This song is available on Jonathan Sprout's American Heroes.

Thomas Edison (1847-1931), often called the greatest inventor who ever lived, patented over 1,000 inventions. These included the motion-picture projector, the phonograph and the electric light bulb.

Though he completed only three months of schooling, he loved to read. It was his powerful imagination, his firm optimism and his complete self-confidence that enabled him to spend long hours inventing things that would make life better for all of humanity.

There he sat by the candle flame,
Thomas Alva Edison was his name.
In search of a way to bring light to the night,
He kept thinking, but he couldn't get it right.....

Set his imagination free.

REFRAIN:
That's when the light went on in his head.
The light went on.
Working night and day
To find a better way,
When the light went on in his head.

There he sat with a pad and pen,
Thomas Alva Edison inventing again.....

Dreaming of a phonograph
Set his imagination free.

REFRAIN

Glass bulb, filament, stretch into an arc.
Vacuum seal it up. Add a tiny spark.
Stand back, turn it on. Glowing in the dark!
He left his mark in Menlo Park.

REFRAIN

See more of our Social Studies and Biographical Song Lyrics

Many thanks to Jonathan Sprout for permission to display these lyrics.
© Kanukatunes (ASCAP). All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Social Studies
Song Lyrics

Biography
Song Lyrics

Social Studies
Music Products