Tom Lehrer - Lobachevsky

Who made me the genius I am today,
The mathematician that others all quote,
Who's the professor that made me that way?
The greatest that ever got chalk on his coat.

One man deserves the credit,
One man deserves the blame,
And nicolai ivanovich lobachevsky is his name.
Hi!
Nicolai ivanovich lobach-

I am never forget the day I first meet the great lobachevsky.
In one word he told me secret of success in mathematics:
Plagiarize!

Plagiarize,
Let no one else's work evade your eyes,
Remember why the good lord made your eyes,
So don't shade your eyes,
But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize -
Only be sure always to call it please 'research'.

And ever since I meet this man
My life is not the same,
And nicolai ivanovich lobachevsky is his name.
Hi!
Nicolai ivanovich lobach-

I am never forget the day I am given first original paper
To write. it was on analytic and algebraic topology of
Locally euclidean parameterization of infinitely differentiable
Riemannian manifold.
Bozhe moi!
This I know from nothing.
But I think of great lobachevsky and get idea - ahah!

I have a friend in minsk,
Who has a friend in pinsk,
Whose friend in omsk
Has friend in tomsk
With friend in akmolinsk.
His friend in alexandrovsk
Has friend in petropavlovsk,
Whose friend somehow
Is solving now
The problem in dnepropetrovsk.

And when his work is done -
Ha ha! - begins the fun.
From dnepropetrovsk
To petropavlovsk,
By way of iliysk,
And novorossiysk,
To alexandrovsk to akmolinsk
To tomsk to omsk
To pinsk to minsk
To me the news will run,
Yes, to me the news will run!

And then I write
By morning, night,
And afternoon,
And pretty soon
My name in dnepropetrovsk is cursed,
When he finds out I publish first!

And who made me a big success
And brought me wealth and fame?
Nicolai ivanovich lobachevsky is his name.
Hi!
Nicolai ivanovich lobach -

I am never forget the day my first book is published.
Every chapter I stole from somewhere else.
Index I copy from old vladivostok telephone directory.
This book was sensational!
Pravda - well, pravda - pravda said: (russian double-talk)
It stinks.
But izvestia! izvestia said: (russian double-talk)
It stinks.
Metro-goldwyn-moskva buys movie rights for six million rubles,
Changing title to 'the eternal triangle',
With brigitte bardot playing part of hypotenuse.

And who deserves the credit?
And who deserves the blame?
Nicolai ivanovich lobachevsky is his name.
Hi!

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Lobachevsky
• Tom
• lehrer
• songs
• and
• more

[PhantomZombi3]

I honestly don't believe I could count the number of places these lyrics are incorrect, minor errors, but errors all the same

[slayerowns666]

@PhantomZombi3

I just cut and paste from lyrics I found for the song on the internet, turns out it's a different version.

[Myskomunken]

In the text it sais: "With brigitte bardot playing part of hypotenuse."

But in the songs he sings Ingrid Bergman. ^^

[slayerowns666]

@Myskomunken

Great Scott! You're right!

[affablegiraffable]

that was amazing

[slayerowns666]

@affablegiraffable

Isn't it?

[concertfan214]

I have the one with Doris Day as hypoteneuse.

[propertyofranger]

This is brilliant! I hate everything to do with maths normally, but I'll make an exception for Tom Lehrer's music :)

[battlemodeactivate]

@slayerowns666 Hah! Plagiarize! :)

[chaingrower]

always fun, but just isnt the same without the HHHHHHHHhhhypotenuse :P

[teacherspeakout]

Lehrer fans love the new dramatization of Tom Lehrer's Lobachevsky.

Search "I have a friend in minsk" (in quotes) to find it.

[kwetzler624]

He sings Brigitte Bardot in the live version.

[WeShallBurnInHeck]

Some lines in Tom Lerher's songs are so universally funny that they sound strange without the pause for the crowd to laugh :)