[Verse 1] Left side's the start, the reactants wait, right side's the finish, the products they make— an arrow stands between them, it don't mean subtract, it whispers "becomes," that's the whole of the act. Two things walk in, something new walks out, matter never vanishes, it just turns about. [Chorus] Count your atoms, left and right, balance the seesaw, keep it tight, same elements enter as the ones that leave, nothing's erased and nothing deceives— that's the golden rule, inviolable and plain, Lavoisier's law wearing arithmetic's chain. [Verse 2] Before the alphabet, chemists drew little suns, moons for silver, strange sigils for everyone, alchemist pictures, a secret, fussy art, Berzelius looked at the clutter and said "let's restart." Eighteen-thirteen, he carved us a cipher clean, H for hydrogen, O for oxygen, Na the sodium queen, Fe for iron, borrowed from ferrum's name, now the whole wide world reads the recipe the same. [Chorus] [Verse 3] Take two H-two plus one O-two, watch it begin, the fat coefficient counts molecules going in, the little subscript, tucked by the letter's shoe, counts the atoms bonded, says exactly who. Four hydrogens marching, two oxygens in tow, form two water molecules, written H-two-O, two on this side, better get two on that— balance the equation, no atom left flat. [Verse 4] Sodium meets chlorine, a greedy little swap, two Na plus Cl-two, and two NaCl drop, count the sodiums, count the chlorines too, two matches two, that's the balancing cue. It's not a riddle, it's a scale that won't bend, tip it with a coefficient till both sides befriend. [Bridge] Little tags in parentheses tell you the scene: (s) is solid, standing stiff and serene, (l) is liquid, pouring, free to roam, (g) a gas that's drifting, never calling anywhere home, (aq) means dissolved, swimming in the water's embrace— every single substance wears its own address and place. [Verse 5] Synthesis joins hands, two make one whole, decomposition breaks it back, that's its role, single displacement, one element cuts in line, double displacement swaps partners, feels just fine, combustion burns bright in oxygen's embrace, carbon dioxide and water left in its place. Whatever the pathway, whatever the name, the atoms in, the atoms out stay just the same— five kinds of dances, one rule holds them tight, mass conserved from morning into night. [Chorus] [Outro] Left side, arrow, right side, see— becomes is the word, not a mystery, count it, balance it, call it done, H's and O's and Fe's as one, the seesaw settles, the numbers agree, that's the whole quiet art of chemistry. [Chorus] Count your atoms, left and right, balance the seesaw, keep it tight, same elements enter as the ones that leave, nothing's erased and nothing deceives— that's the golden rule, inviolable and plain, Lavoisier's law wearing arithmetic's chain.
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