Schoolhouse Rock!

"The Body Machine"

Original Air Date

January 13, 1979

This song teaches about our bodies' digestive process and nutritional needs.

Lyrics to Body Machine 

When you look down the street, what do you see?

The street is overflowing with a lot of machines

Now I don't mean the buses, the trucks or cars

I'm talking about the people

Yeah, you know who they are

I'm a machine, you're a machine

Everybody that you know

You know, they are machines

To keep your engine running you need energy

For your high-powered, revved-up body machine

Your high-powered, revved-up body machine

Now I'd be a fool, if I said that the fuel that

We needed to burn was gasoline

Because the fuel we use is the stuff called food

And it puts out the power for our machine

You make a stop at the filling station

"Fill 'er up! One chicken sandwich to go!"

As you start to chew

Your body does it, all systems go!

Now that sandwich contains some very important kinds of food energy for your body. The chicken gives you protein; bread, carbohydrates; mayonnaise, fat; and the lettuce has vitamins, plus cellulose (or roughage). Together these things help keep your body machine running smoothly.

First the saliva, kind of like a driver

"Move to the rear of the mouth!"

But what it's doing

Along with teeth chewing

Is taking food and breaking it down

Down to the stomach

The food is pushed, the esophagus does its stuff (gulp, gulp)

And the stomach starts

Look at those moving parts

As the body machine churns up

Gastric juices operate on proteins

Fats and carbohydrates

In the stomach they do what they do

They take out nutrition and use it for you

And the cellulose, in those leaves you know

Will control the traffic flow

Helps the food to move along so the good stays in

And the bad gets going

I'm a machine, you're a machine

Everybody that you know

You know, they are machines

To keep your engine running you need energy

For your high-powered, revved-up body machine

Your high-powered, revved-up body machine

Then the small intestine does most of your digesting

By sending all the nutrients

In through the villi

Which look a little silly

But act as little vents

The bloodstream passes; the nutrients it catches

And takes them to the cells you see

You use what it delivers

And store some in the liver

For future energy

I'm a machine, you're a machine

Everybody that you know

You know, they are machines

To keep your engine running you need energy

For your high-powered, revved-up body machine

Your high-powered, revved-up body machine

Your high-powered, revved-up body machine

High-powered, revved-up, complicated tune-up

Fascinating body machine

Take care of that machine

You got such a great model there, honey!

Give it the right fuel

High protein, low calorie

Take it out for a spin every day!