2 years ago
MLF = Multi-Lateral Force
mekav2 2 years ago 2
Okay, I seem to be the only one not getting this, but what does the MLF stand for?
krycelli 2 years ago
All the twelve Tom Lehrer songs from this channel have now been republished in better quality. Click the Lehrer icon or the username, go to the channel and select one of the uploaded HQ-versions :-) Don't forget to click the HQ-buttion.
6funswede 2 years ago
'Heil' is, I think, 'Hail' and anyone who's watched any World War II movies or documentaries can hear it being used as a salute to Hitler: "Heil Hitler." The Wehrmacht was originally a generic term referring d to the national defence forces (of any nation) but the Nazi conscription law of March 1935 made it the official name of Germany's unified armed forces (army, navy and air force) from 1935 to 1945.
'Bundeswehr' was the name given in 1955 to West Germany's armed forces.
MrsNorris55 2 years ago
It is, and "Sieg Heil" means "Hail victory".
Oiaku 2 years ago
Heil is actually an old and friendly greeting which is still used in some parts of Austria and Italy. Not every word which was used by an nazi is something evil ...
IchBinDaUndSo 2 years ago
No, for instance "Arbeit macht frei"
CodeKitten 2 years ago
Yep, because the Nazis were such great people you Austrian twat. lol
muzzyboy83 2 years ago
All correct.
Sephlock 2 years ago
Does anyone know the terms that he "accidentally" uses and then corrects? (1:16) -Just before "Hail our loyal allies" I tried to google them but clearly didn't have the spelling close enough to get anything.
Thanks!
sharpstems 2 years ago
heil and wermacht were the words.
wehrmacht was the 'defence force' of Germany.
csours 2 years ago
Strictly speaking the Wehrmacht was the term used to refer to the German army to the end of WW II. The Bundeswehr was the German defence force set up after WW II. The "Heil" reference needs no translation.
malthuswasright 2 years ago
fuck i accedentally rated one star... FORGIVE ME!
deora2dude 2 years ago 7
seems to be the original Tim Minchin.
=]
[that is intended as a compliment]
I like it.
realityVSimagination 2 years ago 3
whats MLF??
beastchief 2 years ago
Multilateral force
crozy79 2 years ago
thank you
beastchief 2 years ago
how old is he here? in his 30's?
moons160 2 years ago
moons160, yes, in his late thirties. Tom Lehrer was born on April 9th 1928, and this recording was made on September 10th 1967.
6funswede 2 years ago
He seems to have consistently looked at least 5 years younger than he actually is at any given point of his life.
hairwire 2 years ago
hairwire, now that's what Tom Lehrer would like to hear! Thank you :-)
6funswede 2 years ago
Ive been reading your responses... and why do you speak of Tom Lehrer like he lives in your basement? :V
Doughnut189 2 years ago 4
how do you know, how somebody speaks when they have an 81 year old genius in their basement?
TheDavynator0 2 years ago 3
Something tells me you are Mr Lehrer ;)
sonofecthelion 2 years ago
sonofecthelion, no, I'm not Tom Lehrer and neither am I as clever as he is. No, I'm just a stupid YouTuber :-)
6funswede 2 years ago
Just bought his record album that has this song on it . . . SO excited :)
emilyjunebug 2 years ago
emilyjunebug, that's nice to hear. You'll enjoy Lehrer and there's no-one like him :-)
6funswede 2 years ago
"Heil, i mean Hail, the Wermacht, i mean the Bundeswher" brilliant. Tom lehrer is a genius. about a week ago i had never heard of him and now i´m listening to his songs every day:)
serum234 2 years ago 8
We will all go together was played on a comedy station on "sirius satellite radio"yesterday, and i've been listing to this genius ever since. =1
Kinneticenergy 2 years ago 3
Twitcher64, If I'm not terribly mistaken Wernher Von Braun was much more willfully compliant than your account would imply. He, by his own account, was always interested in rocketry for the purpose of space exploration, and so did not have to be coerced into cooperating with American interests.
Also, he was taken prisoner by the Americans by his own intention, as he feared the harsher treatment that he would receive from the soviets.
