Monty Harper Songbook

Hear this song and/or purchase it: CD Baby • iTunes

I wrote this song for the 2010 season of Born to Do Science.

Grain of Sand - Song Lyric

I am a small grain of sand
I am a piece of the land
A crystal of quartz; A time-piece of sorts
Absorbing the energy at hand
A patient and ancient grain of sand

Once I was blocked from the sun
My time as a clock had begun
Each radiant spark that strikes in the dark
Knocks one more electron undone
I trap them. I store them one by one

Now I am lifted away from my site
Suddenly dazzled with blinding blue light

My trapped electrons all flow back where they belong
They glow as they go
You count the photons. You calculate my dose
Your machine lets you know
How many millennia I spent collecting
Electrons for you
Now I am reset and waiting for darkness
To start me anew

I am a small grain of sand
I am a piece of the land
A crystal of quartz; A time-piece of sorts
Absorbing the energy at hand
A patient and ancient grain of sand

Now you can hear this song, along with the entire Songs From the Science Frontier CD, on the podcast Parenting Within Reason, episode 37. It's a free download via iTunes. Enjoy!