Rats
Beau Lyrics


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It was 3am and the streets of the city
Were soaked by the deluge of rain.
The neon and sodium lights reflected brightly from the polished pavements.
With no movement save that of the rain itself
And the alternating colours of the traffic light,
The streets were silent -
And then the rats came.
They came from the sewers that overflowed
With the increasing demands of the flood -
Out of the drains from all sides they came in their twos and threes,
Two and three hundreds, two and three thousands until
The alleys and paths, the bridges and streets,
The main thoroughfares and the precincts
All were filled with the scurrying of feet
And the dull sound of the rain hammering
Upon the shining black backs of the teeming refugees -

On and on they came to take shelter and to feed
At the feet of Christ who hung upon the cross
Outside the Church of the Sacred Heart in the centre of the City's square;
And here in their hundreds of thousands they ate
And having done so slipped away into the night
From whence they had come -

By morning, the waters had subsided
As had the tide of rats, and the centre of the city was unchanged;
Unchanged except to those whose early journey
Took them past the Church of the Sacred Heart




And who noticed in passing that the eyes of the hanging Christ
Now looked to the darkened sky and the feet were gone…

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Beau's song "Rats" paints a vivid and surrealistic picture of a city being overrun by rats during a flood. The opening lines describe the stillness of the city at 3am during a heavy rain, with the only visible movement being the alternating colors of the traffic light. However, the peacefulness is interrupted by the arrival of rats that emerge from overflowing sewers and fill the streets in their thousands. Despite their large numbers, the rats are not aggressive and scurry around in search of shelter and food. Eventually, they congregate around the statue of Christ outside the Church of the Sacred Heart where they feed before disappearing as quickly as they came.


Although the song is full of visual imagery, it represents something deeper than just a story of rats. The rats symbolize something sinister which is not immediately clear, but the disappearance of Christ's feet from the statue suggests the rats have a deeper significance. It may represent the loss of faith, hope, and community in the face of an overwhelming force.


Overall, the lyrics of "Rats" evoke a sense of helplessness in the face of an unstoppable force. It paints a surrealistic picture of a city overrun by rats, and the experience is both frightening and haunting.


Line by Line Meaning

It was 3am and the streets of the city
The time was 3am and the streets were empty.


Were soaked by the deluge of rain.
The rain was heavy and the streets were wet.


The neon and sodium lights reflected brightly from the polished pavements.
The lights from the streetlamps were shining bright and reflecting off the wet pavement.


With no movement save that of the rain itself
There was no movement on the streets except for the rain falling.


And the alternating colours of the traffic light,
The only other movement came from the alternating traffic lights.


The streets were silent -
The streets were completely quiet.


And then the rats came.
Suddenly, rats began to appear on the streets.


They came from the sewers that overflowed
The rats came out of the overflowing sewers.


With the increasing demands of the flood -
The flood made the sewer system overflow and forced the rats out.


Out of the drains from all sides they came in their twos and threes,
The rats emerged from the drain pipes in small groups.


Two and three hundreds, two and three thousands until
More and more rats kept coming until there were hundreds and thousands of them.


The alleys and paths, the bridges and streets,
The entire street was filled with rats in every corner and every crevice.


The main thoroughfares and the precincts
Even the main roads and the neighborhoods were covered in rats.


All were filled with the scurrying of feet
The streets were filled with the sound of rats running around.


And the dull sound of the rain hammering
The rain was still falling heavily.


Upon the shining black backs of the teeming refugees -
The rats were crowded together and their backs were shining black from the rain.


On and on they came to take shelter and to feed
The rats kept coming to find shelter and food.


At the feet of Christ who hung upon the cross
The rats gathered around the statue of Christ on the cross.


Outside the Church of the Sacred Heart in the centre of the City's square;
The church was located in the middle of the city square.


And here in their hundreds of thousands they ate
There were hundreds of thousands of rats eating at the feet of Christ.


And having done so slipped away into the night
After eating, the rats went back into the dark of the night.


From whence they had come -
The rats returned to where they came from.


By morning, the waters had subsided
The floodwaters had gone down by morning.


As had the tide of rats, and the centre of the city was unchanged;
The rats were gone and the city centre was back to normal.


Unchanged except to those whose early journey
The only people who noticed a change were those who passed by the church.


Took them past the Church of the Sacred Heart
Those who passed by the church noticed a change.


And who noticed in passing that the eyes of the hanging Christ
They noticed that the statue of Christ had changed.


Now looked to the darkened sky and the feet were gone…
The statue's eyes were now looking up at the sky and the rats had eaten the feet.




Contributed by Noah I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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Comments from YouTube:

jstrong1008

seriously? no one has commented on this yet? This is without a doubt one of the strangest songs I have ever heard. Not gonna buy the CD, but it's definitly um... unique.

Gary Mull

Very strange

truiacs

404 there's More to life than this shikari subliminal voodoo postmortem negative spell Green sorewa hell awaits led chaos diamond

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