The Elements
Tom Lehrer Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium
And nickel, neodymium, neptunium, germanium
And iron, americium, ruthenium, uranium
Europium, zirconium, lutetium, vanadium
And lanthanum and osmium and astatine and radium
And gold, protactinium and indium and gallium
And iodine and thorium and thulium and thallium
There's yttrium, ytterbium, actinium, rubidium
And boron, gadolinium, niobium, iridium
There's strontium and silicon and silver and samarium
And bismuth, bromine, lithium, beryllium, and barium
There's holmium and helium and hafnium and erbium
And phosphorus and francium and fluorine and terbium
And manganese and mercury, molybdenum, magnesium
Dysprosium and scandium and cerium and cesium
And lead, praseodymium and platinum, plutonium
Palladium, promethium, potassium, polonium
And tantalum, technetium, titanium, tellurium
And cadmium and calcium and chromium and curium
There's sulfur, californium and fermium, berkelium
And also mendelevium, einsteinium, nobelium
And argon, krypton, neon, radon, xenon, zinc and rhodium
And chlorine, carbon, cobalt, copper, tungsten, tin and sodium
These are the only ones of which the news has come to Harvard
And there may be many others but they haven't been discovered
The Elements is a song written by Tom Lehrer in 1959, it is a cleverly crafted celebration of the chemical elements. The song is composed of singing the name of each chemical element in order according to their periodic table position. Lehrer presents the list of elements in a lively manner with an accompaniment on the piano. Each verse or segment consists of listing out elements, with each element having exactly one syllable, as they are sang in order.
The lyrics of this song reflect the scientific knowledge and interest of the time, as rearranging elements and understanding chemical reactions was still a nascent subject. They also reflect Lehrer's wit and humor, as well as his gift for songwriting. In addition to the song's entertainment value, it also serves as a valuable resource in memorizing the periodic table. The song has remained a popular and enduring tribute to the periodic table and its elements.
Line by Line Meaning
There's antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium,
This world has antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium.
And hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium,
There are hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and rhenium too.
And nickel, neodymium, neptunium, germanium,
Nickel, neodymium, neptunium, and germanium are also present.
And iron, americium, ruthenium, uranium,
We can count iron, americium, ruthenium, and uranium.
Europium, zirconium, lutetium, vanadium,
Europium, zirconium, lutetium, and vanadium are four elements known to man.
And lanthanum and osmium and astatine and radium,
Other elements include lanthanum, osmium, astatine, and radium.
And gold, protactinium and indium and gallium,
You can discover gold, protactinium, indium, and gallium.
And iodine and thorium and thulium and thallium.
As well as iodine, thorium, thulium, and thallium.
There's yttrium, ytterbium, actinium, rubidium,
Yttrium, ytterbium, actinium, and rubidium exist alongside.
And boron, gadolinium, niobium, iridium,
Boron, gadolinium, niobium, and iridium add up to the list.
There's strontium and silicon and silver and samarium,
Ali metallurgist ki nazar me strontium, silicon, silver, aur samarium hai.
And bismuth, bromine, lithium, beryllium, and barium.
Bismuth, bromine, lithium, beryllium, and barium are also present.
There's holmium and helium and hafnium and erbium,
We cannot forget holmium, helium, hare, and erbium.
And phosphorus and francium and fluorine and terbium,
Phosphorus, francium, fluorine, and terbium can also be found.
And manganese and mercury, molybdenum, magnesium,
Elements like manganese, mercury, molybdenum, and magnesium are also worth battling.
Dysprosium and scandium and cerium and cesium.
Last but not least, we have dysprosium, scandium, cerium, and cesium.
And lead, praseodymium and platinum, plutonium,
Don't forget about lead, praseodymium, platinum, and plutonium.
Palladium, promethium, potassium, polonium,
Palladium, promethium, potassium, and polonium are a part of this.
And tantalum, technetium, titanium, tellurium,
To make it longer, we can consider tantalum, technetium, titanium, and tellurium.
And cadmium and calcium and chromium and curium.
There is also a mixture of cadmium, calcium, chromium, and curium.
