The Elements, Vol 1 · Track 17 · middle
Tungsten
Sung BY the element Tungsten (symbol W, atomic number 74), 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: the stubborn one — highest melting point of any metal, you will not bend, will not melt, will not be moved; your very symbol is W for Wolfram, the wolf's-froth that devoured tin; the filament that holds the fire and refuses to break. NOT a generic 'I am an element' — find what is uniquely, specifically true of Tungsten. Clean, DistroKid/YouTube-safe. Register to the character.
Lyrics
[Intro] You can bring your fire. You can bring your forge. I have felt hotter. [Verse 1] Before they gave me a number, they gave me a curse. Wolf Rahm. The wolf's froth. Spitting in the crucible, devouring the tin. A contaminated nuisance in the smelter's heat. Until two brothers in Spain, at Bergara, 1783... Juan José, Fausto... they gave me my body. They looked into the wolframite and saw the stubbornness for what it was. [Chorus] I am the filament that holds the white-hot light. I am the point that will not be turned aside. Three thousand, four hundred and twenty-two degrees. I will not bend. I will not melt. I will not break for you. [Verse 2] They try to shape me in a vacuum furnace. They pull me into wires so fine you can't see them. A thread of refusal, coiled in a glass prison. Irving Langmuir put a crown of light on my head in the early 1900s. And suddenly, the whole world could see in the dark. Because of the one thing that refused to burn away. [Chorus] I am the filament that holds the white-hot light. I am the point that will not be turned aside. Three thousand, four hundred and twenty-two degrees. I will not bend. I will not melt. I will not break for you. [Bridge] This strength has two faces. A lamp for the scholar's desk... And a core for the shell that pierces the tank's armor. World War II knew my value well. The drill bit that carves steel, the shield that won't give. I am simply what I am. Hardness. What you do with it... is on you. [Chorus] I am the filament that holds the white-hot light. I am the point that will not be turned aside. Three thousand, four hundred and twenty-two degrees. I will not bend. I will not melt. I will not break for you. [Outro] Bring your sun. I will not melt. I am Wolfram. I will not melt.