Susan cruisin' down the freeway doing seventy-eight (go speed racing, go speed racing) She just likes to drive fast, it's not that she's late (no tail-gating, no tail gating) Goes over a hilltop and what a surprise (too late sister, you're in for it now) Blue and red flashing lights right in front of her eyes
Nee nee nee nee nee nee nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah
Now Susan's standing by the side of her car (show me your licence, you're in big trouble) Trucks blowing right by her but she's not going far (they're still cruisin', Susan's losin') She's been caught by a speed trap, and now she can hear (here comes the physics, you're in for it now) Sound of the Doppler Shift right in her ear
Eeeeeeeeeeeeee-owwwwwwwwww
That's the Doppler Shift - you've heard it I know Doppler Shift - first it's high then it's low The good cop's gun shoots out only radar
And the beam bounces back off bad Susan's car And assuming the policeman is standing in range His gun tells him all about the frequency change Then Susan's walking, walking Her speed racing days are done
They're light years away, man, and that's pretty far (lightspeed's the limit, the big speed limit) But there's plenty we can learn from the light of a star (split it with a prism, there's little lines in it) By looking at the spectrum at the light that's glowing (wavelengths of emission, measured with precision) Its Doppler Shift will tell us if it's coming or going
Doo doo doo doo doo-ooo
That's the Doppler Shift - you see it, it's true Doppler Shift - to the red or the blue
When a star is approaching and it's coming our way Its spectrum seems bluer, won't you hear what I say And when a star's retreating way out of range And the scientist measures its frequency change Well that's a redshift, redshift If the star is moving away
By reading Doppler Shifts of all we see in the skies (clusters of galaxies, near and far) We get the big picture and a big surprise (redshifts going, redshifts going) The Universe is growing and expanding away (galaxies are speeding, speeding away) But maybe gravity will shrink it back some day
Owwwwwwwwwwwww-eeeeeeeeeee
Doppler Shift - to the red or the blue Doppler Shift - and our shift's overdue
Now blueshifts come and redshifts go And that's pretty much everything you need to know Now we're gonna pick up Susan and give her a ride So you guys remember Doppler, and you drive to survive And now we're shifting, shifting And our Doppler song is done