And he played a key role in making the saturn rocket
producer111 2 years ago 7
Saturn V : From what I heard, V was not for 5 but "V" as in "V"on Braun....
numerista 2 years ago
mybe an inside joke at nasa but offically it does stand for 5.
TheDavynator0 2 years ago
I remember a famous, german Comedian who said something like: "Thanks to Amerika! Since you attacked Iraq, the world hates you more than us!"
Kaipi1990 2 years ago 8
Once i sang this song to a baby so he could fall asleep...and he did
gabrielx2games 3 years ago 41
MLF collapsed didn't it?
twitcher64 2 years ago
Without the fear of the Russians, the US would have treated the Germans quite differently. Lehrer was probably right to be sceptical of the Germans, but at least these fears turned out to be wrong and Germany happend to get "bombs".
wildhias 3 years ago 3
Is there a version with Lehrer's intro?
KGJUSMA 3 years ago
There's one thing i love about YouTube, I was watching Tim Minchin videos and someone said if i loved him I'd love Tom Leher....
They weren't wrong!:D
112rhavin3581321 3 years ago 2
Thank you. Yes, I enjoy Minchin too, and maybe he was inspired by Lehrer? It must be in that order, because Minchin was born in 1975. Tom Lehrer was born in 1928. Take care!
6funswede 3 years ago
yes. I also think that Michins inspiration comes from this genious..
jovo54 3 years ago
For a second I thought this said MILF Lullaby.
saywhatnowdude 3 years ago 6
iv thought that every time i listen to this lol
johnBGG 3 years ago
Heh heh, yes, well, we did not have MILF's back in 1965, but we had the MLF, which meant Multi Lateral Force. Check out Wikipedia.
6funswede 3 years ago
lol, seen it, love toms work lol, weird seeing as im 14, but all his songs are class
johnBGG 3 years ago 3
johnBGG, thank you so much, no, I don't think it's weird, a lot of Lehrer's stuff is timeless and you just have good taste when it comes to satire. Take care :-)
6funswede 3 years ago
same here. I'm 14 as well! ^^
mudkip201 3 years ago
men vad är MLF egentligen?
Airhockeylirare 3 years ago
yaaaaaaaaaaaaay im a sorehead im a sorehead!
Helenheart 3 years ago
I am a sorehead according to lehrer :)
nerdydev 3 years ago
absolute awesome! tom lehrer is brilliant.
"England says no, but they all are soreheads."
joelhamilton5 3 years ago
I thought it said Milf, But this is also good.
Mullahgrrl 3 years ago
llf this guy is amazing, is he still alive, when was this, im only 14, an this guy is soo funny
johnBGG 3 years ago 2
Yes, according to 6funswede turned 80 on April 9th.
This was in the 60's, I'm guessing.
darkuran 3 years ago
Tom Lehrer was born on April 9th 1928 and 39 years later he accepted that this performance, in September of 1967, was reorded to Ampex 2" video.
6funswede 3 years ago
There was a satirical television show hosted by David Frost called "That Was the Week that Was." Lehrer wrote these pieces for it. It was 1965, methinks. It's probably still available, but it was released on a vinyl called "That was the Year that Was." My CD has this designator:
It's a Reprise recording with barcode 7599-27434-2 .
Every bright person I know (I suspect you are one of them) has a Lehrer collection. His lyrics are always being quoted.
lskarin 3 years ago
Iskarin, click on username 6funswede and check out the favorites from when Lehrer was on David Frost. Unfortunately not stored in broadcast quality anymore.
