Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
This is one of several songs Lehrer wrote for the children’s television show “The Electric Company”, which focused on reading and grammar skills for children who had outgrown “Sesame Street”. In this case the song is about how adding the suffix “ly” to words creates new words with related meanings.
You're wearing your squeaky shoes
And right there taking a snooze
Is a tiger, so how do you walk on by?
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 as spy?
Normally ... normally ... normal ... L-Y
At an eating contest you boast
That you can eat the most
How do you down your fiftieth piece of pie?
Eagerly ... eagerly ... 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?
D-d-d-d-d patiently ... d-d-d-d-d patiently ... patient ... L-Y
In the public library
You fall and you hurt your knee
But the isgn says "quiet please," so how can you cry?
Quietly .... quietly .... quiet ... L-Y
Asyou walk along the street
A porcupine you meet
How do you shake his hand when he says hi?
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!