Tom Lehrer Releases His Lyrics To Public Domain

alantig · 20 Sep 2006

The legendary Tom Lehrer, at age 92, has decided to release all of his lyrics and sheet music to the public domain.

From his web site https://tomlehrersongs.com/:

Quote:

DISCLAIMER STATEMENT

I, Tom Lehrer, and the Tom Lehrer Trust 2000, hereby grant the following permission:

All the lyrics on this website, whether published or unpublished, copyrighted or uncopyrighted, may be downloaded and used in any manner whatsoever, without requiring any further permission from me or any payment to me or to anyone else.

Some lyrics written by Tom Lehrer to copyrighted music by others are included herein, but of course such music may not be used without permission of the copyright owners. (The translated songs may be found in their original languages on YouTube.)

In other words, all the lyrics herein should be treated as though they were in the public domain.

In particular, permission is hereby granted to anyone to set any of these lyrics to their own music and publish or perform their versions without fear of legal action.

This permission applies only to the lyrics on this website. Most of the music written by Tom Lehrer will be added gradually later with further disclaimers.

Note: This website will be shut down on December 31, 2024, so if you want to download anything, don’t wait too long.

I’ve been a fan of Tom Lehrer’s since the 70s, hearing him most often on the Dr. Demento show. So many classic witty and intelligently written songs. I’m not ashamed to say I paid attention to “The Elements” in the hopes that it would help make things stick. “So Long, Mom”, “Werner Von Braun”, “The Vatican Rag” (“Genuflect! Genuflect! Genuflect!), “Oedipus Rex”, and my favorites, “The Masochism Tango” and “Poisoning Pigeons In The Park”. So great to see him release this stuff so that artists in the future can use it creatively without regard to have to pay someone.

PeterJ · 16 May 2007

He's 92? Wow! Good for him!

I enjoy his music, too. I saw the show made from his songs called "Tomfoolery" in the early '80s and thought it was fun. Somewhere I have the box set of his recordings that came out several years ago.

Robert Meagher · 30 Sep 2006

I love all his stuff - especially The Elements. I wish he had done more but perhaps he decided he'd stop while on top so to speak.

cryton · **Joined:** 06 Feb 2007 **Posts:** 5215

I first heard Tom Lehrer when one of my elementary school teachers brought “That Was The Year That Was” to school and played it for the class. (I think I was in 6th grade at the time). I remember saving my money and ordering the album from J.C. Penney. (Our J.C. Penny store had a small record department back in those days - I bought some of my first 45’s there). “Who’s Next” was my favorite Lehrer song, other favorites included “New Math”, “The Vatican Rag”, “Wernher Von Braun”, and “Smut”.

Simon · **Joined:** 26 Oct 2006 **Posts:** 59410

National Brotherhood Week and Who's Next were favourites of mine as a kid. My Dad had the LP of That Was The Year That Was and Poisoning Pigeons In The Park as well as An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer. I remember his songs fondly. He's one of the funniest and most intelligent comedians I've ever heard.

Simon · **Joined:** 26 Oct 2006 **Posts:** 59410

alantig · 20 Sep 2006

Simon wrote:

National Brotherhood Week and Who's Next were favourites of mine as a kid. My Dad had the LP of That Was The Year That Was and Poisoning Pigeons In The Park as well as An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer. I remember his songs fondly. He's one of the funniest and most intelligent comedians I've ever heard.

He's one of the comedians who didn't hide his intelligence. A lot of those guys are really smart, they just don't advertise it.

Despite the fact that I disagreed with his point, I still laugh every time I hear the intro to this song and he says, "...apart from rock and roll and other children's records..."

Ocean Doot · 25 Oct 2007

alantig wrote:

Despite the fact that I disagreed with his point, I still laugh every time I hear the intro to this song and he says, "...apart from rock and roll and other children's records..."

What a square!

Tom Lehrer Releases His Lyrics To Public Domain

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