[Verse 1]

There was a time before, a little after the war

When the finest minds would have the deepest roar

And we would celebrate the things they told us to hate

And there were many things to keep us smart

They closed the libraries and gave us cable TV

They gave us people who know nothing as celebrities

Gave us sugary food, drugs to regulate our mood

And they took all the things that make us smart

[Chorus]

Keep me out of the stupid

Keep me out of the dark

Sell me into enlightenment

Let me disembark

[Verse 2]

Just give us Stephen Hawking, give us Aaron Sorkin

Give us Dolly Parton singing, David Attenborough talking

Give us Allen Moore, give us Radio 4

Just give us anything that keeps us smart

Give us the Hitchhiker's Guide, give us Stephen Fry

Give us everybody else involved in making QI

Give us the V&A, give us Ai Weiwei

Give us everything that makes us smart

[Chorus]

Leave me out of your tweeting

Leave me out of your trends

Sell me into the sanity

Of my family and friends

[Verse 3]

Give us novels to forage, Hari Seldon's knowledge

Give us Lyra when she's setting off from Jordan College

Give us Gorky Park, give us Arthur C. Clarke

Give us anything that keeps us smart

Give us Slaughterhouse Five, Tarantino's vibes

Give us Roddenberry, Gormenghast, and under his eye

Give us Bernard Shaw, give us Michael Moore

Give us everything that keeps us smart

[Break]

[Verse 4]

Give us a chance to grow in ways we never dreamt of before

A college of enlightenment and music and more

Lead us deep into temptation through that beautiful door

Give us anything to keep us smart

Give us oranges and clockwork, give us twenty-two catches

Give us Morrison, Milligan, and Gaiman’s dispatches

Give us Sylvia Plath, give us Tolstoy and Kafka

And anything that keeps us smart

[Verse 5]

Give us Rhinehart's dice, Winterfell's ice

Give me Frank Sinatra singing "...[that] They Named It Twice

Give us Frodo's journey, give us Bert and Ernie

Give us anything that keeps us smart

So I guess in conclusion, we're expecting confusion

And an ever-growing incidence of self-delusion

So we'll all complain inside our echo chambers

And there's nothing left to keep us smart

[Outro]

Just give me Stephen Hawking, give me Aaron Sorkin

The Dolly Parton singing, give me Attenborough talking

Give us Allen Moore, give us Radio 4

Give us anything that keeps us smart