Song of the day(Rats)

JDE-PJ · September 2003

The ninth song off of VS, this is Pearl Jam's answer to Micheal Jackson and his famous song about a certain little creature;)

Rats

RrVwMirror
1/17/01 07:57 AM
SOTD: ...RATS!

El Conquistador
9/10/99 09:52 AM
RATS...They don't compare

rats

They don't eat, don't sleep
They don't feed, they don't seethe
Bare their gums when they moan and squeak
Lick the dirt off a larger one's feet
They don't push, don't crowd
Congregate until they're much too loud
Fuck to procreate till they are dead
Drink the blood of their so called best friend

They don't scurry when something bigger comes their way
Don't pack themselves together and run as one
Don't shit where they're not supposed to
Don't take what's not theirs, they don't compare

They don't scam, don't fight
Don't oppress an equals given rights
Starve the poor so they can be well fed
Line their holes with the dead ones bread

They don't scurry when something bigger comes their way }
Don't pack themselves together and run as one } (2x)
Don't shit where they're not supposed to }
Don't take what's not theirs, they don't compare... }

rats...They don't compare (2x)
Ben, the two of us need look no more (5X)

PJMom
9/10/99 3:55 PM
Re: RATS...They don't compare

Wow no one has any thoughts on this one? Personally I think it sounds like self rightous, over-religious people. But that is just my opinion...

evenkat
9/10/99 4:18 PM
Re: RATS...They don't compare

One of the best songs on Vs.

To me it's a continuation of Blood. Rat's, they don't compare. I think might have something to do with music critics and writers. It seemed to me and still does that critics or writers can not write something about Pearl Jam without mentioning Nirvana somehow in their articles. I remember they delayed the release of Vs because Nirvana's In Utero was being released.

I love the move into Ben at the end. At least you know a rat is a rat. It's like a bunch of freakin' rats are better than some freakin' people.

"You know what it's like" EV

share
9/10/99 4:31 PM
Re: RATS...They don't compare

i think it's a comment on society in general

i too love the ben tag - i used to sit and listen to that song and cry (don't know why but it
frustrated the hell out of my dad)

FrankDahmer
9/10/99 5:13 PM
Re: RATS...They don't compare

I agree with share. It's a statement of society. It's kind of self explanatory actually.....

"I don't wanna think, I wanna feel..."

RrVwMirror
9/10/99 6:57 PM
Re: RATS...They don't compare

evenkat, you took the words right out of my mouth...I was going to say the exact same thing about it being a continuation of blood....but it could also mean society....I was also going to mention the Ben tag....my favorite part of the song....and yes Share, my sister and I would sing that song constantly when we were young and it drove our parents crazy too....wouldn't you love to hear Eddie sing the whole song?

It's funny when things change so much, it's all state of mind...

Layla
9/10/99 7:34 PM
Re: RATS...They don't compare

The 9-29-96 show in ny has an awsome version of this song if you
can get the bootleg. I have posted about it before-it's called
the longest night because it really was sooooooo long! The
version of rats is very very funky!!!

"I wanna live, I wanna give." ~Neil Young

mudpuppy
9/10/99 7:35 PM
Re: RATS...They don't compare

I'd say the song is definitely an indictment against human kind: we as selfish, individualistic, self-possessed and down-right
despicable as opposed to rats, who over time, have been given a bad rap. rats, Ed would have us know, are caring,
sharing, protective creatures.

A funny sidenote--I am a huge basketball fan (as is Pearl Jam) and when I first heard rats I swore Ed was singing, "they
don't eat, don't sleep, lick the dirt off Olajuwon's feet." As in basketball great Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon. I knew even
then that he was really saying "a larger one's" but part of me will always want to hear it my own way.

I let my music take me where my heart wants to go....
~C.S.

share
1/17/01 08:00 AM
Re: SOTD: ...RATS!

i must have missed mudpuppy's comments first time round

lol

"i never knew you, you never knew me
say hello, goodbye"

RrVwMirror
1/17/01 08:03 AM
Re: SOTD: ...RATS!

share.....you posted on this one!!!

made me smile....the Ben tag.....ahhh, times were so simple back then...