6funswede 3 years ago
6funswede, thanks so much for sharing these Tom Lehrer videos! I used to cop these songs off records when I was a child - this one was always my favorite. Lehrer's acidic humor really puts the wood to the post-WWII FRG!
burdinus 3 years ago
at 00:10 he kind of stutters and forgets the words
nerdydev 3 years ago
For one, I salute you for sharing 12 of the best videos I have viewed on this medium. After your explanation .....I embrace you. A genius like this should be past on through the generations, as I am doing, like the family jewels. Vale Tom, thank you for the tears and laughter.
msfyn 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
The worst of Lehrer songs, though it does make a clear implication that the BDR government was as responsible of genocide as those utter fuckers on trial at Nuernberg. True, it allows for scope of viewing the DDR objectively and historically - as is.
pastrychef1985 3 years ago
I think it's it gets feeling many in the US (and in Germany) had back then.
millibua 3 years ago
Why is this the worst? I think it has a lovely tune, and an even better joke about the Germans.... perhaps you missed the Second World War and thus missed the joke?
iam18iswearreally 3 years ago 3
Hi Pastrychef1985. For a start, the former West Germany was the BRD. Lehrer's satire was aimed at neither the BRD nor the DDR... please remember that in the early-mid 1960s the Second World War and all that went with it was only 20 years ago and still a potent political symbol. Hence Mr Lehrer's commentary about the BRD's involvement in the MLF. And if nothing else, this song was a great early example of the stupidity of abbreviations
MarkJSau 3 years ago
Actually, I think this *was* aimed at the BRD and the way that many powerful figures from the Nazi era remained in power after the war - such as Gehlen, a Nazi spymaster who ran the post-war BDR's spy service. See the last part of H.H. Kirst's book "The Night of the Generals" for a fictional description of this phenomenon. Lehrer also refers to this in his song "Werner Von Braun"
djackmanson 3 years ago 3
Werner von Braun was captured by Americans after the war wasn't he? He was told he could work for them designing a space craft or go to jail (or possibly executed) as a POW and violating human rights. He designed the Saturn rocket I'm pretty sure.
twitcher64 2 years ago
Holy shit, would you look at this discussion? I'm 19 and I wish that my fellows would think & talk like this (in that order as well)! My college buddy turned me on to Lehrer a year ago and I just today started finding the songs that I've never heard of his. Organized religion is another problem for the youth of the U.S. Here in UT I met a girl who actually said to me (on the topic of the current war) "It's okay, the 2nd coming will have happened by the time the world wants to retaliate on us!"
RedheDude 3 years ago 5
I havn't heard this in 40 years! thank you for posting a ost gem . . . what a man.
paulbrann 3 years ago
Thank you for posting these! I've been a Tom Lehrer fan for 20 years, but I've never seen any of these. What a treat.
kkuchenb 3 years ago
when was this made? because he said in 1918 we taught them a lesson.....
moonclock12 3 years ago
1964-ish, I think.
The 1918 bit is a joke. "We taught them a lesson in 1918 and they've hardly bothered us since then..." You get the idea. Irony.
botffy 3 years ago
It was meant to be a joke, he's saying that WWI didn't teach the Germans anything which led to WWII. And I think this was recorded sometime in the '60s.
TheAmericanSuit 3 years ago
what happened at stanleyville?
adamwestrulz 3 years ago
it is in korea
Sargeras0000 3 years ago
Wrong, boss. Stanleyville, now called Kisangani, is the capital city of Congo, where African rebels took more than 1600 white hostages in 1964. Through Operation Dragon Rouge, America and Belgium, along with other professional soldiers, used military force to free the hostages.
degraaf1 3 years ago 4
Indeed, except of course that it isn't the capital city of Congo. It is in fact pretty much on the other side of the country.
schudder 3 years ago
Lehrer has an uncanny grasp of the repetition inherent in human history. Germany, once our greatest foe, is now one of our staunchest allies, but let us not forget that Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein were once our allies too.
oneofthe4truegods 4 years ago 14
Well, except that Germany is not a warfaring country or a dictator nowadays.
FoxGhost7 3 years ago
No, and the lion's share of the credit for that goes to the German people. Sometimes it seems the only cure for a warfaring nature is the horror of war itself.
oneofthe4truegods 3 years ago 9
And still the U.S. never do seem to learn, eh?
F4R207 3 years ago
We've been lucky. The last war of major carnage in the U.S ended in 1865. And while it seems incredible to refer to over half a million dead in WWII as "getting off easy", compared to the 3 million killed in Germany and the 20 million in Russia, including millions of civilian deaths that the U.S. managed to avoid, one can understand our continuing cavalier attitude toward warfare. It's still a game to us. Damn shame.
oneofthe4truegods 3 years ago 4
I guess it is easy to shelter to civilian population from the reality of war when it is not in the middle of one themselves.
