mysongbook.de

Henry's Songbook

© All original copyrights respected / For private use only



go to  de   Susannes Folksong-Notizen   English Notes  uk

The Rats Are Winning

  • (Charlie King)

    Since I was a boy my life's been a mad one
    Getting ahead don't make it a sad one
    Trying to win, having no fun
    Playing the game by the rules
    Everyone said, You must be the smartest
    Those who go furthest are those who work hardest
    I was feeding the slave, I was starving the artist
    I was working like a mule
    In school, I studied hard for years
    Getting into college cost me blood, sweat and tears

    But the one thing wrong with this rat race
    I've been running all my life
    Is, the rats are winning

    I knew that college would be fierce competition
    But I sold my soul to the Dean of Admission
    Trying to win the game of attrition
    Was tough, but I knew I could beat it
    Now you never get by by just getting by
    So I looked for a job where the wages were high
    I got a piece of pie in the sky
    But I never got time to eat it
    At twenty-two my ambition was to be a wealthy man
    So I took a job because it had a great retirement plan

    But the one thing wrong with this rat race
    I've been running all my life
    Is, the rats are winning

    Wouldn't it be nice to take it easy for a while
    Standing at the side, watching the rats run by

    Then I went to work like the eagerest beaver
    The young executive, the over-achiever
    The God of Work's truest believer
    Hoping the boss could see me
    Every day planned to the minute
    Beating the system by working within it
    Life was a game, I knew I could win it
    Don't you wish you could be me
    'Cause maybe some day I'll become the chairman of the board
    I could be a millionaire at thirty-five with a Rolls Royce at the door

    But the one thing wrong with this rat race
    I've been running all my life
    Is, the rats are winning

    Now it seems my life just gets madder
    The closer I get to the top of the ladder
    I'm getting older, I'm getting sadder
    Ashamed of things that I did
    The road to the top is winding and shifty
    You dress like a lord, tell the wife to be thrifty
    Seeing your friends dying at fifty
    Saying, I did it all for the kids
    But oh, it's good to see them on the weekend if they're home
    It seems like only yesterday they're born but now they're gone

    But the one thing wrong with this rat race
    I've been running all my life
    Is, the rats are winning

    Wouldn't it be nice to take it easy for a while
    Standing at the side, watching the rats run by

    (as sung by Iain MacKintosh)

Susannes Folksong-Notizen

Quelle: USA

go back de  R-Index uk


Henry
© Sammlung : Susanne Kalweit (Kiel)
Layout : Henry Kochlin  (Schwerin)

aktualisiert am 02.05.2002