The Strawberry Bat

Every songwriter had to start somewhere. Whether you’re Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, or Paul Williams, you had to work your way up to Let It Be, or Graceland, or Rainy Days and Mondays. Probably well before you came up with such sophisticated material, you had to make many somewhat more primitive attempts as you learned your craft. Kind of like the Wright Brothers and the first airplanes. Look how far aviation has come since then!

People are generally curious about the origin story of a tune—what the song is about, what in the songwriter’s life led to the expression—the eruption of emotions, if you will—what it was that formed the heart of the work. So I will tell you all about the exegesis of the first song I ever wrote.It was Little League. My teammate Mike and I were sitting on the bench during a game. It was back in the days when all the bats were wooden bats; metal bats didn’t exist at that point. Most bats were blond. Some were dark brown, even a few were black. They certainly weren’t blue or purple or green like the latter-day metal bats. But one day, a couple of the bats that emerged from the bat bag were red! We dubbed them “strawberry bats.” Before I knew it, I was singing my first opus to my first audience, namely Mike. Looking back, I realize that this was my date with destiny. Call it serendipity, say it was beshert. You can even say it was sherbet, but that would make no sense at all. I know it’s hard to believe that a ten-year-old would come up with these clever, complex lyrics, but I swear this is what emerged from my meeting with the Muse all those years ago. And I remember every word! It’s called “The Strawberry Bat.”

The Strawberry Bat (falsetto) doo-doo-doo-doo-doo The Strawberry Bat (falsetto) doo-doo-doo-doo-doo. The Strawberry Bat (falsetto) doo-doo-doo-doo-doo The Strawberry Bat! (falsetto) doo-doo-doo-doo

You could say I was anticipating The Police’s hit “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da,” made a few decades later. I won’t argue with you. Why I’ve never played The Strawberry Bat at my shows, why I’ve never recorded it, I couldn’t say. But obviously I’m going to have to rectify that. Not so much for my sake—for I am naturally humble—but for the sake of my fans. I suppose you should watch this space for details.

c. 2025, Jerome Zeiger