For long a time The Beatles had it spot on with their “All We Need Is Love” chant. Yes, very cute, sweet and probably true. Many, of course, would settle for Pink Floyd’s Money…not the song, dear – their money. The more I see around me – newspapers (that’s right – I only see them, I don’t read them), social media with its exhibition of not much even remotely sociable, television news programs remarkable for a lack of vision and news – the more I feel that love can take a backseat for a while. What we really need is laughs.

Thanks to Marilyn Armstrong who has a wonderful and prodigious blog over at Serendipity, I came across “National Brotherhood Week“, a song which is a strong and hilarious social commentary by Tom Lehrer. Lehrer taught maths at Harvard. If his songs are anything to go by, his classes must have been fantastic. Since that introduction to his music, I’ve been checking out his other songs. I think you should too.

Weird Al Yankovic is back. When I first heard him, I thought that his was a novelty act that was fun but something that would fade away. Like many I’m glad to have been proven wrong. For 30 years he has had the multitudes rolling in mirth with his parodies. The title of his new album, “Mandatory Fun” says it all. “Foil” takes Lorde’s hugely successful “Royals” and spins it into a crazy cocktail of conspiracy theories, shadowy organizations, alien abduction programs and government cover-ups. And you think that cup of herbal tea you’ve been sipping’s harmless? No sir or madam – not by the evidence of events that unfold from 1:19 into the video.