"The Elements"
Words by Tom Lehrer
copyright (c) 1951
Tune: "The Major General's Song", from "Pirates of Penzane" by Gilbert and Sullivan

These lyrics are posted here with permission from Tom Lehrer. You are encouraged to download them for your own use, and to notify others of the URL (web address) for this page, or the more general URL of this site. You may not post the lyrics elsewhere on the internet, nor sell copies. All other rights are reserved.

This song is arguably the best loved of Tom Lehrer's works. It is included in some of Mr. Lehrer's recordings that are available by purchase. (For example, virtually all his songs are on "The Remains of Tom Lehrer"). Therefore, the recording of the version from the Physical Revue is not included here. However, the lyrics used at that time are below. (Piano and vocals by Mr. Lehrer)

There's antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium,
And hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium,
And nickel, neodynium, neptunium, germanium,
And iron, americium, ruthenium, uranium,

Europium, zirconium, lutetium, vanadium,
And lanthanum and osmium and astatine and radium,
And gold and protactinium and indium and gallium,
And iodine and thorium and thulium and thallium.

There's yttrium, ytterbium, actinium, rubidium,
And boron, gadolinium, columbium, iridium,
And strontium and sulfur, silver, silicon, 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, praseodynium and platinum, plutonium,
Paladium, promethium, potassium, polonium,
And tantalum, technetium, titanium, tellurium,
And cadmium and calcium and chromium and curium.

There's 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 Hahvud,
And there may be many others, but they haven't been discahvud.

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Background image: covers from some of Tom Lehrer's albums