Socrates at the Bar

There's an old man at the end of the bar and he's ruining the night,

'cause he won't tell you a single thing — he only ever asks,

you say "the world's gone to the dogs," he says "which dogs? and gone from where?"

and three hours later you're not certain of your name.

He's got no theory, got no product, got no pamphlet in his coat,

he's never once corrected anybody's politics,

he just tugs a little thread out of whatever thing you're sure of...

and then he buys you a drink while it all comes apart!

And he says, "I don't know! I don't know!"

like a man announcing he has WON something! (he's won something!)

"I don't know! I don't know!"

and he says it with a smile like the sun coming up!

'Cause the wisest man in Athens was the one who said he wasn't,

and he'd rather ask the question than be handed something dumb —

so raise 'em up for everything we haven't figured out!

I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW!

Now the loud man came to visit — you remember, from before —

and he told the room the answer, and he told it twice as loud,

and the old man at the bar just said, "That's fascinating, friend...

now how would you and I find out if that were false?"

And the room went very quiet, 'cause nobody had thought of it,

you could hear the barrel dripping and the ceiling fan go round,

and the loud man got so angry that he had to leave the building —

turns out certainty is fragile as a window in a storm!

So they threw him out eventually — well, they always do,

they said he was corrupting all the young ones with his doubt,

they handed him the bill for every question that he asked,

and he paid it like a gentleman and drank it to the last.

And on his way, he didn't take the staircase or the hall,

he walked straight through the little door that nobody ever tries,

and he held it for a second, and the light came pouring in...

and it wasn't even locked. It was never even locked.

And he says, "I don't know! I don't know!"

like a man announcing he has WON something! (he's won something!)

"I don't know! I don't know!"

and he says it with a smile like the sun coming up!

So here's to every maybe, here's to every honest shrug,

here's to "let me check," and "I was wrong," and "tell me more" —

raise 'em up for everything we haven't figured out!

I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW!