[Verse 1]
Twenty-five centuries back, give or take,
Celtic farmers lit a bonfire by the lake,
Called it Samhain, summer's end, the harvest done,
Watching embers while the dark outran the sun.
Bugs came swarming toward that crackling golden light,
Guess who followed dinner? Bats showed up that night!
Real wings, real fangs, but only snacking fleas,
Not vampires, just hungry mammals looping through the trees.
[Chorus]
Creatures of the night, half history, half tale,
Some of it is fact and some's a spooky sail,
We're sorting out the legend from the thing that's really true,
Creatures of the night, here's the story, told for you.
[Verse 2]
Medieval villages got spooked by cats so black,
Said they ran with witches, brought bad luck on your back,
Nobody proved it, just a rumor tossed around,
In other lands that same black cat's the luckiest one found.
So is a black cat cursed? No scientist agrees,
It's folklore riding shadows, superstitious fleas,
Pure invented worry from a frightened human mind,
Teaching us how stories leave the facts behind.
[Chorus]
[Verse 3]
The witch in the pointy hat stirring up her brew,
Started as a legend, never once was true,
Some say the hat came from old brewers selling ale,
Historians still argue, so we'll call it a tale.
Real women once got blamed back in a darker year,
That history is heavy, not a laughing souvenir,
So we wear the costume, wiggle on a broom,
Knowing it's a story, not a fact inside the room.
[Verse 4]
Vampires in the legends came from Eastern Europe's fright,
When sickness spread unanswered, folks feared the walking night,
Werewolves born from forests where the real wolves actually prowled,
Fear got mixed with moonlight till the story howled.
A novelist wrote fiction and a monster got a name,
Old movies sewed on capes and lit the fangs with fame,
None of it is science, all of it is play,
Fiction wearing shadows on the spookiest day.
[Verse 5]
Jack-o'-lanterns started out as turnips carved with care,
Irish legends told of Stingy Jack who roamed the night air,
Pumpkins came to America, bigger, bright, and bold,
Candlelight in hollow eyes, an old tale new and told.
[Bridge]
Fact: the bats are real, just hunting bugs for fun.
Fact: that cat's a cat, no magic being done.
Fiction: capes and fangs and howling at the moon,
Fiction: broomstick flying by the light of a cartoon.
Say it with me now, keep the two apart,
Fact and fiction, that's the real Halloween art.
[Chorus]
[Outro]
So light your pumpkin, let the bonfire glow,
Now you know the stories and you know what's folklore,
Creatures of the night, we told you what is true,
Happy Halloween, the facts belong to you.