I created a Tome Lehrer “periodic song” page some time ago. I included a few interesting links including to a Flash video-ization of The Elements. Take a look and see what’s been discaaaarvard…

A quick Google for Phlogiston Lyrics reveals another song containing that word: Epoch Of Unlight’s Conflagration Of Hate:

The child of night has now his ascent
And crushed lay the feeble in death’s stalwart grip
Searing phlogiston as child rises high
Blinks into darkness when through time he flies

Pretentious phlogiston rock methinks

I had forgotten about Lehrer’s Werner von Braun, that surely counts as a song about a scientist. Not exactly a flattering one, though. (”‘Once ze rockets are up, who cares where zey come down? / Zat’s not my department’ says Werner von Braun.”)

Hakim Bey; Temporary Autonomous Zone; Track 1: Chaos.

“CHAOS NEVER DIED. Primordial uncarved block, sole worshipful monster, inert & spontaneous, more ultraviolet than any mythology (like the shadows before Babylon), the original undifferentiated oneness-of-being still radiates serene as the black pennants of Assassins, random & perpetually intoxicated.

Chaos comes before all principles of order & entropy, it’s neither a god nor a maggot, its idiotic desires encompass & define every possible choreography, all meaningless aethers & phlogistons: its masks are crystallizations of its own facelessness, like clouds.

Everything in nature is perfectly real including consciousness, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about. Not only have the chains of the Law been broken, they never existed; demons never guarded the stars, the Empire never got started, Eros never grew a beard.”

…to the tune of Yankee Doodle Dandy…

…music and science, my second and third favourite subjects, not necessarily in that order ;-)

I intentionally did not browse much through Artichoke’s very nice web site until after I wrote my review, so I wouldn’t be influenced by anything but the album itself. But now that I have, there are a few things I want to add! First off, I apparently cannot tell the difference between a harmonica and an accordion – that sound in Luther Burbank is actually accordion. Also, some of the songs feature a theramin [think theme from Star Trek], how cool is that!?.

Second, there was a New York Times article about the album, also about science songs in general (who knew there was a Science Songwriters’ Association?!). The article is hosted on Artichoke’s site so you don’t have to worry about NYT registration (thanks!!)

And finally, good news: songs are already written for Volume II: Newton – Zeno! Including ones about Chien-Shiung Wu and William of Ockham. And I simply have to quote this from the Artichoke journal:

Sometimes I daydream that Terry Gross, host of NPR’s “Fresh Air,” is asking me how and why I began writing 26 loosely biographical songs about scientists, one for every letter of the alphabet. “Well, Terry,” I reply as if we were old chums, “it was a bit of a songwriting stunt. The abecedarium, as the A to Z structure is called, has long been a popular device in kid’s books, as well as with one of my favorite artists, Edward Gorey. These days when I sit down to write a song — starting with some rhythmic grunting and a little semi-melodious wailing — I ask myself, `Is this a scientist song?’ About half the time it is, in which case it’s research time. Did you know that when Isaac Newton died, he was a virgin who had neglected to write a will? And that all his furniture was covered with dark red velvet? Can’t wait to work that into Volume Two.” Before she can tell me how amusing this all is, and how great the songs are, my daydream ends abruptly. There’s a telephone in my hand, but Terry Gross is gone and I’m on hold with a credit card company.

…also the eerie sound in Beach Boys Good Vibrations, and a forerunner to the movement-triggered devices used by Jean Michel Jarre in live performances during the 1990s.

The theramin also featured in Brit comic Bill Bailey’s live show during which he does various musical pastiches, including one (with the theramin) of the BBC News audio-logo! Very funny, but you have to have been there…