The same subtraction is worked in two number systems, with spoken classroom asides and a repeated refrain. All spoken and sung text from both pages is retained. The arithmetic printed in the margins is context, not sung words: 342 - 173 = 169 in base ten, and 342 - 173 = 147 in base eight. Those examples are stated here instead of being interleaved with the lyric lines by OCR.
You can't take three from two,
Two is less than three,
So you look at the four in the tens place.
Now that's really four tens
So you make it three tens,
Regroup, and you change a ten to ten ones,
And you add 'em to the two and get twelve,
And you take away three, that's nine.
Is that clear?
Now instead of four in the tens place
You've got three,
'Cause you added one,
That is to say, ten, to the two,
But you can't take seven from three,
So you look in the hundreds place.
From the three you then use one
To make ten ones ...
(And you know why four plus minus one
Plus ten is fourteen minus one?
'Cause addition is commutative, right!)
And so you've got thirteen tens
And you take away seven,
And that leaves five ...
Well, six actually...
But the idea is the important thing!
Now go back to the hundreds place,
You're left with two,
And you take away one from two,
And that leaves ... ?
Everybody get one? Not bad for the first day!
Hooray for New Math,
New-hoo-hoo Math,
It won't do you a bit of good to review math.
It's so simple,
So very simple,
That only a child can do it!
Now, that actually is not the answer that I had in mind, because the book that I got this
problem out of wants you to do it in base eight. But don't panic! Base eight is just like
base ten really - if you're missing two fingers! Shall we have a go at it? Hang on...
You can't take three from two,
Two is less than three,
So you look at the four in the eights place.
Now that's really four eights,
So you make it three eights,
Regroup, and you change an eight to eight ones
And you add 'em to the two,
And you get one-two base eight,
Which is ten base ten,
And you take away three, that's seven.
Ok?
Now instead of four in the eights place
You've got three,
'Cause you added one,
That is to say, eight, to the two,
But you can't take seven from three,
So you look at the sixty-fours ...
"Sixty-four? How did sixty-four get into it?" I hear you cry!
Well, sixty-four is eight squared, don't you see?
Well, you ask a silly question, you get a silly answer!
From the three, you then use one
To make eight ones,
You add those ones to the three,
And you get one-three base eight,
Or, in other words,
In base ten you have eleven,
And you take away seven,
And seven from eleven is four!
Now go back to the sixty-fours,
You're left with two,
And you take away one from two,
And that leaves?
Now, let's not always see the same hands!
One, that's right. Whoever got one can stay after the show and clean the erasers.
Hooray for New Math,
New-hoo-hoo Math!
It won't do you a bit of good to review math.
It's so simple,
So very simple,
That only a child can do it!