Terry Prone: Remembering a 'once off' talent on a spring afternoon

To listen to one of Tom Lehrer's recordings from the 60s is to be enthralled by the uniqueness of writing and performance

Tom Lehrer at his home near Santa Cruz, California in 2000. He was a child prodigy, and not just just when it came to piano. He was a mathematician, too, graduating from high school at 15 and heading directly to Harvard on a scholarship. Picture: Anthony Pidgeon/Redferns

It may not have been the best Easter weekend, weather-wise, but it’s still springtime, which allows me to remind those who already know the least sentimental song devoted to this time of the year and introduce it to people who have never heard it up to now. Here’s how the opening verse goes:

All the world seems in tune