A science version of Oh When the Saints! I’m singing the hopes and dreams of every scientist. They dream of getting published, winning grants, tenure and a Nobel Prize! In my experience, to have success in science you need to clone yourself – twice. And then a bit of prayer could be handy…

More of Phil and co is at the Dramatis Scientificae website. I created the Oh When the Science video for AIP Physics in the Cloud, October 2021. Want more songs? Try a Chemistry love song about sodium chloride, or Pluto!

Apologies to Brian Schmidt, who was the original VC cited in this song (and whose name scanned better) but as this was a NSW-based show I had to switch to a selection of Sydney-based vice-chancellors. I apologiese also to Attila Brungs – whose name I eliminated due to bad scansion.

I thank the generation of musicians who brought the song into being around 100 years ago – there seems to be no single original composer, although a few have tried to claim it.

This is part of the 2021 Physics in the Pub (-Cloud, thanks to lockdown 2021) which Phil brings you in partnership with the Australian Institute of Physics NSW Branch.

It was a laugh creating this video. But I drove my partner crazy – listening to me lip sync the song a thousand times… badly as you can see. I need a camera operator!!