“That’s not my department”, says Wernher von Braun

Tom Lehrer sings about the downside of Wernher von Braun’s rather complex legacy.

The V2 and Saturn V rockets are the bookends to Wernher von Braun’s career, and neatly summarise his chequered legacy. When a biopic about von Braun titled “I Aim for the Stars” was released, satirist Mort Sahl suggested the subtitle “But Sometimes I Hit London”.

In this newspaper interview, Tom Lehrer discusses one of his best-known songs, “Wernher von Braun”, which covers those earlier stages of von Braun’s career in rocketry.

Wernher von Braun, 1964.

Talk of the manned space program turns to questions on Lehrer’s hilariously black song about Nazi rocket scientist-turned-NASA star recruit Wernher von Braun. He says that a line from the 1965 song “once the rockets are up/ who cares where they come down/ that’s not my department, says Wernher von Braun”  is his most quoted.

“The idea that Wernher von Braun was a hero didn’t make me angry so much as, well, it was just so silly. It was one thing to hire him, OK, but to make him a hero, which a lot of people did … he may have helped us land on the moon a few years earlier than we did, but who cares?”  The widespread rumour that von Braun sued Lehrer proves to be a furphy. “I’ve heard that a lot, that I have to pay all my royalties for the song to him and so on and so forth. No, that’s one of those myths. There is no possible way he could have sued me.”

Tom Lehrer interviewed by Tony Davis,
The Sydney Morning Herald ^[1]

Here’s Tom Lehrer performing the song.

Wernher von Braun

Tom Lehrer

Wernher von Braun

Gather ’round while I sing you of Wernher von Braun,
A man whose allegiance
Is ruled by expedience.
Call him a Nazi, he won’t even frown,
“Ha, Nazi, Schmazi,” says Wernher von Braun.

Don’t say that he’s hypocritical,
Say rather that he’s apolitical.
“Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down?
That’s not my department,” says Wernher von Braun.

Some have harsh words for this man of renown,
But some think our attitude
Should be one of gratitude,
Like the widows and cripples in old London town,
Who owe their large pensions to Wernher von Braun.

You too may be a big hero,
Once you’ve learned to count backwards to zero.
“In German oder English I know how to count down,
Und I’m learning Chinese!” says Wernher von Braun.

Tom Lehrer, “Wernher von Braun”

The V2 and the Saturn V

Wernher von Braun is mostly remembered for the first and last rockets he developed, the V2 and the Saturn V. They mark out the two sharply contrasting sides of his legacy.

Here’s some wartime footage of the V2 under development, and the launch of Apollo 8, the first manned flight of the Saturn V rocket.

Wernher von Braun’s Rockets
V 2		Saturn V
1:58		3:50

References

1. Stop clapping, this is serious, Tom Lehrer interviewed by Tony Davis,
   The Sydney Morning Herald, March 1, 2003