My grade 9 science teacher gave us the option to either write the chemistry test, or memorize this song. He had been working at the school for 20+ years, and many students had attempted to memorize the song in the 2 weeks notice he had givin, but no one had done it to that point. My friend and I both attempted that song, and with tireless hours of memorization, I actually manged to get the song down, present it in front of the class, and receive a 100% in the chemistry unit. I can't remember if my friend was successful, but all I know is with the amount of time I spent learning this song, I probably could've just studied for the test, and gotten 100%😂
Will you now ever forget the periodic table of elements? A song is a great way of learning them permanently, where as by simply studying, you would have remembered them for the test but they would have drained out of your brain as other information replaced them. I've learned the 50 US states in alphabetical order from Ray Charles' "50 Nifty United States", the Preamble to the Constitution from School House Rock, and enough philosophers to pass my University PHIL 101 exam from Monty Python's "Philosophers' Song"
@@johndemeritt3460 Of course, but Socrates wasn't hard to remember. It was Kant, Heidegger, Hume, Schopenhauer, Hegel, Wittgenstein, Schlegel, Hobbs and Mill. That song is brilliant for keeping track of all those similar names.
@@tessat338, fair enough . . . I've had more exposure to all those German philosophers than I ever expected in the 10+ years I've been pursuing a PhD in Sociology. You'd be surprised how fast a PhD can run!
I kinda love the line “these are the only ones of which the news has come to Harvard” because Tom Lehrer was actually incredibly brilliant and both studied and taught math at Harvard
One of my fave lines. Always comes to mind when shops claim that they've never heard of an item I've bought for years. A family fave riposte to yes we have no bananas.
I’ve never understood how Tom can sing this from memory! It amazes me how he memorised the entire list of elements but he is word perfect as he sings it!
By the way, Aristotle didn’t believe the atoms existed at all. Instead, he believed that all matter is composed of some sort of a mixture of those four elements.
I memorized this and sang it for my science class when I was in sixth grade. I got many astonished looks, along with some pretty handsome extra credit ;)
I learned/memorized this on a bet from my 8th grade science teacher. Turns out he was joking about providing a prize to anyone who memorized it (and could keep up with Lehrer) but I did it, and true to his word, he did provide a prize. And showed me off to other teachers. I used the song as a camp fire act at boy scouts until it became tired and I retired it when I was a Junior in High School, also known as 11th grade, or when I was 16 for those outside the US education system. But it is burned into my mind. I will not, can not forget it.
Applause for you. I listened to this song hundreds of times, decades ago. Was always fascinated by his genius and I know the words to most of his other parodies but never mastered this one. Just like to watch him pull it off!
I can... didn't try to put I listened to it so often it's stuck In my voice so when I recite them all I hear him singing it in my head. That's how I remember it
I finally got my hands on the sheet music. It says 'play as fast as possible.' Never saw that tempo marking before but now I get it. I need to be as fast as possible and then twice as fast as that plus another really fucking fast. This guy...wow.
OMG!! THIS!!!! My science teacher in school once played this song on repeat for a whole hour long lesson and I never knew what or who it was, I have nothing to describe the hate and love I feel for this song 😁 That teacher was a brilliant but evil genius 🤣
I always give my chemistry students an opportunity to earn extra credit by memorizing this song. When they come to me at the end of the year to tell me it's impossible, I play a video of my daughter singing this for her 5th grade talent show! Also, I loved the tribute to Aristotle!
@@rickydumas9994 And apparently, he memorized it over the weekend!? Freaking actors! I memorized four elements per week! My next project is "Amsterdam" by Jacques Brel. I don't speak a word of French, so it's fun!
True Fun fact: Two elements are related to Copenhagen where this recording took place: 72 Hafnium discovered in Copenhagen (Hafnia in Latin) in 1923 by Coster and Hevesy 107 Bohrium is named after the Danish physicist Niels Bohr was born and lived in Copenhagen. He got the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohrium has not been found in nature and was first created in 1981. So it is not in the performed song. Extra: Lawrencium wasn't the newest element at the time of the recording while element number 104 was created in 1964 in The Sovjet Union and they named it Kurchatovium. In 1969 US scientists also created it but named i Rutherfordium. Both teams claimed the rights to the name so until it was settled the name Unnilquadrium (1 0 4 in Latin plus -rium) was used. In 1997 they agreed on Rutherfordium and the Sovjet got Dubnium for number 106 which is named after the Sovjet group Dubna who created it in 1968.
