Tom Lehrer, the American musical satirist, is renowned for his witty and humorous songs covering a range of subjects, from mathematics to social commentary. Among his most famous creations is “The Elements,” often referred to as the Chemistry Table Song. This ingeniously crafted piece sets the names of all the chemical elements known at the time to the tune of the “Major-General’s Song” from Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta, The Pirates of Penzance.
Lehrer’s “The Elements” is not just a novelty song; it’s a clever and surprisingly effective way to learn and remember the periodic table. The rapid-fire delivery and the familiar melody make memorizing the elements an entertaining challenge. The song lists elements in alphabetical order, starting with Antimony and running through to Zinc, capturing a significant portion of the periodic table in a few minutes of musical brilliance.
Here are the original lyrics to Tom Lehrer’s chemistry table song, “The Elements”:
There’s antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium,
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
And 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 caesium
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 and 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.If you’re curious to hear Lehrer perform this iconic chemistry table song, you can find recordings online. For a visually engaging experience, an animated version of “The Elements” is also available, bringing the song to life in a fun and memorable way. Beyond Lehrer’s original, the song has inspired numerous adaptations and updates, including versions that incorporate the more recently discovered elements, demonstrating its enduring appeal and educational value in the world of chemistry. You can even find updated versions that bring the element list completely up to date.
To delve deeper into the world of elements, you might explore resources detailing the history of their discovery. Understanding when and how each element was identified adds another layer of appreciation to Lehrer’s masterful chemistry table song.
