That Was the Year That Was
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Public-domain lyrics

Alma

Tom Lehrer

An elastic chain of names and rhymes turns a romantic life into a comic ballad.

That Was the Year That Was Track 11 1965
Public domainSatireRomanceWordplayArtTheatrical
Complete public-domain lyrics

The song frames Alma's marriages through Gustav, Walter, and Franz, using invented dialogue and deliberately distorted rhymes. It is a satirical portrait, not a complete biography. This edition was transcribed directly from the author's image-only sheet: all twelve indented blocks are present, including the extended final refrain and spellings such as carefel and embalma.

Verse 1

The loveliest girl in Vienna

Was Alma --- the smartest as well.

Once you picked her up on your antenna,

You'd never be free of her spell.

Verse 2

Her lovers were many and varied

From the day she began her beguine.

There were three famous ones whom she married,

And God know how many between.

Verse 3

Alma, tell us, --- all modern women are jealous ---

Which of your magical wands

Got you Gustav and Walter and Franz?

Verse 4

The first one she married was Mahler,

Whose buddies all knew him as Gustav,

And each time he saw her he'd holler,

"Ach, dot is de fräulein I must have!"

Verse 5

Their marriage, however, was murder,

He'd scream to the heavens above,

"I'm writing 'Das Lied von der Erde,'

Und she only wants to make love!"

Verse 6

Alma, tell us, --- all modern women are jealous ---

You should have a statue in bronze

For bagging Gustav and Walter and Franz.

Verse 7

While married to Gus, she met Gropius,

And soon she was swinging with Walter.

Gus died, and her teardrops were copious.

She cried all the way to the altar.

Verse 8

But he would work late at the Bauhaus

And only came home now and then.

She said, "What am I running, a cow house?

It's time to change partners again."

Verse 9

Alma, tell us, --- all modern women are jealous ---

Though you didn't even use Ponds',

You got Gustav and Walter and Franz.

Verse 10

While married to Walt, she met Werfel,

And he too was caught in her net.

He married her, but he was carefel,

'Cause Alma was no Bernadette.

Verse 11

And that is the story of Alma,

Who knew how to receive and to give.

The body that reached her embalma

Was one that had known how to live.

Verse 12

Alma, tell us,

How can they help being jealous?

Ducks always envy the swans

Who get Gustav and Walter

You never did falter

With Gustav and Walter and Franz!

Credits

Written by Tom Lehrer

Words by Tom Lehrer, released into the public domain by the author. This is the author-published text edition, not a transcription of a particular performance.

Source & text edition

Author-published lyric sheet · original English words

Tom Lehrer's November 26, 2022 declaration relinquishes copyright in lyrics he wrote. It does not grant rights to third-party music, photographs or album artwork. This edition uses only his words.

Read the author’s lyric sheet (PDF)

View copyright evidence · Author’s public-domain declaration

Retrieved 2026-09-08. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.

Source edition: That Was the Year That Was · Live · 1965 · US

Release data: MusicBrainz · CC0-1.0 · Retrieved 2026-09-07.

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