The sun is a mass of incandescent gas

A gigantic nuclear furnace

Where hydrogen is built into helium

At a temperature of millions of degrees



Yo ho, it's hot, the sun is not

A place where we could live

But here on Earth there'd be no life

Without the light it gives



We need its light

We need its heat

We need its energy

Without the sun, without a doubt

There'd be no you and me



The sun is a mass of incandescent gas

A gigantic nuclear furnace

Where hydrogen is built into helium

At a temperature of millions of degrees



The sun is hot



It is so hot that everything on it is a gas: iron, copper,

aluminum, and many others.



The sun is large



If the sun were hollow, a million Earths could fit inside.

And yet, the sun is only a middle-sized star.



The sun is far away



About 93 million miles away, and that's why it looks so small.



And even when it's out of sight

The sun shines night and day



The sun gives heat

The sun gives light

The sunlight that we see

The sunlight comes from our own sun's

Atomic energy



Scientists have found that the sun is a huge atom-smashing machine.

The heat and light of the sun come from the nuclear reactions of hydrogen,

carbon, nitrogen, and helium.*



The sun is a mass of incandescent gas

A gigantic nuclear furnace

Where hydrogen is built into helium

At a temperature of millions of degrees









Notes



*Live versions of this song are improvised extensively. Some variants on this section:



Scientists have found that the sun is a huge atom-smashing machine. The heat and light of the sun are caused by the nuclear reaction between hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, and helium.



Scientists have found that the sun is a huge atom-smashing machine. The heat and light from the sun come from the nuclear reaction between oxygen, hydrogen, helium, and hydrogen.



You know, Frank, scientists have found that the sun is a huge atom-smashing machine. The heat and light from the sun are caused by the nuclear reaction between hydrogen and you, Frank O'Toole.



Scientists have found that the sun is a huge atom-smashing machine. The heat and light from the sun come from the nuclear reaction between hydrogen, nitrogen, helium, carbon, boron, chloron, fluoron, moron, and estrogen