Thursday 21 June 2012

Science Songs

I'm sure this song was supposed to be about losing a girl but I was listening to it yesterday and it reminds me a lot of science and getting a PhD or paper. Bear with me and listen carefully...





Verse one is clearly about the start of a project where you don't really have much to work on until the project is fully under way ;

"time is a valuable thing  [you're going to wish you had more time before the end]
Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings  [facebook is not a productive thing to do while running a gel]
Watch it count down to the end of the day [neither is watching a time course]
The clock ticks life away
It’s so unreal
Didn’t look out below [but it's sunny!]
Watch the time go right out the window [facebook/sunshine again]
Trying to hold on but didn’t even know
Wasted it all just to [go to the pub]
Watch you go"

then there's the chorus;

" I kept everything inside and even though I tried, it all fell apart  [not telling your boss about results]
What it meant to me will eventually be a memory of a time when I tried so hard [time heals all wounds]
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn't even matter [you got scooped] "


"I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn't even matter [even if you do get published there's a strong chance no-one will ever care what your protein does in regard to one particular function - it's not like it's going to be on your tombstone is it?]

Verse 2 - that part of the project where nothing works

" One thing, I don’t know why
It doesn’t even matter how hard you try [insert experiment eg PCR, ChIP, Western etc]"
"In spite of the way you were mocking me [insert experiment again or pick another one]
Acting like I was part of your property
Remembering all the times you fought with me [insert experiment]
I’m surprised it got so (far)  [why the hell did I keep repeating that experiment? I should have done something else]
Things aren’t the way they were before  [why can't I repeat that experiment?]
You wouldn’t even recognize me anymore [why do I get a completely different result?]"

Chorus - reminding you even moreso of the futility/

Verse 3 - that point where you realise the project simply isn't going to work. Move on do, do something else or go emo and cry in a corner.

"I've put my trust in you [PI or that one result that the entire project hinges upon]
Pushed as far as I can go [look, besides faking the results, I can't get it to work]
For all this
There’s only one thing you should know [ your gene doesn't do what you think it does/ science is a cruel mistress]


I think a lot of you would agree that the song is very apt. If you know of any other songs that inadvertently encapsulate science, let me know. They don't have to be negative either!


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