[Verse 1] Sarah's choosing her weekend plans tonight Movies at the theater, seven different shows Or the concert hall with five bands taking flight When choices don't collide, here's how the math goes [Pre-Chorus] Mutually exclusive means they cannot meet No overlap between the paths you take [Chorus] Add them up, add them up When the tasks don't intersect M plus N, count again Addition Principle direct Seven films or five concerts Twelve total ways to spend your night Add them up, add them up When the choices don't unite [Verse 2] Tom's delivery route splits at the bridge Eastern district has four possible streets Western zone gives him six paths on the ridge Can't be both places, so the counting's neat [Pre-Chorus] Mutually exclusive means they cannot meet No overlap between the paths you take [Chorus] Add them up, add them up When the tasks don't intersect M plus N, count again Addition Principle direct Four east routes or six west roads Ten total ways to make his rounds Add them up, add them up When exclusion can be found [Bridge] No crossover, no shared ground Separate buckets, count each mound If task A gives you M ways Task B gives N on different days Simple addition solves the maze [Verse 3] College applications, picking your degree Engineering program offers twelve majors Liberal arts presents you with twenty-three Different schools means clean calculation favors [Final Chorus] Add them up, add them up When the tasks don't intersect M plus N, count again Addition Principle direct Twelve plus twenty-three makes sense Thirty-five paths for your mind Add them up, add them up Mutual exclusion defined [Outro] When choices stand apart and never blend Addition Principle helps counting end
← Beyond ℂ (Brief Encounter) | The Multiplication Principle →