The tradgedy of the overseas soldier is still not that of the horrible trauma of what a civilian population endures.. U.S. or other countries not touched by war, we're all guilty of living in our sheltred existence.
Where's the student rebelions when we need them? Take some notes from the ol' brits and their ol' King Mob..
F4R207 3 years ago
Good point. The people (mostly youths) who took to the streets in the 60's to protest Vietnam did this nation a great service, as for once the powers that be were compelled to listen to the will of the people. There are many trying now to end Bush's phony war, but without the catalyzing circumstance (aka the draft) a large part of the population, especially the young, can file it under SEP (somebody else's problem).
oneofthe4truegods 3 years ago
Maybe that's why there haven't been one (draft)? They don't want to risk it? I must say though that the french constantly amaze me on how quick they (their people, students, unions), still, show their miscontent and displeasure of their governing powers. Sweden feels a lot like the U.S. on all this, the reluctancy to express their (our) displeasure, sadly. Maybe the Anonymous "movement" will spread into somthing (not just against scientology) in the future? I'll keep an eye on that powderkeg.
F4R207 3 years ago 2
By all means, we must keep an eye on it. The mistake "our side" tends to make is assuming that powderkeg has to blow before real justice can be installed. Hve we really reached the point as a nation, indeed as a species, where only violence can impel us to do the right thing? Maybe so. In the 2000 election one of our most precious freedoms, self determination, was taken away, and it was sad to see a nation that once defended our rights by any means shrug and do nothing.
oneofthe4truegods 3 years ago 2
Your 2000 election was scary and as some one recently commented on in an auditorial in our local news paper over here "if the U.S. is going to govern the world, then I want a vote to".
Sadly violence (riot-style) will only give them what they want, turn the now fear from the outside into a fear from with in.. And we've seen what that leads to when government fules the populations fear for each other.
Still over here it's the same thing, this numbness, a people sedated and removed.
F4R207 3 years ago
I am impressed, my friend. You seem to have a better grip on the machinations of American politics than most Americans. The Vietnam protests of the 60's caught the powers that be off guard. Today they use the very tactics you describe. I went to one protest in Washington in 2004 where I was one of at least 35,00. A counter-protest featuring some country singer drew maybe 500. On the news that night the two events got equal coverage. A classic case of turning people against eachother.
oneofthe4truegods 3 years ago
The real damn shame is stupidity. Nuclear proliferation is a perfectly acceptable occurrence. It like the Second Amendment for nations, it prevents nations from pissing each other off too much. But it relies on both nations having the capacity to obliterate each other; no sane nation or person will commit sucide. The problem today is people of questionable sanity (radical Muslims) who have access to nuclear weapons and believe that they will be rewarded for the annhilation of the human race.
JohnGalt2718 3 years ago
Two major flaws in your reasoning, coach. #1. The second amendment, at least under its current outdated application, is a total failure. No civilized nation in history has seen the carnage that gun violence visits upon America. #2. Radical Muslims are a tiny, and generally uneducated minority with neither the know how nor the capital to obtain nuclear weapons. Radical Christians, especially those in executive positions, are a much greater threat to humanity.
oneofthe4truegods 3 years ago 2
You really think muslims are a tiny minority?? try to get a map of the religions around the world and you'll be surprised, and frightened. THEY are the majority...!!! I agree with you that radical catholics are as dangerous... exactly for the reason you give: power. In my country, argentina, they even intervene in the desitions of the supreme court....
xuxuloves 3 years ago
Bienvenidos a Argentina de Los Estados Unidos. Please re-read my statement. "Radical" muslims are a minority, just as child molesting Catholic priests are a minority. This is exactly why they get the press.
