If you do not enjoy this file, you will certainly not enjoy: LEHRER.DISCO LYRICS:LEHRER.REVISITED LYRICS:LEHRER.WASTED LYRICS:LEHRER.TW3 LYRICS:LEHRER.DIFF all available via the Web and through the Dementia FAQ List mail server at jbmorris@copper.ucs.indiana.edu by mailing with the appropriate subject line.
This is a song, though, that I wrote when I first came to Cambridge, 20 years ago. And when I first took the subway ride from Cambridge into Boston, I noticed the subway stations on the line had this interesting property.
H is for my alma mater Harvard, C is Central, next stop on the line, K is for the cozy Kendall station, and C is Charles that overlooks the brine...a- P is Park St...Pahk Street, busy Boston center, and W is Washington you see... Put them all together, they spell... (HCCKKCC... PW... (sounds like somebody spitting)) Which is just about what Boston means to me!
Who can turn a can into a cane? Who can turn a pan into a pane? It's not too hard to see, It's Silent E. Who can turn a cub into a cube? Who can turn a tub into a tube? It's elementary For Silent E. He took a pin and turned it into a pine. He took a twin and turned him into twine. Who can turn a cap into a cape? Who can turn a tap into a tape? A little glob becomes a globe instantly, If you just add Silent E. He turned a dam - Alikazam! - into a dame. But my friend Sam stayed just the same. Who can turn a man into a mane? Who can turn a van into a vane? A little hug becomes huge instantly. Don't add W, Don't add X, And don't add Y or Z, Just add Silent E.
You're wearing your squeaky shoes, And right there taking a snooze Is a tiger, so how do you walk on by? [loud whisper] Silently, silently, Silent L.Y. You're a secret agent man Who's after the secret plan. How do you act so they don't know you're a spy? [acting suspiciously] Normally [whistle], normally [whistle], Normal L.Y. At an eating contest you boast That you can eat the most. How do you down your fiftieth piece of pie? [nauseated] Eagerly (ugh!), eagerly (yech!), Eager L.Y. On the lake your boat upset, And your clothes got soaking wet. How do you stand and wait for them to dry? [shivering] D-d-d-d-d-d-patiently, D-d-d-d-d-d-patiently, D-d-d-d-d-d-patient L.Y. In the public library You fall and hurt your knee. But the sign says QUIET PLEASE, so how can you cry? [crying] Quietly [sniff], quietly [sniff], Quiet L.Y. As you walk along the street A porcupine you meet. How do you shake his hand when he says "hi"? [warily] Ah, carefully, carefully, Careful L.Y. You enter a very dark room, And sitting there in the gloom Is Dracula. Now how do you say goodbye? Immediately, immediately, Immediate L.Y. Bye bye!
There's a delta for every epsilon,
It's a fact that you can always count upon.
There's a delta for every epsilon
And now and again,
There's also an N.
But one condition I must give:
The epsilon must be positive
A lonely life all the others live,
In no theorem
A delta for them.
How sad, how cruel, how tragic,
How pitiful, and other adjec-
Tives that I might mention.
The matter merits our attention.
If an epsilon is a hero,
Just because it is greater than zero,
It must be mighty discouragin'
To lie to the left of the origin.
This rank discrimination is not for us,
We must fight for an enlightened calculus,
Where epsilons all, both minus and plus,
Have deltas
To call their own.
You take a function of x and you call it y, Take any x-nought that you care to try, You make a little change and call it delta x, The corresponding change in y is what you find nex', And then you take the quotient and now carefully Send delta x to zero, and I think you'll see That what the limit gives us, if our work all checks, Is what we call dy/dx, It's just dy/dx.
If you give me your attention, I will tell you what I am.
I'm a brilliant math'matician - also something of a ham.
I have tried for numerous degrees, in fact I've one of each;
Of course that makes me eminently qualified to teach.
I understand the subject matter thoroughly, it's true,
And I can't see why it isn't all as obvious to you.
Each lecture is a masterpiece, meticulously planned,
Yet everybody tells me that I'm hard to understand,
And I can't think why.
My diagrams are models of true art, you must agree,
And my handwriting is famous for its legibility.
Take a word like "minimum" (to choose a random word),
{This was performed at a blackboard, and the professor wrote:
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/}
For anyone to say he cannot read that, is absurd.
The anecdotes I tell get more amusing every year,
Though frankly, what they go to prove is sometimes less than clear,
And all my explanations are quite lucid, I am sure,
Yet everybody tells me that my lectures are obscure,
And I can't think why.
Consider, for example, just the force of gravity:
It's inversely proportional to something - let me see -
It's r^3 - no, r^2 - no, it's just r, I'll bet -
The sign in front is plus - or is it minus, I forget -
Well, anyway, there is a force, of that there is no doubt.
