The Elements, Vol 1 · Track 3 · middle
Lithium
Sung BY the element Lithium (symbol Li, atomic number 3), in FIRST PERSON — a character with a fear, a vanity, or a secret. Write ORIGINAL lyrics TRUE to this specific element's real chemistry, history and place in the world: condemned to live submerged in oil because the touch of air or water sets you burning; and the cruel irony — you are the salt that steadies the manic mind, giving others a peace you can never have yourself. NOT a generic 'I am an element' — find what is uniquely, specifically true of Lithium. Clean, DistroKid/YouTube-safe. Register to the character.
Lyrics
Don't touch the surface.Don't break the skin of this oil.I live in here.In the quiet, clear bath.Waiting for a reason.Any reason.The air is a liar.The rain is a thief.One drop, one breath, and I am fire.Johan Arfwedson found me in a stone in 1817.Called me lithos. The quiet one.He didn't know what I hold back.What I keep under the surface of this mineral oil.This sweet, suffocating peace.But I am the salt you take to be steady.I am the tablet that quiets the storm in your head.I give you the calm I will never know.I live on a razor's edge so you can live on solid ground.This is my cruel joke.My beautiful, terrible gift.In a ward in Bundoora, 1949.John Cade had a simple theory. He was wrong.But the men in the beds grew quiet.Their racing thoughts found a place to rest.He gave them me.A small white promise in the palm of a hand.And I... I went inside them and held my breath.Just like I do in the oil.Because I am the salt you take to be steady.I am the tablet that quiets the storm in your head.I give you the calm I will never know.I live on a razor's edge so you can live on solid ground.This is my cruel joke.My beautiful, terrible gift.Now I'm not just in the blood, I'm in the current.They pull me from the brine in the Atacama.Trap me in a foil-and-graphite cage.I power your world from inside your pocket.I move your cars without a sound.Always contained.Always holding a crimson flame just behind my teeth.Another kind of oil, another kind of peace.But I'm still in here.Submerged.Waiting.One touch.Just one.Don't touch the surface.Please.