Show Notes
This release contains only the music track from Base by Base Episode 413.
Song title: Three Places to Hold the Fire
Original Base by Base episode: 413: Rpc34 WH2 dynamics in RNA polymerase III
Article metadata:
Article title: Dynamic positioning of Rpc34 winged helix in RNA polymerase III elongation complex for its stability with implications for reinitiation
Journal: PNAS
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2601775123
Reference: Wu J-S, Chang W-H, et al. Dynamic positioning of Rpc34 winged helix in RNA polymerase III elongation complex for its stability with implications for reinitiation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2026;123(27):e2601775123. doi:10.1073/pnas.2601775123
Lyrics:
Verse 1
Under cold white lights, the strand starts to glow
A quiet machine where the small scripts flow
One little wing keeps changing where it lands
Holding the bubble with invisible hands
Pre-Chorus
Close, then middle, then drifting away
Counting the seconds it chooses to stay
No straight jump—there’s a rule in the ride
It always passes through the center line
Chorus
Three places to hold the fire in the cleft
A flicker of contact, but it’s all you’ve got left
Weak ties, strong timing, it steadies the view
So the message keeps moving, so the run comes through
Verse 2
Signals in frames, in a pulse on a screen
High, then the middle, then low in between
Cap the loose thiols, let the click be clean
Tag what was hidden in the protein scene
Bridge
And when a brake comes in, the motion gets tight
Pinned upstream, held out of the flight
But when it’s free, it dances to begin again
A fast re-start in the turning pen
Final Chorus
Three places to hold the fire in the cleft
A flicker of contact, but it’s all you’ve got left
Through the middle it travels—no shortcut, no slip
Keeping the template steady at the lip
So it ends, and it starts, with a bright re-clip
