[Verse 1] Three brothers born from one single proton's name, Protium's plain, deuterium's heavy, tritium's aflame with decay, Ortho spins together, para spins apart, Cold ones favor para, that's your low-temp chart. Ionic hydride's salt, hydrogen's the negative guest, Covalent share it soft, metallic sinks in a mesh, Interstitial slides through palladium's cage like a ghost, Hydrogen bonds pull water's boiling point up the most. Steam reforming cracks methane, steam plus heat in a tube, Electrolysis splits water, bubbles rise like a cue, Hydrogen economy dreams of a clean-burning cell, Fuel for cars and rockets, water's the only farewell. [Chorus] Lithium's crimson, sodium's gold, potassium's lilac bloom, Rubidium violet, cesium blue, francium's radioactive doom, Down the group the water fizzes harder, faster, wilder still, Oxide, peroxide, superoxide — climb that potential hill. [Verse 2] Group one metals, one lone electron loose in space, Drop them all in water, watch the reactivity race, Lithium just simmers, sodium skates and spits, Potassium ignites lilac, rubidium's fireworks kit. Oxygen gives lithium oxide, simple and plain, Sodium prefers peroxide, two oxygens on a chain, Potassium goes superoxide, one electron unpaired, Bigger cation, less charge density, that's the trend declared. Drop an alkali in liquid ammonia, deep blue it turns, Solvated electrons floating free, that's the color that burns, Crown ethers cage the cation, cryptands wrap it tight, Lithium-ion batteries shuttle charge through the night. Lithium's small and dense, it cheats and skips the row, Diagonal to magnesium — three proofs I'll show: Both form nitrides with nitrogen, both carbonates decompose with heat, Both fluorides stay insoluble — diagonal relationship complete. [Chorus] Lithium's crimson, sodium's gold, potassium's lilac bloom, Rubidium violet, cesium blue, francium's radioactive doom, Down the group the water fizzes harder, faster, wilder still, Oxide, peroxide, superoxide — climb that potential hill. [Verse 3] Beryllium's the weirdo, covalent, small, and toxic too, Forms chains and dimers, never ionic like the rest of the crew, Magnesium turns to Grignard, R-Mg-X in ether's arms, Carbon-carbon bonds get built through organometallic charms. Down the group hydroxides get more soluble, that's true, But sulfates go the other way, barium sulfate's stuck like glue, Carbonates lose carbon dioxide when the polarizing cation's strong, Small cation distorts the anion, breaks it before too long, Magnesium calcium carbonate — hard water's calling card, Boil it dry, the scale forms, kettles get scarred, Lime kilns roast limestone, calcium oxide is born, Cement mixes lime with clay, concrete's foundation sworn.
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