Tom Lehrer is a national treasure. I first heard this song in 1969, when I was taking high school chemistry. It resulted in my listening to the other songs on the record album (yes, I'm old), and so began my attraction to Lehrer's work. My kids (and I hope, their kids) like him as well...I made sure of that. He's proof that math teachers can also be rock stars.
You gotta love this song.... it's just amazing and it's brilliant to hear him singing it live (and a fair bit faster than most recordings!). Yeah sure there was the repeat gold but whatever, I can't just not love it. Between him himself and the song he's written this video is one of my all time favourites!
I assume it's intentional--he actually says "gold in californium," which I'm guessing is a jokey reference to the California gold rush that he was slipping in to see who noticed, or just to amuse himself. If he were going to actually flub an element in this song, it wouldn't be sulfur.
+Ricardo Bitterman Part of the charm - plus, there are ways to be dark without being offensive or sarcastic. It's one thing for an artist to goad you gently to look at the deepest parts of the human psyche and another to yank you from your hair and force feed you a mirror.
I’m honestly relieved to be reminded of Tom Lerher’s song. The alternative paints her as some sort of eldritch being of incomprehensible knowledge. One BLeeM is enough, thank you.
I love being able to watch/hear him yet again! He was such a nerdy guy in the 60s... a little different by the 90s. Fabulous - wish I'd had him as one of my teachers!!
Actually, the two types of memorization reinforce one another. Pro-Tip: if you're trying to memorize a speech, move and make gestures while reciting out loud - getting muscle-memory involved will speed the process
+Christy Newhouse (ProxyQueenGrace04) This song was sung to the tune of I am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General, so if this is rapping, so was the Gilbert & Sullivan original - though it was called a Patter Song back then.
The first time I heard this song was when I was 3 and at the dinner table I’ve always loved chemistry 🧪 and physics. It’s been six years and I still love this song I hope I will be able to learn the periodic table by 2020
My late Dad (RIP) often sang 2 Tom Lehrer songs at parties, but not this one, (although had he known of it's existence, he would have given it his best shot!) His two were "The Irish ballad" and "I hold your hand in mine, dear"
There's a wonderfully subtle joke hidden in here: the notes he plays JUST before singing are the same as played by Grumpy on the organ before each verse of "A Silly Song"!
There were 102 elements in the Periodic table in 1960. There are now 122. A BRILLIANT SONG AND SOOO DIFFICULT TO SING. He'd need another verse!! LOL Love Mr Lehrer and he was a significant song writer of my youth and still.
I just love Tom Lehrer. While some of his language is definitely outdated, the spirit of his songs are very joyfully satirical, and he is to this day hilarious.
Hadn't heard the earlier version of the song before. Lehrer and his musical satires have been a fresh air of relief. If only he were still composing today at 92 (April 2020) - he'd no doubt write a brilliant satire of our leader's butched response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
I have this song on one of Dr. Demento's radio show weird music CD compilations.This is for the original version. The Elements (live) - 1959 - "Tom Lehrer was one of comedy's great paradoxes --- a respected Harvard mathematics professor by day, he also was among the foremost song satirist of the postwar era. Mike Kadas a music collector from Portland, Oregon 97214
I remembered seeing someone do this song, at theatre 501 upstages on Battersea Park Road. Such a cracking song if the singing has got the right tempo and vocal strength. Without breaking out in laughter.
I love that Sheldon Cooper, in Big Bang Theory, sang it at his award ceremony. Drunk. 😹From creation in 1959 to a 2009 tv show. I think Tom Lehrer is and always will be a classic. ‘That Was the Week That Was’, 1964, is still pertinent today, which is kinda scary. We should be better than that by now. 😿
@@Krzyszczynski, I'm pretty sure you're right about Hottentots, but if I recall correctly (and with narcolepsy as my constant and unwelcome companion, I'm never sure), the indigenous people of Alaska identify as Eskimos, while the First Nations people of the far north of Canada and the indigenous people of Greenland identify as Inuit. Either way, I'll gladly defer to them. But I'm loathe to change Lehrer's original lyrics, in part because they work in the context of the song and because they are a historical artifact of the times.
In this live performance, he makes a mistake, Mr. Tom Lehrer says gold twice and forgets sulfur 1st gold: 0:39, second gold: 1:24. The second gold that he says is supposed to be sulfur, trust me, I know all the elements up to date and I know the lyrics to this song.
