I heard my first Lehrer song, the Irish Ballad, in the back of a truck in 1954. You can't imagine what a breath of fresh air it was in the Stuffy Fifties. That same year, my mother gave me the first LP as a highschool graduation present, and I took it to Caltech with me.

"The Elements" is amusing, but a more valuable contribution to society would be a song mentioning them in order, one line to each, with a brief mnemonic -- each stanza concluding with a noble gas. It's on my agenda. If I ever get it started, I'll put the beginning here, so the rest of you can continue it when I die.