Tom Lehrer: Author Lyric Sheets
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Public-domain lyrics

The Subway Song

Tom Lehrer

A trip from Harvard into Boston turns station initials into an unflattering acrostic.

Tom Lehrer: Author Lyric Sheets Text 36 Undated text
Public domainBostonTravelWordplayIrreverentPlayful
Complete public-domain lyrics

Lehrer's historical note places the song after his arrival in Cambridge in 1943. Its station names belong to that period, not to a current transit guide. The sheet identifies Theodore Morse's M-O-T-H-E-R as the tune and Howard Johnson as that song's original lyricist; the eight replacement lines here are Lehrer's. A source footnote explains the final acronym as a throat-clearing and spitting sound.

Verse 1

H is for my Alma Mater, Harvard

C is Central, next stop on the line

K is for the kozy Kendall station

C is Charles, that overlooks the brine

P is Park Street, busy Boston center

W is Washington, you see

Put them all together, they spell “HCKC-PW”

Which is just about what Boston means to me.

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.
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