Religious fanatics of all stripes skew the political process, even in the United States with our "separation of church and state". Rational minds must presevere, and I applaud any and all who fight them, be they here, in Argentina or in muslim nations. We are on the same side, amigo.
oneofthe4truegods 3 years ago
OK. I think I got you. The problem is fanticism. Of any kind. ANd there are so many fanatics. And they do pull the strings in any society. It's sad and bad.Hello from buenos aires.
xuxuloves 3 years ago
So true, my friend. The blind, mindless absolutism of having some kind of God on your side renders rational debate impossible and fosters fanaticism to the point of criminality. In facing off against these dangers, good people of all faiths and nations need to stand up and have the courage to say, "If that is what your God wants, your God is wrong!" Greetings from Texas.
oneofthe4truegods 3 years ago
I couldn't agree more with you. God makes so many wrongs.... I wasn't raised in religion, and i'm glad it was like that. Greetings from from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
xuxuloves 3 years ago
I too was raised to think for myself, and we are blessed for it. Have you seen the Foz de Iguacu? If I could see only one sight for the rest of my life, that is what I would choose.
oneofthe4truegods 3 years ago
Finally someone gets it. Ever since the september eleventh catastrophe there's been so much bias against Islam (theree's always been a lot but now its worse.) My parents attempted to sabotage my friendship with a childhood friend of mine because of it. All us sane folks better do something quick or prepare for WWIII because things are getting waaaay too out of hand. If you can see it and I can see it why is the rest of the world blind and deaf to reason?
Hi from New York City.
Gabrielle261 3 years ago 4
Why would anyone be biased against a religion where cutting people's heads off because they're not a member and stoning women in the street because they went outside without a permission note from a male relative, or because they were raped is accepted practice?
RedwoodTheElf 3 years ago
That's just the extremists. Just because there are a few Muslims who are completely off their nut doesn't mean there can't be a few perfectly respectable folks who believe in a different sect of the same religion. Just like you'll find some crazy Jews or Insane Christians or Hindus or Buddhists or Taoists etc etc the rest are all fine. I don't know about you, but I for one don't believe in labeling hundreds of thousands of people based upon the psychotic acts of a few knuckleheads.
Gabrielle261 3 years ago 2
It's part of Sharia law. (AKA the law of the land in Saudia Arabia, Iran, etc)
RedwoodTheElf 3 years ago
Being only 14 years old, and living in the United States (where difference of religion is tolerated...there is literally a "church of Satan" in the USA...do you think such a thing would be allowed in Iran? In Saudi Arabia?)
RedwoodTheElf 3 years ago 2
So? According to old Jewish law, adultery was punishable by stoning (remember the famous scene in the Bible where Jesus says, 'LET HE WHO IS WITHOUT SIN CAST THE FIRST STONE'?). Likewise, Christian law was just as oppressive for centuries. The issue isn't religion in itself; rather, it's separation of church and state. The West has it; the Middle East, with a few exceptions, does not.
BlackSabbath84 3 years ago 5
The key word there is "was"...with Sharia law, the key word is "is."
There IS no separation of church and state in Islam...the church IS the state. That's what Sharia law IS. Go watch the movie "Fitna" here on YouTube. That's not stuff that happened centuries ago, that's happening TODAY.
RedwoodTheElf 3 years ago
Uh, yeah. That's...what I just said. Actually, it isn't, but it almost is. The church/state thing isn't inherent in Islam. It is, however, inherent in the authoritarian political systems of many middle eastern nations. Listen, I happen to know quite a few Muslim Americans, and every single one of them is a strong believer in separation of church and state.
I guess what I was saying was that any religion can be twisted to support an authoritarian social system, not just Islam.
BlackSabbath84 3 years ago
That's just the extremists. Just because there are a few Muslims who are completely off their nut doesn't mean there can't be a few perfectly respectable folks who believe in a different sect of the same religion. Just like you'll find some crazy Jews or Insane Christians or Hindus or Buddhists or Taoists etc etc the rest are all fine. I don't know about you, but I for one don't believe in labeling hundreds of thousands of people based upon the psychotic acts of a few knuckleheads.
