Singer-songwriter Tom Lehrer introduces his 1965 song “So Long, Mom (A Song for World War III)” in a style familiar to classical music fans. “This year we’ve been celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the Civil War, and the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of World War I, and the twentieth anniversary of the end of World War II,” he says in a Jeff Goldblum drawl. “So, all in all it’s been a good year for the war buffs.” Unmentioned but understood is the fact that, by 1965, the U.S. had also formally entered Vietnam. With all of the media “capitalizing on nostalgia,” and World War III seemingly inevitable, Lehrer then launches into an effusive George M. Cohan-style rag:
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The Metropolitan Opera versus the Internet
