An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer The lyrics of "The Elements" are a recitation of the names of all the chemical elements that were known at the time of writing, up to number 102, nobelium. It can be found on his albums "Songs & More Songs by Tom Lehrer" as well as "An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer". The song is sung to the tune of Sir Arthur Sullivan's "Major General's Song" ("I am the very model of a modern major-general...") from "The Pirates of Penzance". Since that time, 16 more have been discovered. At his concert in Copenhagen (1967), Lehrer admitted, "I like to play
Gilbert and Sullivan Carolyn Williams has noted, however: "The influence of Gilbert and Sullivan – their wit and sense of irony, the send ups of politics and contemporary culture – goes beyond musical theater to comedy in general. Allusions to their work have made their way into our own popular culture". Gilbert and Sullivan expert and enthusiast Ian Bradley agrees: The works of Gilbert and Sullivan are themselves frequently pastiched and parodied. Well known examples of this include Tom Lehrer's "The Elements" and "Clementine"; Allan Sherman's "I'm Called Little Butterball", "When I Was a Lad", "You Need an Analyst" and "The Bronx Bird-Watcher";