We were introduced to this song at school in Chemistry class ! It was featured in an educational film we watched ! Incidentally I love Aristotle's 'Earth, Air, Fire + Water' version !
Over a decade ago when I was in 11th grade chemistry, the super cool teacher said if anybody can sing the elements song in front of the class they don't have to take the final. Nobody took her up on the offer.
Damiano Ledda He claims to have retired from humor when Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize, because once that happened 'Political satire became obsolete.'
Holy crap. My awesome chem teacher showed us this song, with images superimposed over his singing. It's so much more impressive seeing him do it live, even with the small mishap through the middle. And the ending with Aristotle's version was hilarious.
0:01 (claps) 0:07 _Now, here's the song I get requests for but I can't understand for the life of me why_ (uhh) 0:12 _it's simply the names of the chemical elements,_ 0:16 _set to a Gilbert and Sullivan tune._ 0:19 _I think the only reason I do it,_ 0:20 _is if to see, if i still can._ 0:21 _we'll try._ 0:21 (Music) 0:30 There's Antimony 0:31 Arsenic 0:31 Aluminum 0:31 Selenium 0:32 And Hydrogen and 0:33 Oxygen and 0:33 Nitrogen and 0:33 Rhenium 0:34 And Nickel 0:34 Neodymium 0:34 Neptunium 0:35 Germanium 0:35 and Iron 0:36 Americium 0:36 Ruthenium 0:37 Uranium 0:37 Europium 0:37 Zirconium 0:38 Lutetium 0:38 Vanadium 0:38 And Lanthanum 0:39 And Osmium 0:39 And Astatine 0:40 And Radium 0:41 And Gold 0:41 And Titanium 0:41 And Indium 0:42 And Gallium (Deep breath) 0:44 And Iodine 0:44 And Thorium 0:44 And Thulium 0:44 And Thallium I'll update if you like or else I won't get reminded and I'm not a like beggar
I've loved this tune since the 70s and used it as part of a video many times whilst teaching. His other songs (such as Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, and I Hold Your Hand in Mine) all great laughs too.
I'm 16 and I knew this song before hearing Daniel Radcliffe sing it. It's sad that many people don't know or appreciate the brilliant work of Tom Lehrer.
The 24 "dislikes" are probably people who failed chemistry and maybe worse, Humanities majors. I dream this song in my sleep because I love it so much.
First of all, I love that this was recorded from a Danish channel xD 2nd of all, I remember my science teacher in 10th grade making us listen to this song over and over to learn the periodic table xD Honestly a pretty good way to do it :P
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
he enunciates so well that the auto subtitles are nearly accurate
Rghit. Smoe of us mrerly mubmle. Hdar to tarnsrcibe.
Yeah pretty good for most, but damn I burst in laughter at 1:34
"Nazi nazi can rodeo McClure coca-cola copper tungsten sodium these" WTF :D
omos prefrect
@@GStreetEntertainment I turned on subtitles just before this bit and was odly surprised.
@@amazing763 Youm grot dat righft
My grade 9 science teacher gave us the option to either write the chemistry test, or memorize this song. He had been working at the school for 20+ years, and many students had attempted to memorize the song in the 2 weeks notice he had givin, but no one had done it to that point. My friend and I both attempted that song, and with tireless hours of memorization, I actually manged to get the song down, present it in front of the class, and receive a 100% in the chemistry unit. I can't remember if my friend was successful, but all I know is with the amount of time I spent learning this song, I probably could've just studied for the test, and gotten 100%😂
LOL
Will you now ever forget the periodic table of elements? A song is a great way of learning them permanently, where as by simply studying, you would have remembered them for the test but they would have drained out of your brain as other information replaced them. I've learned the 50 US states in alphabetical order from Ray Charles' "50 Nifty United States", the Preamble to the Constitution from School House Rock, and enough philosophers to pass my University PHIL 101 exam from Monty Python's "Philosophers' Song"
@@tessat338, did you remember to quote them singing, "Socrates himself is permanently pissed"?
@@johndemeritt3460 Of course, but Socrates wasn't hard to remember. It was Kant, Heidegger, Hume, Schopenhauer, Hegel, Wittgenstein, Schlegel, Hobbs and Mill. That song is brilliant for keeping track of all those similar names.
