Lyric discussion by javsav 

Cover art for Bats lyrics by Paul Dempsey

Sorry, but I don't think this song is a love song about Melbourne. Even though he loves watching bats fly down the Yarra, he's just using it as a metaphor or a reference in this song.

It can't be a love song with lyrics like

"And those average angels the drunken saints with heavy heads you see their spirits are cowering under the table and they're still counting, counting the breaths under their breath"

in it.

I think its a song about a rough relationship, e.g

"And the high-pitched, crooked thoughts that ricocheted off the walls she just set them down quiet, safe in her dresser drawer she laid me out on the laundromat floor and said "You'll be not nearly who you were anymore and I'll always be here to remind you what time is for"

The "you'll be not nearly who you were anymore" is about how the relationship has deeply scarred him.