On the 28th of March, 2011 at the 241st American Chemical Society National Meeting, over 200 chemists celebrated the 2011 International Year of Chemistry by dancing. They were dressed in business suits, lab coats, (I’m assuming clean ones!), and even as Marie Curie in a mass line dance to an original rap.
Original Lyrics and Music: Richard Li and Utsarga Sikder
VERSE 1
International year of chemistry– two thousand eleven
We’re representing science — 24/7
We’ve got antimatter, fuel cells and a ton of Nobel Prizes
Sustainable energy solves the problem as it arises
Chemistry — the central science, building blocks of life
Engineering new solutions, rid the world of its strife
We’re part of the solution, we ain’t no precipitate,
This is the chemistry dance, now get up and participate
CHORUS
Now, I know a dance that we do every day
In the cells of our bodies, in biological pathways
It happens when two molecules react by perchance
Now get up everybody, do the chemistry dance
Move to the left now move to the right
We’ll be doing the chemistry dance all through the night
Now clap your hands everybody let’s go
We’ll be rocking it out to the chemistry show
Move to the left now move to the right
We’ll be doing the chemistry dance all through the night
Now clap your hands everybody let’s go
We’ll be rocking it out to the chemistry show
VERSE 2
Now it’s been a hundred years since
Curie had copped her second prize
Discovering new frontiers, changed the world before our eyes
The mother of radioactivity, had an electronic affinity
To study the reactivity of polonium and radium –
Gotta’ give a shout-out to Heck for his palladium-
Catalyzed reactions that shifted our course of action
Towards alkene substitution, it’s the primary solution
To halogenate the substrate – a chemical revolution!
CHORUS
Now, I know a dance that we do every day
In the cells of our bodies, in biological pathways
It happens when two molecules react by perchance
Now get up everybody, do the chemistry dance
Move to the left now move to the right
We’ll be doing the chemistry dance all through the night
Now clap your hands everybody let’s go
We’ll be rocking it out to the chemistry show
Move to the left now move to the right
We’ll be doing the chemistry dance all through the night
Now clap your hands everybody let’s go
We’ll be rocking it out to the chemistry show
Bridge
An ingenious combination of environmental innovations
Of water purification that’s helping our league of nations
These chemical applications and their many implications
Will provide the accommodations to ensure our rejuvenation
So Obama got together with the UN forces
To address all of these problems and utilize our resources
Pasteur passed-your expectations with all his pasteurization
Get out of your hibernation, it’s IYC’s inauguration
CHORUS
Now, I know a dance that we do every day
In the cells of our bodies, in biological pathways
It happens when two molecules react by perchance
Now get up everybody, do the chemistry dance
Move to the left now move to the right
We’ll be doing the chemistry dance all through the night
Now clap your hands everybody let’s go
We’ll be rocking it out to the chemistry show
Move to the left now move to the right
We’ll be doing the chemistry dance all through the night
Now clap your hands everybody let’s go
We’ll be rocking it out to the chemistry show