All these formulas are trivial if you only think them out.
Yet students tell me, "I have memorized the whole year through
Ev'rything you've told us, but the problems I can't do."
And I can't think why!
I love my friends, and they love me, We're just as close as we can be. And just because we really care, Whatever we get, we share! I got it from Agnes, She got it from Jim. We all agree it must have been Louise who gave it to him. She got it from Harry, Who got it from Marie, And everybody knows that Marie Got it from me. Giles got it from Daphne, She got it from Joan, Who picked it up in County Cork, A-kissing the Blarney Stone. Pierre gave it to Sheila, Who must have brought it there. He got it from Francois and Jacques, Haha, Lucky Pierre! Max got it from Edith, Who gets it every spring. She got it from her Daddy, Who gives her everything. She then gave it to Daniel, Whose spaniel has it now. Our dentist even got it, And we're still wondering how. But I got it from Agnes, Or maybe it was Sue, Or Millie or Billie or Gillie or Willie, It doesn't matter who. It might have been at the club, Or at the pub, or in the loo, And if you will be my friend, Then I might...(Mind you, I said "might")... Give it to you!
(The theorem states that for all integers n > 2, there exist no integers a, b, & c satisfying a^n + b^n = c^n, where ^ denotes exponentiation. Note that n = 2 produces the Pythagorean Theorem of right triangles. The rest of you can look it up when you get home.)
(To the tune of "That's Entertainment")
Counting sheep When you're trying to sleep, Being fair When there's something to share, Being neat When you're folding a sheet, That's mathematics! When a ball Bounces off of a wall, When you cook From a recipe book, When you know How much money you owe, That's mathematics! How much gold can you hold in an elephant's ear? When it's noon on the moon, then what time is it here? If you could count for a year, would you get to infinity, Or somewhere in that vicinity? When you choose How much postage to use, When you know What's the chance it will snow, When you bet And you end up in debt, Oh try as you may, You just can't get away From mathematics! Andrew Wiles gently smiles, Does his thing, and voila! Q.E.D., we agree, And we all shout hurrah! As he confirms what Fermat Jotted down in that margin, Which could've used some enlargin'. Tap your feet, Keepin' time to a beat, Of a song While you're singing along, Harmonize With the rest of the guys, Yes, try as you may, You just can't get away From mathematics!
We gather together to ask the lord's blessing For turkey and dressing and cranberry sauce. It was slightly distressing but now we're convalescing So sing praises to his name and forget not to floss. Our nearest and dearest we don't want confessing It's sort of depressing to have them so near. Our feelings supressing for lightly acquiescing And perfectly professing we're glad they were here. We gathered together and got the lord's blessing Of course we're just guessing 'cause how can you tell? Our stomach's are bloating Our kidneys nearly floating Hellos are very nice but goodbyes can be swell
Everybody eat! Every niece and every nephew even if you're deaf you'll hear them digest. Kiddie's by the dozen from local zoos Someone's second cousin but god knows whose. Everybody feed For example there's an uncle who when he's drunk'll be a real pest. And cousin Julia is actin' childish to put it mildish. Hey you kids I don't know who just did that but it's gross Then Al begins to smoke and tells a dirty joke when Grandma's comatose. Oh everybody's swill. And put up with uncle Gordon video recordin' everyone here. Now they've all gone away And we're so happy to say They won't be back for a year.
Anyway, the class met in a physics lecture hall like Varian 100 or 101 in the Tank, with electrically operated blackboards. When this last special session was held, the lecture table had been rolled out, and a grand piano rolled in. The electric blackboards had been painted with colored chalk to look exactly like the proscenium and curtains at the Boston Symphony. The room was packed with everyone in the Department.
Lehrer came in, in tails as I remember, dramatically punched the button that made the "curtains" go up, underneath was written in large letters "The Physical Revue", and he began an hour's worth of just that. Besides the "Derivative Song" (I think), there was certainly the "Periodic Table" song, Lobachevsky, and a round, sung with four associates, which I've never encountered since, which had Lehrer as professor and the others as students singing:
Now then, are there any questions? (G G G-G-G-G E C) Now then, are there any questions? (ditto) If there are none, (C C C A) Then I am done (C C C G) (And I have nothing more to say-ay) (E D C B D C A D C) (Last line not sure about, and also the music may be wrong) First student: Man, he asks if there are questions Man, I've got a million questions I've got a ton, And every one, Would take a half a day to ans-wer.There may have been more verses; I don't remember. If someone else knows of this, I'd be delighted to hear of a place to locate it. (It may have been a follow-on to the "Professor's Song"?)
The only other Lehrer in my repertoire is "An awful debility, a lessened utility, a loss of mobility, is a strong possibility,..." ...which unfortunately begins to strike closer to home every year... (jbmorris@copper.ucs.indiana.edu)