The Politics in Musical Parody - FOTC and Tom Lehrer

Ok, so many may feel they’ve had their fill of comedy in song, mostly because these attempts are frequently not-so-interesting musically, and not sooo funny comedy-wise. But sometimes the stars do align and it’s fricken brilliant. Comedy can open a door to subject matter that’s taboo and song can trigger layers of emotion, so when the two are well combined the final result makes the risks of lameness well worth it.

Take for example, my favorite Flight of the Conchords songs, Issues and The Distant Future. Both balance silliness with a real sharp-edged critique slipped in, and there’s a sorrow lurking behind the humour, and an worry for way the world goes that makes them able to connect with real life and concerns:

check out the brilliant Tom Lehrer making jabs at the status quo much fiercer then anything I’ve heard contemporaneously. Here’s Lehrer singing National Brotherhood Week, and So Long Mom from the days way back when Youtube was in black and white (1960’s, actually). His mix of jaunty piano and shocking brutal lyrics about race and world war create the exact tension that defines the height of this genre, in my opinion:

and hey, PS! Lehrer also wrote songs about numbers that made geeks happy, as I learned from the sweet tribute to Lehrer on the Official Google Blog this week.