Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!

When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!

Then the traveler in the dark
Thanks you for your tiny spark;
He could not see which way to go,
If you did not twinkle so.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!

[New verses....]

Twinkle Twinkle little star,
I don't wonder what you are;
For by spectroscopic ken,
I know that you're hydrogen;
Twinkle Twinkle little star, 
I don't wonder what you are.


Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
Now we're learning what you are.
For by spectroscopic ken,
You're Helium and Hydrogen;
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
Now we're learning what you are.

Now we know that you went bust
Filled the void with clouds of dust.
Oxygen and carbon are
Elements made in a star.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
What you've made is what we are.

Twinkle, twinkle little star
How I've wondered what WE are.
Now I know you're made of dust
Now I know you're just like us.
Twinkle, Twinkle oh so far,
Now I know I am a star.


Twinkle, twinkle little star
How I wonder where you are;
Up above I see you shine
But according to Dr. Einstein
You are not where you pretend!
You are just around the bend,
And your sweet seductive ray
Has been leading men astray
All these years, O little star!
Don't you know how bad you are?

...
An incandescent ball of gas
Condensing to a solid mass.
...

Jane Taylor wrote the first 3 verses in 1806, but the familiar tune currently playing is Wolfgang Mozart's piano variation of an 18th Century French folksong, "Ah! Vous dirai-je, Maman".

"spectroscopic ken" verse by Lewis Fry Richardson or Ian D. Bush (I've seen both credited....)
"Now we're learning what you are" and "elements" verses by Neal McBurnett.
"I am a star" verse by Robert K Davis.
"Dr. Einstein" verse by Donald Newton.


Neal McBurnett
Last modified: 2016-02-10