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Here are the opening and closing lines:

There's Antimony , Arsenic , Aluminum , Selenium ,

And Hydrogen and Oxygen and Nitrogen and Rhenium ,


....

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.


Since that time, 14 more have been Discovered
(''synthesized'', technically), and 9 of those have been named. Those 9 are Lawrencium ,
Rutherfordium , Dubnium , Seaborgium , Bohrium , Hassium , Meitnerium , Darmstadtium , and Roentgenium .

Lehrer being a Harvard math professor, the final rhyme of "Harvard" (''HAHV-udd'') and "discovered" (''dis-CAHV-udd'') is delivered in a parody of a Boston Accent . Lehrer himself, a native of New York, does not normally speak with any notable city-accent.

The song differs from ''The Major-General's Song'' in that:
  • Lehrer's usual performance of the song is more monotoned than its source tune, although the sheet music in the 1981 book contains Sullivan's normal score.

  • It is only accompanied on Piano (as opposed to full orchestral accompaniment).

  • Lehrer pauses in the middle for a spoken interlude, in which he talks to the audience ("I hope you're all taking notes, because there's going to be a short quiz next period!") while repeating a rhythmic Chord on the piano.



PERIODIC TABLE ACCORDING TO LEHRER

This table, which shows the order of elements as Lehrer sings them, might help you to learn the song but probably won't help with memorising the elements in the real periodic table. Nitrogen is the only element whose "Lehrer atomic number" is identical to its actual atomic number.

















Chemical Series Of The Periodic Table
Alkali Metal s Alkaline Earth Metal s Lanthanide s Actinide s Transition Metal s
Poor Metal s Metalloid s Nonmetal s Halogen s Noble Gas es



TRIVIA

''The Elements Song'' has itself been parodied, by the group Amateur Transplants (of ''London Underground'' fame) as ''The Drugs Song''.


REFERENCE

'' Too Many Songs By Tom Lehrer '', 1981, has sheet music for many of Lehrer's songs, including ''The Elements''.


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