Gabrielle261 3 years ago 7
not to downplay your argument, but I would love to see a fundamentalist Taoist. OH SHIT SO MUCH HARMONY
daffyphack 2 years ago
Interesting that you think you separate church and state: Why then did E Pluribus Unum give way to "In God We Trust" ? Many people even think the two synonomous. I put it to you that we in England separate the church but America scares us because all its leaders have that religious zeal that excites the voters and their old time belief . . . it is comforting to know you are not the fanatics.
webwolfhound 3 years ago
I assume you refer to the US in general when you say "..you think you separate church and state." While I definitely feel full separation of the two entities is essential to a free society, I do not delude myself into thinking we have achieved it. Quite the contrary, the religious right has a virtual stranglehold on all three branches of our government, and it is a terrifying situation. One stroke of a pen could reinstitute the inquisition or launch a crusade (2003, for example.)
oneofthe4truegods 3 years ago 2
According to my admittedly rudimentary knowledge of English history, the separation of church and state in England had its roots in Henry VIII wanting to screw around. If so, we desperately need Bill Clinton back in the White House. :)
oneofthe4truegods 3 years ago
Er no Henry VIII (who did indeed want to screw around) made himself head of the church of england Joining church and state (head of state is also head of the church of england) whilst breaking from Rome and the pope
igornonsuch 3 years ago
I stand corrected. (Note the "rudimentary knowledge" concession) I guess Henry simply traded one religion dominating the state for another. Divine right of kings and all that rot. Still, I did get his motivation right, didn't I? Find 'em, fool 'em, behead 'em.
oneofthe4truegods 3 years ago
His idea was more along the lines of 'The church must act in the interest of the state (ie me) or at least not oppose it Rather than the state (ie me) be expected to act in the interest of church (ie the pope) The pope excommunicated him and the rest is history so to speak. But at the root of it was his desire for a divorce Find 'em Fool 'em Get rid of them one way or another!
igornonsuch 3 years ago
Hard to say which is worse, the church acting in the interest of the state, or vice versa, as many seem to think it should be today. On the bright side, a state working in tandem with the predominant church should be able to tax the living guacamole out of it. When it comes to growth industries, the evangelical churches make Exxon-Mobil look like Skippy's Handy Mart.
oneofthe4truegods 3 years ago
John Galt hmm? You certainly aren't spouting his philosophies here.
Nuclear proliferation doesn't rest on the capacity of both nations to obliterate each other...that sounds like a tense, irksome communism. And while suicide may be considered insane in one culture, it's perfectly acceptable in others. If someone doesn't believe what they're doing is wrong, is it? And how do you plan to convince them of that?
Nuclear weapons aren't desirable, but perhaps the best word is inevitable.
SnapeSoul 3 years ago
As I see it, the problem here is that it only takes one person or a very small group of people to launch a nuke and cause the death of hundreds of thousands both in their own nations and in others. By that reasoning, I would hardly call using nukes "suicide." Just because the leaders of a country or the people in charge decide something is right doesn't mean everybody agrees - the current US government is proof of that!
arizua99 3 years ago 2
Tom Lehrer is a true genious! I'm ashamed that I just learned about him today!
ApollonasKalamarias 4 years ago 2
tisk tisk
mwal722 4 years ago
I just learned about him yesterday and already I've listened to all of his songs...he's really funny =^_^=
wakarimasengomen 3 years ago 3
Tom turns 80 on April 9, 08. Let's have a Tom day. Pass it on.
margot980 4 years ago 20
'They've hardly bothered us since then'... that's the joke.
somptant 4 years ago 14
A beautiful lullaby if you just listen to the music, that was a huge part of his genius, the music itself. Also, I always wondered about his reference to the fact that the Germans were taught a lesson in 1918, and hadn't bothered us since then. What about WWII though? I think they made their presence felt a bit in the 1940s, no?
garylobo3 4 years ago
The point is that he (jokingly) forgets what happened the last time Germany signed a peace treaty.
LatwPIAT 4 years ago 9
This comment has received too many negative votes show
i think he means the germans were nothing agianst the americans
coolhammerNL 4 years ago
I beg to differ.
What hwe sings about is clearly USA "forgetting" that Germany betrayed the peace once and could do so again, even worse since the USA plans to give them nukes.
Ad if the Germans were nothing against the americans, the war wouldn't have been so long. Overzealousness shouldn't come at the xpence of reality.
LatwPIAT 4 years ago 6