There's sulfur, californium and fermium, berkelium,
Some other elements include sulfur, californium, fermium, and berkelium.
And also mendelevium, einsteinium, nobelium,
Moreover, you can find mendelevium, einsteinium, and nobelium in this world.
And argon, krypton, neon, radon, xenon, zinc and rhodium,
Argon, krypton, neon, radon, xenon, zinc, and rhodium are alive and well.
And chlorine, carbon, cobalt, copper, tungsten, tin and sodium.
How can we forget about chlorine, carbon, cobalt, copper, tungsten, tin, and sodium?
These are the only ones of which the news has come to Harvard,
These are the elements discovered and known, Harvard confirms.
And there may be many others but they haven't been discovered.
There might be many newer elements, but we still did not find them yet.
Lyrics © O/B/O DistroKid
Written by: Tom Thomas Lehrer
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@what_696
0:01 (claps)
0:07 Now, here's the song I get requests for but I can't understand for the life of me why (uhh)
0:12 it's simply the names of the chemical elements,
0:16 set to a Gilbert and Sullivan tune.
0:19 I think the only reason I do it,
0:20 is if to see, if i still can.
0:21 we'll try.
0:21 (Music)
0:30 There's Antimony
0:31 Arsenic
0:31 Aluminum
0:31 Selenium
0:32 And Hydrogen and
0:33 Oxygen and
0:33 Nitrogen and
0:33 Rhenium
0:34 And Nickel
0:34 Neodymium
0:34 Neptunium
0:35 Germanium
0:35 and Iron
0:36 Americium
0:36 Ruthenium
0:37 Uranium
0:37 Europium
0:37 Zirconium
0:38 Lutetium
0:38 Vanadium
0:38 And Lanthanum
0:39 And Osmium
0:39 And Astatine
0:40 And Radium
0:41 And Gold
0:41 And Titanium
0:41 And Indium
0:42 And Gallium
(Deep breath)
0:44 And Iodine
0:44 And Thorium
0:44 And Thulium
0:44 And Thallium
I'll update if you like or else I won't get reminded and I'm not a like beggar
@ckmishn3664
Missing elements:
104 - Rutherfordium
105 - Dubnium
106 - Seaborgium
107 - Bohrium
108 - Hassium
109 - Meitnerium
110 - Darmstadtium
111 - Roentgenium
112 - Copernicium
113 - Nihonium
114 - Flerovium
115 - Moscovium
116 - Livermorium
117 - Tennessine
118 - Oganesson
@werdwerdus
he enunciates so well that the auto subtitles are nearly accurate
@amazing763
Rghit. Smoe of us mrerly mubmle. Hdar to tarnsrcibe.
@FallInCS
Yeah pretty good for most, but damn I burst in laughter at 1:34
"Nazi nazi can rodeo McClure coca-cola copper tungsten sodium these" WTF :D
@reidwelch8419
omos prefrect
@Quintinohthree
@@FallInCS I turned on subtitles just before this bit and was odly surprised.
@gdj6298
@@amazing763 Youm grot dat righft
@hdlmao
My grade 9 science teacher gave us the option to either write the chemistry test, or memorize this song. He had been working at the school for 20+ years, and many students had attempted to memorize the song in the 2 weeks notice he had givin, but no one had done it to that point. My friend and I both attempted that song, and with tireless hours of memorization, I actually manged to get the song down, present it in front of the class, and receive a 100% in the chemistry unit. I can't remember if my friend was successful, but all I know is with the amount of time I spent learning this song, I probably could've just studied for the test, and gotten 100%😂
@beachdog67
LOL
@tessat338
Will you now ever forget the periodic table of elements? A song is a great way of learning them permanently, where as by simply studying, you would have remembered them for the test but they would have drained out of your brain as other information replaced them. I've learned the 50 US states in alphabetical order from Ray Charles' "50 Nifty United States", the Preamble to the Constitution from School House Rock, and enough philosophers to pass my University PHIL 101 exam from Monty Python's "Philosophers' Song"
@johndemeritt3460
@@tessat338, did you remember to quote them singing, "Socrates himself is permanently pissed"?