Commissioned by Academic Systems in Mountain View, California, the lyric specifies quasi-rap verses and a sung refrain. The four parts cover polynomials, conic sections, matrices and mathematical induction. Each of the three later REFRAIN instructions returns to the same complete ten-line chorus, expanded here for continuous reading. The source credits Edward Landesman with the short spoken responses on the recording; no audio is reproduced.
Polynomials and rational functions, coefficients,
Linear factors and quadratics and pure imaginaries,
Partial fraction decomposition,
And synthetic division, multiplicity of roots,
And complex conjugates.
(What?)
I said "complex conjugates"!
(WHAT??)
We're talkin' algebra,
What we're doin' here is algebra.
Try a little bit and Wow!
You are gonna wonder how
Did you ever get along without it up to now.
It's algebra,
Get yourself a little algebra.
You are really gonna be amazed at all that it can do for you.
(Who, me?)
Yes, you!
Hyperbolas and circles and ellipses and parabolas
And diameters and radii and axes of symmetry
And sections of the cone and completion of the square
And directrices and intercepts and vertices and foci
And asymptotes.
(What?)
I said "asymptotes"!
(WHAT??)
We're talkin' algebra,
What we're doin' here is algebra.
Try a little bit and Wow!
You are gonna wonder how
Did you ever get along without it up to now.
It's algebra,
Get yourself a little algebra.
You are really gonna be amazed at all that it can do for you.
(Who, me?)
Yes, you!
Linear simultaneous equations and solutions,
Using coefficient matrices and quotients of determinants,
And inconsistent systems, elementary operations,
Using Cramer's rule and Gaussian elimination,
And cofactors.
(What?)
I said "cofactors"!
(WHAT??)
We're talkin' algebra,
What we're doin' here is algebra.
Try a little bit and Wow!
You are gonna wonder how
Did you ever get along without it up to now.
It's algebra,
Get yourself a little algebra.
You are really gonna be amazed at all that it can do for you.
(Who, me?)
Yes, you!
Geometric sequences and infinite series,
Permutations, combinations, and the sigma notation,
Mathematical induction, arithmetical progression,
And binomial expansion and the Pascal triangle,
And factorials.
(Huh?)
I said "factorials"!
(HUH??)
We're talkin' algebra,
What we're doin' here is algebra.
Try a little bit and Wow!
You are gonna wonder how
Did you ever get along without it up to now.
It's algebra,
Get yourself a little algebra.
You are really gonna be amazed at all that it can do for you.
(Who, me?)
Yes, you!