Every breath you take
To the tune of the same name by “The Police”

Every breath you take,
Fuels every move you make,
You take in O2,
Breathe out CO2,
It’s sustaining you.

Your diaphragm goes taut,
Your ribs move up and out.
Chest pressure goes low,
Air now has to flow,
Deep inside of you.

Though you can’t see,
Every time you breathe,
You take in some sky,
Down to your alveoli.

There’s a gas exchange,
Across a thin membrane,
Surface size is great,
Helps diffusion rate,
To capillaries.

When you work hard more energy’s required;
It is released as your muscle cells respire,
But work too hard and you feel like you’re on fire,
As lactic acid levels build up higher and higher.
Oh won’t you cancel my oxygen debt now please!

Instrumental

Oh can’t you see, anaerobic’ly;
It won’t be long at all,
Before you hit “the wall”.

In your cell structure,
Mitochondria,
Making ATP,
Source of energy,
They're sustaining you.

To go on and on,
You need oxygen.
It’s sustaining you.

It’s sustaining you.

Every breath you take,
‘Burns’ up all that cake,
Helps sugar bonds break.
It’s sustaining you.

Every breath you take,
ATP you’ll make,
Energy’s at stake.
It’s sustaining you.

Every breath you take,
Fuels the moves you make,
You just can’t escape:
It’s sustaining you.

C Downey, February 2001