Tom Lehrer’s satirical songs are familiar to many of you, I’m sure. Not many of you will have heard of another satirical songwriter, Georg Kreisler, if only because he wrote in German. If you’re American and have heard of him, it’s probably because of the striking similarities between two of his songs and two of Lehrer’s. Let’s take a look at them.

“Poisoning Pigeons in the Park” is one of Lehrer’s best-known songs. It combines the innocent enjoyment of spring with a suggestion that feeding pigeons poison is fun. It plays on the ambiguous feelings many people have about pigeons. Feeding birds is seen as a warm-hearted gesture, but few people actually like pigeons, and feeding them will just mean more of them. Georg Kreisler wrote and recorded “Tauben vergiften im Park,” which translates as — “poisoning pigeons in the park”! It does the same thing, combining enthusiasm about spring’s coming with enthusiasm for feeding pigeons poison. Both songs use waltz tunes with a slight similarity.

Another song of Lehrer’s is “I Hold Your Hand in Mine.” It starts out sounding like a simple love song but gets more gruesome with each line till it becomes a confession of murder. Kreisler’s “Die Hand” presents the same story, down to details like biting the hand.

Others have noticed these similarities, of course. For example, the article Georg Kreisler und Tom Lehrer: “Gemeinsamkeiten” zweier Kabarettisten” (in German) discusses these points. It leaves the question open of whether one plagiarized from the other and which one it might have been. Lehrer’s songs came out first as recordings, but that’s not proof of plagiarism or even first authorship. I’ve heard rumors that one or both initiated legal action, but I can’t find any trustworthy reports. It’s probably an empty rumor, like the claim that Wernher von Braun sued him over his song about the ex-Nazi rocket expert. In any case, there has never been a legal ruling that one lifted the other’s songs.

Kreisler, a native of Austria, fled from the Nazis and became a US citizen in 1943. He was in the US Army in World War II and returned to Austria in 1955. He wrote and performed darkly satirical songs in English, but he wasn’t very successful here. It’s likely he heard Lehrer’s songs during this period. While there’s no definite proof he plagiarized Lehrer, the odds strongly run that way. Still, if you understand German and like Tom Lehrer’s songs, you might like Kreisler’s as well. Or not; some of Kreisler’s songs go into regions Lehrer wouldn’t touch. “Als der Zirkus in Flammen stand” is a light-hearted song about a circus fire and the deaths of animals and people, mentioning a child murder in passing. Some sites claim he was anti-capitalist; I don’t know anything about his philosophy, but his “Kapitalistenlied” has nothing to do with capitalism, either pro or con.