[Verse 1]
Eighteen ninety-five in a Würzburg room,
Wilhelm catches a glow in the gloom,
A tube full of cathode rays hums and hides,
He names it "X" for the mystery inside.
He scans his wife's hand, Anna Bertha's palm,
Her ring turns to shadow, her bones stay calm,
She stares at the plate where her fingers should be,
Whispers "I have seen my death," plain to see.
[Chorus]
Read the bones, read the light,
White is dense, gray is soft, that's the sight,
Dark little gap means the cortex broke,
Two views crossed or the fracture's a joke,
Read the bones, read the shade,
Every shadow tells you how it's made.
[Verse 2]
Calcium drinks up the beam like a sponge,
Flashes out white while the muscle gives way,
Soft tissue's gray, a whisper, a lunge,
Fat floats darker, a smoky gray.
One flat picture can fool a trained eye,
A crack hiding sideways slips past review,
So flip to the side, catch the opposite view,
Two planes at right angles, that's rule number two.
[Chorus]
Read the bones, read the light,
White is dense, gray is soft, that's the sight,
Dark little gap means the cortex broke,
Two views crossed or the fracture's a joke,
Read the bones, read the shade,
Every shadow tells you how it's made.
[Verse 3]
Scaphoid can smile on the film, looking fine,
While the wrist underneath hides a crooked line,
Grandma's hip, femoral neck snapped in stealth,
The X-ray's blind, but the limp tells the truth.
Call the CT for the fine bony lace,
Call the MRI for the bruise you can't trace,
Marrow lights up like a smudge on a peach,
Hidden breaks finally within doctor's reach.
[Bridge]
Name the bone, name the spot,
Is it a line, a spiral, or not,
Shifted over, tilted askew,
Shortened an inch, that's angulation too,
Skin still closed or torn clean through,
Open or closed, that's the final clue.
[Verse 4]
Years go by, the skeleton thins,
Calcium leaks like sand through the bin,
DEXA beam scans the hip and the spine,
Compares you to young bone, draws you a line,
T-score of minus two point five or low,
Osteoporosis, now you know,
Catch it in time with a scan and a pill,
Keep your frame sturdy and still.
[Chorus]
Read the bones, read the light,
White is dense, gray is soft, that's the sight,
Dark little gap means the cortex broke,
Two views crossed or the fracture's a joke,
Read the bones, read the shade,
Every shadow tells you how it's made.
[Outro]
Röntgen's glow still lights the room,
Every shadow tells a tale of whom,
Bone and break and light combined,
Read the X-ray, know the find.