[Verse 1] Four atoms of iron, three breaths of oxygen air, add water as witness, the bond forms right there, electrons go wandering, iron gives them away, that's redox in slow motion, a rust-colored ballet. Hydrated iron oxide, flaky, brown, and friable, crumbles like stale biscuit — a word worth the trouble. [Chorus] Rost schläft nie, rust never sleeps, gnawing through the fender while the night owl sleeps, Eisen und Wasser, dancing cheek to cheek, oxygen's the matchmaker, electric and bleak. Rost schläft nie, under moon or sun, the slowest reaction that's never, ever done. [Verse 2] Rain on the highway, salt on the road in December, sodium and chloride, electrons they remember, carrying the current like a wire in the storm, that's why coastal cars corrode in such peculiar form. No water, no rusting — keep your toolbox dry, but humid air and puddles let the ferrous metal die. [Chorus] Rost schläft nie, rust never sleeps, gnawing through the fender while the night owl sleeps, Eisen und Wasser, dancing cheek to cheek, oxygen's the matchmaker, electric and bleak. [Verse 3] Galvanized the steel beam, a zinc coat sprayed on thick, zinc's the noble martyr, takes the chemical hit, sacrificial metal, it corrodes instead of you, ships hang blocks of zinc below so hulls stay strong and true. Zink stirbt zuerst — zinc dies first, guarding what it's near, the quiet hero of the harbor, thinning year by year. [Verse 4] But aluminum's different, no flaking, no decay, it forms a skin so tough it seals corrosion away, a thin oxide armor, invisible and tight, Aluminium schützt sich selbst, sealing out the light. No oxygen gets deeper once that layer's in place, a self-healing metal with a stone-cold poker face. [Verse 5] Copper turns to verdigris, a green and ancient shield, patina on the rooftop, the slow chemical yield, chromium in stainless steel forms a layer thin and clean, invisible protection in a silvery sheen. Every metal has its story, written in decay, some corrode in silence, some find another way. [Bridge] Redox is the engine, electrons lose and gain, iron always loses, that's chemistry's refrain, stable or unstable depends on what's nearby, zinc, air, and salty weather decide if metals die. [Chorus] Rost schläft nie, rust never sleeps, gnawing through the fender while the night owl sleeps, Eisen und Wasser, dancing cheek to cheek, oxygen's the matchmaker, electric and bleak. Rost schläft nie, under moon or sun, the slowest reaction that's never, ever done. [Outro] Four iron, three oxygen, water stirred in slow, hydrated rust is born wherever damp winds blow, Rost schläft nie, remember as you go, the chemistry of rusting — now you finally know.
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