Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Happy Springtime!

(or Autumn, if you're on that side of the planet).

My favorite ode to spring, courtesy of the great Tom Lehrer:

Spring is hereSpring is hereLife is skittles and life is beerI think the loveliest timeOf the year is the springI do, don't you? 'Course you doBut there's one thingThat makes spring complete for meAnd makes every SundayA treat for me
All the world seems in tuneOn a spring afternoonWhen we're poisoning pigeons in the parkEvery Sunday you'll seeMy sweetheart and meAs we poison the pigeons in the park
When they see us comingThe birdies all try and hideBut they still go for peanutsWhen coated with cyanideThe sun's shining brightEverything seems all rightWhen we're poisoning pigeons in the park
We've gained notorietyAnd caused much anxietyIn the Audubon SocietyWith our gamesThey call it impietyAnd lack of proprietyAnd quite a varietyOf unpleasant namesBut it's not against any religionTo want to dispose of a pigeon
So if Sunday you're freeWhy don't you come with meAnd we'll poison the pigeons in the parkAnd maybe we'll doIn a squirrel or twoWhile we're poisoning pigeons in the park
We'll murder them allAmid laughter and merrimentExcept for the fewWe take home to experimentMy pulse will be quickenin'With each drop of strychnineWe feed to a pigeon(It just takes a smidgin!)To poison a pigeon in the park

7 comments:

  1. I remember hearing this, along with a number of other classics by Tom Lehrer, for the first time as a high schooler. I felt like I'd been inducted into some secret society of esoteric knowledge.

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  2. I guess this went over my head as I didn't appreciate it at all.

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  3. The heartfelt beauty of this song brings tears to the eye. Even better than the bullfighting song, that half ton of angry pot roast giving its all.

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  4. Holy crap up from my nap
    Life is not fair. I’m confronted by Tom Lehrer
    He was so bold
    But now we are just so very old

    One had to live through the counter culture era to even know who the artist is. I looked him up and he still alive
    I seriously had not given him a thought for so many years and the memory of that brings me great tears

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  5. We attended an Evening with Tom Lehrer in San Francisco >40 years ago. It was eye-opening. The U.S. needs more Tom Lehrers.

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  6. Thank you, ever so much for this! I kept getting wishes for a happy equinox AND kept singing this (thinking about Tom Lehrer), but couldn’t figure out why. My memory has gotten so bad rather quickly, and I’m much too young to know who Tom Lehrer is. Thanks again for the laughs!

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  7. Delightful! The inclusion of "a squirrel or two" finished me off, and there was no cyanide involved at all.

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So wadda you think?