In the silence of the night, a serpent shape
Moves its way across the stony floor
In the comfort of your life, the serpent said,
You know that you could have still more,
Picture where you want to be
The door is open wide
Don't you really want to know?

Don't you want to know how it feels
To see if it's all worth trying?
You want to know how it feels

Don't you want to rule the world a little bit,
Who to help and who to leave to swim?
You could better everything, the serpent said,
In your own peculiar way,
History would honour you
No matter what you did
Don't you really want to try?

You want to know how it feels
And see if it's all worth trying
You want to know how it could feel,

In the silence of the night, you lie awake,
Turning over in your mind the words:
If at first you lack the nerve, the serpent said,
You could always try again
And now left upon your own
Has nothing changed at all
Do you really want to know?

You want to know how it feels
And see if it's all worth trying
You want to know how it could feel,
To be the one