@@tessat338, fair enough . . . I've had more exposure to all those German philosophers than I ever expected in the 10+ years I've been pursuing a PhD in Sociology. You'd be surprised how fast a PhD can run!
I kinda love the line “these are the only ones of which the news has come to Harvard” because Tom Lehrer was actually incredibly brilliant and both studied and taught math at Harvard
YES, YES, YES AND YES.
One of my fave lines. Always comes to mind when shops claim that they've never heard of an item I've bought for years.
A family fave riposte to yes we have no bananas.
He's still alive..!
"Haaaahvahd", please.
it's very funny because "Lehrer" literally means "teacher" in german
that crowd knows how to clap.
It's... spooky.
Denmark, even.
Do the Germans do this, too?
I think it might be an issue with the audio. It might be leaving out some of the levels?
no, they just clapped like that
Anyone else find it funny how most of his songs are educational, and his last name is Lehrer, which is the German word for Teacher?
I do
Most of his songs are satirical, there are really only one or two songs that are educational, but he is a professor at UC Santa Clara I think
Most? He has a song named Masochism Tango
??? Isn’t he American?
Indeed most of his songs are educational. I certainly learned a lot from Be Prepared and Lobachevsky.
AHH!! just LOVED that last bit!! "There's Earth and Air and Fire and Water."
!!!!!
That's how you get nerds to laugh :P
It's not on the album version, so this is actually the first time I've heard Aristotle's version. Only 50 years later!
That's priceless 😂😂😂 I hadn't heard that bit either.
@@thejoyofsoxmovie7211 Same!😆
There's Earth and air and fire and water.
Brilliant
Da dadaladada... DUN DUN
@@larawabsie Not any elements: Da, dadaladada, or DUN.
Shave and a Haircut: Two Bits!
Quibblish I died
Look. Tom Lerher is a genius. Without him, we wouldn't have Weird Al, and we also wouldn't have the Vatican Rag, arguably, his greatest song.
Lehrer
Genuflect when you say that!
Allan Sherman too
Or the Masochism Tango!
Tim Minchin also has a clear lehrer vibe too, he inspired a lot of people
I’ve never understood how Tom can sing this from memory! It amazes me how he memorised the entire list of elements but he is word perfect as he sings it!
BRILLIANCE.
It just takes practice and listening over and over.
...and plays the piano to accompany himself.
Without looking at the keys.
erm, actually, it wasn’t word perfect because he replaced sulfur with gold 🤓🤓
@@sinisterthewormguy He also forgot lawrencium
Fun fact: Tom Lehrer is 80% lungs
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🙏🙏🙏🙏
He gotten the lung extensions.
Eminem too lol
Give him helium and he'll float?
how does he talk that fast
There's Earth and air and fire and water. Good Show Aristotle!!!
Water? H2O?
By the way, Aristotle didn’t believe the atoms existed at all. Instead, he believed that all matter is composed of some sort of a mixture of those four elements.
Water Symbol’s “Wt”?
I memorized this and sang it for my science class when I was in sixth grade. I got many astonished looks, along with some pretty handsome extra credit ;)
TrekkerLLAP same here only in 5th grade
pj shomo Nice! :)
thx
lol
TrekkerLLAP how did you do it? i want extra credit too lmao
I learned/memorized this on a bet from my 8th grade science teacher. Turns out he was joking about providing a prize to anyone who memorized it (and could keep up with Lehrer) but I did it, and true to his word, he did provide a prize. And showed me off to other teachers. I used the song as a camp fire act at boy scouts until it became tired and I retired it when I was a Junior in High School, also known as 11th grade, or when I was 16 for those outside the US education system. But it is burned into my mind. I will not, can not forget it.
My eighth grade teacher did that with We Didn’t Start the Fire. I memorized the song, but he didn’t end up giving me my prize.
"There's Gold in Californium"
Did he predict the California Gold Rush 118 years after it happened?
Actually he made a miastake in this performance: he just said gold instead of sulfur. In fact he said gold two times...
He said "gold AND Californium". Californium is an element.
Your comment was so stupid but why did I laugh so hard? 😄
@Bee Sixteen there weren’t 118 elements discovered back then
@Bee Sixteen It's called cleverness!
I memorized this song for fun in two years ago and I still know it
Applause for you. I listened to this song hundreds of times, decades ago. Was always fascinated by his genius and I know the words to most of his other parodies but never mastered this one. Just like to watch him pull it off!
