Lab Tracks

Lab Track: Entropy

Looks like reader Brandy is winning the race for most killer lab track contributions. This week, we bring you her suggestion of a tune by ’90s Canadian satire-pop band Moxy Früvous (their website is worth a visit if only for the glimpse of what the internet looked like back in 2002).

This one neatly describes both the first law of thermodynamics and that other stubborn little principle that many cranks forget about — entropy! Enjoy.

Galileo, Newton, Watt, they were geniuses all
Without them we’d be freezing in the dark at the mall
James Joule found total energy remains the same
No matter what its form
That’s why it carries his name

A chemical, electrical, potential and heat,
Radiant, kinetic, ooh the list is incomplete
They’re always changing back and forth
It’s really quite a blur
Oh, how could he?
I’ve forgotten nuclear!

Ride a barrel down the falls
Then cook spaghetti with meatballs
Really make your friends amazed
Nuke it with some gamma rays
Fly to Venus in a rocket
Put your finger in a socket
You may suffer from exhaust,
But none of that energy is ever really lost

Then why can’t we make a clean machine that moves perpetually?
Cause there’s another law with which all energy must agree
Whenever it changes form, it loses quality

In other words…
Damn that rising entropy!

It’s entropy you see that turns finesse into mess
A palace to a pig stye, why, it’s simply scandalous!
Energy once neat degenerates into waste heat (We must repeat)
Because of entropy.

This has been another installment of Monday Lab Tracks. Send us your musical recommendations through our contact link at the top of the page, and tell us what you think of the song in the comments below!

Ashley Hamer

Ashley Hamer (aka Smashley) is a saxophonist and writer living in Chicago, where she performs regularly with the funk band FuzZz and jazz ensemble Big Band Boom. She also does standup comedy, sort of, sometimes. Her tenor saxophone's name is Ladybird.

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