Many many years ago, when I was but a youth I studied to all hours in a frantic search for Truth I was sitting in my study, ’midst the books that I had read When I glanced out of the window, and a bat flew overhead And I thought:
What is it like to be a bat? Oh, if only I knew that! I could probably explain All the secrets of the brain If I knew what it was like to be a bat
It seemed to me the answer to the riddle of the mind Would be found in the experience of those least like humankind In unfamiliar qualia, like those of the bat who hears The echo of an insect in its ultrasonic ears And I thought:
What is it like to be a bat? Oh, if only I knew that! I could be more self-aware I could become department chair! If I knew what it was like to be a bat
It turned into a passion, then an all-consuming mania My research took me far and wide, till I reached Transylvania And there beneath a castle tossed by storms and lost in mist The townspeople declared the local noble could assist Could tell me:
What it was like to be a bat? Oh, if only I knew that! I could see with different eyes I could win a Nobel Prize! If I knew what it was like to be a bat
The noble said he’d help me, and I babbled out my thanks He responded with a smile, and it looked a lot like fangs I really don’t remember much that happened after that But when I awoke that evening, I could turn into a bat.
What is it like to be a bat? Oh, I finally know that! Now I sleep within a coffin And don’t see the sun too often But I know what it’s like to be a bat
What is it like to be a bat? Oh, I’m an expert on that I was bookish once, and stuffy Now I live in fear of Buffy But I know what it’s like to be a bat
WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE A BAT
Many many years ago, when I was but a youth
I studied to all hours in a frantic search for Truth
I was sitting in my study, ’midst the books that I had read
When I glanced out of the window, and a bat flew overhead
And I thought:
What is it like to be a bat?
Oh, if only I knew that!
I could probably explain
All the secrets of the brain
If I knew what it was like to be a bat
It seemed to me the answer to the riddle of the mind
Would be found in the experience of those least like humankind
In unfamiliar qualia, like those of the bat who hears
The echo of an insect in its ultrasonic ears
And I thought:
What is it like to be a bat?
Oh, if only I knew that!
I could be more self-aware
I could become department chair!
If I knew what it was like to be a bat
It turned into a passion, then an all-consuming mania
My research took me far and wide, till I reached Transylvania
And there beneath a castle tossed by storms and lost in mist
The townspeople declared the local noble could assist
Could tell me:
What it was like to be a bat?
Oh, if only I knew that!
I could see with different eyes
I could win a Nobel Prize!
If I knew what it was like to be a bat
The noble said he’d help me, and I babbled out my thanks
He responded with a smile, and it looked a lot like fangs
I really don’t remember much that happened after that
But when I awoke that evening, I could turn into a bat.
What is it like to be a bat?
Oh, I finally know that!
Now I sleep within a coffin
And don’t see the sun too often
But I know what it’s like to be a bat
What is it like to be a bat?
Oh, I’m an expert on that
I was bookish once, and stuffy
Now I live in fear of Buffy
But I know what it’s like to be a bat
:D
The music is I am my own grandpa, right?
It is. Mike edited it a little to include some more choruses.