Claire Dobie I hope u master it its really funny to sing it to your friends . they look at you like WHATTT!!
I can... didn't try to put I listened to it so often it's stuck In my voice so when I recite them all I hear him singing it in my head. That's how I remember it
*head not voice
Just practice :^)
Did anyone else also noticed that he said gold instead of sulphur...
Doesn't matter really...Legendary song 🔥
I finally got my hands on the sheet music. It says 'play as fast as possible.' Never saw that tempo marking before but now I get it. I need to be as fast as possible and then twice as fast as that plus another really fucking fast. This guy...wow.
OMG!! THIS!!!! My science teacher in school once played this song on repeat for a whole hour long lesson and I never knew what or who it was, I have nothing to describe the hate and love I feel for this song 😁 That teacher was a brilliant but evil genius 🤣
I always give my chemistry students an opportunity to earn extra credit by memorizing this song. When they come to me at the end of the year to tell me it's impossible, I play a video of my daughter singing this for her 5th grade talent show!
Also, I loved the tribute to Aristotle!
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~Aristotle~
Not sure I'd call it a "tribute"! But fun adding it, anyway.
Dan Radcliffe (Harry Potter) did it on the Graham Norton show, said it was his "party trick".
@@rickydumas9994 And apparently, he memorized it over the weekend!? Freaking actors! I memorized four elements per week! My next project is "Amsterdam" by Jacques Brel. I don't speak a word of French, so it's fun!
Now, he is 92 years old such a talented man :)
He's about to see his second Great Depression in just one lifetime!
95 now 😊
The next time scientists find a new element, they need to name it Lehrerium.
Hear, hear!
True Fun fact: Two elements are related to Copenhagen where this recording took place:
72 Hafnium discovered in Copenhagen (Hafnia in Latin) in 1923 by Coster and Hevesy
107 Bohrium is named after the Danish physicist Niels Bohr was born and lived in Copenhagen. He got the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohrium has not been found in nature and was first created in 1981. So it is not in the performed song.
Extra: Lawrencium wasn't the newest element at the time of the recording while element number 104 was created in 1964 in The Sovjet Union and they named it Kurchatovium. In 1969 US scientists also created it but named i Rutherfordium. Both teams claimed the rights to the name so until it was settled the name Unnilquadrium (1 0 4 in Latin plus -rium) was used. In 1997 they agreed on Rutherfordium and the Sovjet got Dubnium for number 106 which is named after the Sovjet group Dubna who created it in 1968.
How did you know and why did you research about this?
Man, White ingenuity is just the coolest thing ever.
@@RabbiHerschel *human ingenuity
@@thecoloroctet1365 which of the scientific discoveries in the comment to which I replied was made by non-Whites?
@@RabbiHerschel, it matters why?
Tom Lehrer is a national treasure. I first heard this song in 1969, when I was taking high school chemistry. It resulted in my listening to the other songs on the record album (yes, I'm old), and so began my attraction to Lehrer's work. My kids (and I hope, their kids) like him as well...I made sure of that. He's proof that math teachers can also be rock stars.
You gotta love this song.... it's just amazing and it's brilliant to hear him singing it live (and a fair bit faster than most recordings!). Yeah sure there was the repeat gold but whatever, I can't just not love it. Between him himself and the song he's written this video is one of my all time favourites!
I had to go back and listen after I read this, you were right, he did say Gold twice!
He used gold again where the online lyrics show sulfer. It is amazing.
I assume it's intentional--he actually says "gold in californium," which I'm guessing is a jokey reference to the California gold rush that he was slipping in to see who noticed, or just to amuse himself. If he were going to actually flub an element in this song, it wouldn't be sulfur.
"How to be originaly funny without ANY kind of cursing whatsoever"
True that
Yep
Philip Alexander Hassialis Sometimes he manages to be extremely dark though
+Ricardo Bitterman Part of the charm - plus, there are ways to be dark without being offensive or sarcastic. It's one thing for an artist to goad you gently to look at the deepest parts of the human psyche and another to yank you from your hair and force feed you a mirror.
+Philip Alexander Hassialis idiot being funny shouldn't EVER require cursing...
I memorized this and learned it on the piano. This song is amazing.
I sincerely hope that someday I will memorize this correctly and actually sing it without getting tongue-tied. So jealous of Tom, that genius.
I’m honestly relieved to be reminded of Tom Lerher’s song.
The alternative paints her as some sort of eldritch being of incomprehensible knowledge. One BLeeM is enough, thank you.
