Over the years a lot of people have been offended by this song, also on YouTube.
Now you can read Tom Lehrer's own introduction to the song, played by The Music Show in Australia when he was interviewed on the telephone a few years ago:
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Another big news story of the year (1965) concerned the Ecumenical Council in Rome, known as Vatican II. Among the things they did, in an attempt to make the church more commercial, was to introduce the vernacular into portions of the mass to replace Latin, and to widen somewhat the range of music permissible in the liturgy. But I feel that if they really want to sell the product in this secular age, what they ought to do is to re-do some of the liturgical music in popular song forms. I have a modest example here. It's called The Vatican Rag...
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Lehrer said "OK" to "The Tom Lehrer Wisdom Channel" on YouTube, as long as the performance is not altered and as long as it's free in the YouTube flash video format. Do NOT ask for any video originals, ever again.
Click on the Lehrer icon and visit the channel's front page. The channel is Lehrer only. And here is a link to a NEW channel support page:
Recording date: September 10th 1967 Format: Ampex Quadruplex PAL 4:3 Status: A very rare recording Storage: Sony Digital Betacam Production and preservation: The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation - the NRK, Norway. More here:
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They also believed that the bread and wine represented Jesus Christ. The bread his body and the wine his blood. Sorry, I forgot to add that little bit in there :)
Actually, they don't merely represent them. They literally physically transform (transubtantiate) into the real, genuine flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. And you subsequently eat and drink that.
Anyway, that's what the Catholics (have to) believe.
To transubstantiate is when you eat the bread or crackers and drink the wine in catholic traditions. You ever saw at church services they hand out like crackers and wine? That transubstantiation.
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Anyway, that's what the Catholics (have to) believe.
So I can get a Jesus Steak (tm) if I go to church?
As an ex-catholic I must correct you: According to Catholic faith they really "become" the flesh and blood (CCC 1333).
I think it is utterly nonsense, but this is catholic dogma, at least since Trento (Session XIII, Chapter 3).