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Tom Lehrer - The Elements - LIVE FILM From Copenhagen in 1967

Open on YouTube First HN thread

2 HN users recommended this music video in 2 different months between 2015 and 2023.

2007–2026
2 recommendations 1 citation 2 jokes HackerTube score 2

HN commenters cite it as a favorite Lehrer song and invoke it as a joke whenever elements or science-themed wordplay come up.

A 1967 live film of Tom Lehrer performing his patter song "The Elements" in Copenhagen, reciting the chemical elements to a Gilbert and Sullivan tune. It is a short, polished example of his satirical piano-and-voice style.

Pull quote: “is the Tom Lehrer song that made the biggest impression on me.” (HN, 2022)

Also tagged: comic songs, tom lehrer, the elements, satire, chemistry, live performance

What Hacker News said

5 labeled comments from the HN archive; up to 20 are kept per video, favoring different commenters. Each one links back to the original thread.

Light-hearted song reciting chemical elements, with a surprise ending.
For those who aren't aware and/or won't look this reference: [link] As the other comenter noted, Tom Lehrer is indeed a national treasure, and his satire is top shelf. From the light-hearted "The Elements": [this video] (watch for the surprise at the end) To the gallows comedy of "We Will All Go Together When We Go": [link] NB: I appreciate the irony linking to YouTube content in a 'WTF Google/YouTube' thread.

Citations, criticism and jokes

Jonathan Rees's a la carte menu of the elements of "object oriented programming" is a great example of that. [link] The Elements of Object Oriented Programming: Encapsulation, Protection, Ad Hoc Polymorphism, Parametric Polymorphism, Everything Is An Object, All You Can Do Is Send A Message, Specification Inheritance, Implementation inheritance/Reuse, Sum-Of-Product-Of-Function Pattern. These are the only ones of which the news has come to Harvard, and there may be many others, but they haven't been discarvered. ;) [Apologies to Tom Lehrer.] [this video]

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