Tom Lehrer is absolutely brilliant!
The album to listen to is " THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS". Run Don't Walk!
I've had this memorized for decades.
I love being able to watch/hear him yet again! He was such a nerdy guy in the 60s... a little different by the 90s. Fabulous - wish I'd had him as one of my teachers!!
He is an absolutely brilliant performer. I'm hooked.
How does he remember all the words AND play the piano at the same time, its just brilliant!!😊👍👏
Actually, the two types of memorization reinforce one another. Pro-Tip: if you're trying to memorize a speech, move and make gestures while reciting out loud - getting muscle-memory involved will speed the process
This song helped me for the Exam. THANK YOU! TOM LEHRER!
Yes, he is a VERY delightful man!
Damn the things Better Call Saul makes you look up......
Right!! Lol. Knew there'd be someone else here!
thanks craig
I'm taking chem this semester so this is actually useful.
Yeah gabe botiquer
@@jeansobrevilla364 Gale, I believe, but yes
Dude, this guy invented rapping. Yet, educational.
+Christy Newhouse (ProxyQueenGrace04) This song was sung to the tune of I am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General, so if this is rapping, so was the Gilbert & Sullivan original - though it was called a Patter Song back then.
+Christy Newhouse (ProxyQueenGrace04) No. This has a discernible melody, unlike rap, which is more like poetry, not really music as I see it.
No he didn't.
MultiHadex IT was meant as a joke...
I got this song from the tv show NCIS xD
It was soooo great to hear this song again. Wonderful to SEE it for the first time.
Best and fastest (non-sped-up) version on youtube.
'Best version you will ever see on youtube', not a false word in that. Great video:)
The first time I heard this song was when I was 3 and at the dinner table I’ve always loved chemistry 🧪 and physics. It’s been six years and I still love this song I hope I will be able to learn the periodic table by 2020
Lampost Cheeseburger hi, I’m from the future. You will have lots of spare time to learn in 2020.
2020 has been a helluva ride. Hope you learned it by now.
did you learn it????
I haven't heard this in years. It's incredible. And the best part is the Aristotle elements. So clover!
It's set to the tune of I'm The Model of A Modern Major General from The Pirates of Penzance.
I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General.
Here is the funniest man if the 20th century.
So agree. Funny, brilliant, super-talented, and his bio is amazing.
He was a part of the 19th century
Bernie Sanderzzz no he wasn’t
Bernie Sanderzzz 19th century is 1800s. So if this was filmed in 1967 he would be in his 70s. Does he look 70?
If the 20th century what?
My late Dad (RIP) often sang 2 Tom Lehrer songs at parties, but not this one, (although had he known of it's existence, he would have given it his best shot!) His two were "The Irish ballad" and "I hold your hand in mine, dear"
I've always wanted to see this performed live. Thanks so much for sharing it!
(bum-babumbum-bumbum)
There's a wonderfully subtle joke hidden in here: the notes he plays JUST before singing are the same as played by Grumpy on the organ before each verse of "A Silly Song"!
There were 102 elements in the Periodic table in 1960. There are now 122. A BRILLIANT SONG AND SOOO DIFFICULT TO SING. He'd need another verse!! LOL Love Mr Lehrer and he was a significant song writer of my youth and still.
it's my great life goal to be able to sing this song.
Eminem should learn from this guy.
hahahha yeah😂
In my country (Turkey), a rapper named "Ceza" made a rap about the elements and he basically listed them in the way Tom Lehrer did
Dat noble gases
EMINEM is one of a handful of MCs who don't need help, there are dozens of others, however, who would benefit handsomely from exposure to Mr. Lehrer.
Well Eminem and Lehrer are actually good friends!
Missing elements:
104 - Rutherfordium
105 - Dubnium
106 - Seaborgium
107 - Bohrium
108 - Hassium
109 - Meitnerium
110 - Darmstadtium
111 - Roentgenium
112 - Copernicium
113 - Nihonium
114 - Flerovium
115 - Moscovium
116 - Livermorium
117 - Tennessine
118 - Oganesson
And Sulphur.
irussianboi Yes, it's an update not a correction, they are some of the "many others but they haven't been discovered."
The inimitable Tom Lehrer. Thank you so much.
I just love Tom Lehrer. While some of his language is definitely outdated, the spirit of his songs are very joyfully satirical, and he is to this day hilarious.
My father was a high school Physics teacher and he used to play Tom Lehrer for his students! They always loved it!
I love this version! It's so raw and imperfect.
Yep, tossed out sulfur and added more gold. Can you blame him?
I was introduced to this by my science teacher and I'm using this to help me for my upcoming yearly science test!
I'm impressed that he could do what he did from memory!
At 0:40 he messed up Protactinium. Also, at 1:24 he said Gold again instead of Sulfur. Still awesome to see him actually singing it!
Nice catch
Does it matter? this doesn't make any sense BTW, unless you're studying chemistry
princeicio What doesn't make any sense? The interest in learning the lyrics? I was studying chemistry at the time.
I noticed too... I was just about to comment saying the same thing! :)
princeicio What are you talking about? Are you intentionally trying to be a jerk?
Good work, anti918. Interesting stuff.
Hadn't heard the earlier version of the song before. Lehrer and his musical satires have been a fresh air of relief. If only he were still composing today at 92 (April 2020) - he'd no doubt write a brilliant satire of our leader's butched response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meh. Some of his old songs are still perfectly applicable today. Which is either impressive, or depressing, or both.
@@antronargaiv3283 Coming from the man who invented Jell-O Shots, reportedly, I'm not surprised.
I wish we had more people like this man. A true academic.
I have this song on one of Dr. Demento's radio show weird music CD compilations.This is for the original version.
The Elements (live) - 1959 - "Tom Lehrer was one of comedy's great paradoxes --- a respected Harvard mathematics professor by day, he also was among the foremost song satirist of the postwar era.
Mike Kadas a music collector from Portland, Oregon 97214
Thanks for inserting mention of my element!!
YES! This man is such a genius, I love everything he did.
GENIUS!
Holy! This really is the best version on yt. And this is even faster than the original studio version!!!
I like how he starts with my favorite element, antimony.
HaHa.
Love love love the ending!!!
I think the next official IUPAC name ought to be Lehrium ...
RIP this hasn’t aged well
@@sidtheshuckle Why, what happened?
@@ChaosGremlin-co3or well the periodic table finished soo… but then again he could be joking
I believe scientists are working on elements from the island of stability now.
Luckily the synthesis of further elements is ongoing research within the scientific community, so who knows. Maybe one day a Lehrium
I remembered seeing someone do this song, at theatre 501 upstages on Battersea Park Road. Such a cracking song if the singing has got the right tempo and vocal strength. Without breaking out in laughter.
I love that Sheldon Cooper, in Big Bang Theory, sang it at his award ceremony. Drunk. 😹From creation in 1959 to a 2009 tv show. I think Tom Lehrer is and always will be a classic. ‘That Was the Week That Was’, 1964, is still pertinent today, which is kinda scary. We should be better than that by now. 😿
. . . Annnnd we will all go together when we go . . .Every Hottentot and every Eskimo.
Need I say more?
@@johndemeritt3460 I think both those terms are regarded as non-PC nowadays ....
@@Krzyszczynski, I'm pretty sure you're right about Hottentots, but if I recall correctly (and with narcolepsy as my constant and unwelcome companion, I'm never sure), the indigenous people of Alaska identify as Eskimos, while the First Nations people of the far north of Canada and the indigenous people of Greenland identify as Inuit.
Either way, I'll gladly defer to them. But I'm loathe to change Lehrer's original lyrics, in part because they work in the context of the song and because they are a historical artifact of the times.
this is the first time I'm seeing this man and I already love him wow
I can sing the og version
"There's Earth and air and fire and water"
After 9 years of you're watching this video you are really a 90's kid.
In this live performance, he makes a mistake, Mr. Tom Lehrer says gold twice and forgets sulfur 1st gold: 0:39, second gold: 1:24. The second gold that he says is supposed to be sulfur, trust me, I know all the elements up to date and I know the lyrics to this song.
This is awesome. I’ve memorized most of it.
We were introduced to this song at school in Chemistry class ! It was featured in an educational film we watched !
Incidentally I love Aristotle's 'Earth, Air, Fire + Water' version !
Over a decade ago when I was in 11th grade chemistry, the super cool teacher said if anybody can sing the elements song in front of the class they don't have to take the final. Nobody took her up on the offer.
Well mr Tom life was much simpler back in 1967
peaky.
Imagine Dragons what do you think about him and why he left?? intimidations? fear of anyone?
Damiano Ledda He claims to have retired from humor when Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize, because once that happened 'Political satire became obsolete.'
Imagine Dragons yep
For those interested, the tune is that of "Modern Mayor General".
Happy Birthday Mr Lehrer!
Tom Lehrer turned 95 three days ago. This man will never die.
Holy crap.
My awesome chem teacher showed us this song, with images superimposed over his singing.
It's so much more impressive seeing him do it live, even with the small mishap through the middle.
And the ending with Aristotle's version was hilarious.
Utterly brilliant! And noticeably faster than the version on the CD.
Theirs earth and air and fire and water.
Well. Yeah. But this one are the chemical ones ._.
Freddy Fuuuzbear Maybe you should watch the whole video?
martinshoosterman No not THEIRS. THERE'S, which is short for THERE IS. Tom Lehrer took a dim view of bad spellers.
...
martinshoosterman He had the correct grammar, what are you talking about?
Well done Tom, this song is just fantastic!
+Olivia Blair it isnt that hard
If Tom was active today I have no doubt he would've been a Dropout cast member
He hasn’t been “active” for several decades, but to avoid confusion, he is still alive and kicking in September, 2024, age 96!
0:01 (claps)
0:07 _Now, here's the song I get requests for but I can't understand for the life of me why_ (uhh)
0:12 _it's simply the names of the chemical elements,_
0:16 _set to a Gilbert and Sullivan tune._
0:19 _I think the only reason I do it,_
0:20 _is if to see, if i still can._
0:21 _we'll try._
0:21 (Music)
0:30 There's Antimony
0:31 Arsenic
0:31 Aluminum
0:31 Selenium
0:32 And Hydrogen and
0:33 Oxygen and
0:33 Nitrogen and
0:33 Rhenium
0:34 And Nickel
0:34 Neodymium
0:34 Neptunium
0:35 Germanium
0:35 and Iron
0:36 Americium
0:36 Ruthenium
0:37 Uranium
0:37 Europium
0:37 Zirconium
0:38 Lutetium
0:38 Vanadium
0:38 And Lanthanum
0:39 And Osmium
0:39 And Astatine
0:40 And Radium
0:41 And Gold
0:41 And Titanium
0:41 And Indium
0:42 And Gallium
(Deep breath)
0:44 And Iodine
0:44 And Thorium
0:44 And Thulium
0:44 And Thallium
I'll update if you like or else I won't get reminded and I'm not a like beggar
I'm in eighth grade and my science teacher made it so if we memorize the periodic table song we get an automatic A in the class I tried but I failed😜
guess i'm 4 years late (your probably in 12th grade but idc) but uh 8th grade am i right?
I've loved this tune since the 70s and used it as part of a video many times whilst teaching. His other songs (such as Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, and I Hold Your Hand in Mine) all great laughs too.
my science teacher said that if he memorised this and are able to sing it that he'll give us a butt-load of king sized candy bars
i am just binge watching all the songs from this preformance and god do I love him
I'm 16 and I knew this song before hearing Daniel Radcliffe sing it. It's sad that many people don't know or appreciate the brilliant work of Tom Lehrer.
Who the heck is Daniel Radcliffe?!?
Our teacher showed us the song when we were first year high school... memories
There's earth and air and fire and water. Tom Lehrer is a genius.
Brilliant recording of a brilliant man
in the 4th to last sentence he sang: "Gold, Californium, Fermium, Berkelium" but it must be "Sulphur, Californium, Fermium, Berkelium"
It is
Yeah. I noticed it too. It's the only one he got wrong xD
Testing you
Meh
The 24 "dislikes" are probably people who failed chemistry and maybe worse, Humanities majors. I dream this song in my sleep because I love it so much.
And after lawrencium, came 15 more...
and yet another...
rutherfordium dubnium seaborgium bohrium hassium meitnerium darmstadtium roentgenium copernicium nihonium flerovium moscovium livermorium tennessine oganesson
+HydroXenon93 You forgot Vibranium and Adamantium
How about Unobtanium?
mcswell2001
- I've got some right here. Don't let it slip through your fingers. Oops. Well, maybe next time.
amazing microphone setup and sound
When he sang the song live he still sounds just like the soundtrack.
100% GENUINENESS.
First of all, I love that this was recorded from a Danish channel xD 2nd of all, I remember my science teacher in 10th grade making us listen to this song over and over to learn the periodic table xD Honestly a pretty good way to do it :P