I let my music take me where my heart wants to go....
~C.S.

Maite
1/17/01 08:03 AM
Re: SOTD: ...RATS!

How did you find these old postings? Do you have special acces or something? I remember those days... Have we even done Binaural?

MAITE

RrVwMirror
1/17/01 08:07 AM
Re: SOTD: ...RATS!

special access...lol...yes, beware....I can read all...... ;-)

No, I saved these old threads on disk.....bringing them back to the board for anyone who wants to contribute to them, or reflect back....

Jason started the Binaural SOTD threads, but I am afraid they are all gone as of the recent board crash.....perhaps we can start them again soon?

I let my music take me where my heart wants to go....
~C.S.

Maite
1/17/01 08:13 AM
Re: SOTD: ...RATS!

I hope we can start them again. It could be great doing it all over from TEN, don´t you think?

Maybe we changed our point of view?

MAITE

RrVwMirror
1/17/01 08:41 AM
Re: SOTD: ...RATS!

unfortunately there is not a lot of interest.......

i have posted all of the songs from ten already......only a few responses....so i am not sure how it would go over......

i have rec'd pm's from people who are enjoying these old threads, but don;t respond to them, so that is all good in my opinion.....

maybe someday it will be an environment where people feel comfortable enough to open up again.....

I let my music take me where my heart wants to go....
~C.S.

Maite
1/17/01 08:47 AM
Re: SOTD: ...RATS!

That´s the point. I don´t feel comfortable around all these new kids in here. They don´t talk the same language as we do. I see you have been here just a little longer than I have. Do you think it would be possible to create a VIP BBS for us oldies?

Well, I don´t have time to get the answer today. You can message me, ok!

See you...

"and now my bitter hands, craddle broken glass"

Eavan
1/17/01 09:04 AM
Re: Who's Ben....

I've always thought the lyrics were good but I have to admit this would ranks way down my list of fav PJ songs.
On the lyric front you can see why when they eventually found Ishmael (which I'm reading at the moment) why they liked it so much.
Ed's def' singing about the takers!

ByzantineBug
1/17/01 09:08 AM
Re: SOTD: ...RATS!

Funy,.I always thought that 'Olajuon' thing too..and I still hear it!
I think this song is in a way teling of how Ed sees society I guess,..especially the 'don't run as one' line comes to mind,..
Like rats are something people look down at,but they have more integrity then humans.

"Kid's will still want to do that,..heck! Eddie still does that"

Wembly
1/17/01 09:33 AM
Re: SOTD: ...RATS!

Nice!!

W.

"...I am actually on trial for Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll... " HST

EVedder23
4/19/01 01:44 AM
Re: SOTD: ...RATS!

I'm bumping this....everyone has such fond memories of the Song of the Day, yet it refuses to catch on again. It was once a great thing though, so I'm gonna keep on pushing it...enjoy...

RrVw...if you read this...I'm behind you...keep 'em coming...
~Kelly

"Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life"

JDE-PJ · September 2003

EdHead99
4/19/01 02:23 AM
I loved the SOTD!!!

The interps are one of the major things that I looked forward to here and I miss them very much! Sounds like there is enough interest to get them going again;)

Rats is one of those PJ songs that I didn't come to appreciate until long after the release of Vs. I just didn't pay enough attention to the lyrics...but after a session of re-discovery, it is now one of my fave PJ tunes.

Classic commentary on society. Certainly makes one feel "insignificant", doesn't it? I would lump this song in with Mankind, Grievance and Insignificance as songs with similar themes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and so it goes...

EVedder23
4/19/01 02:47 AM
Re: I loved the SOTD!!!

I'm glad someone took the time to read and respond to this...it seems like the only people who ever respond are ones who were around when we originally did this, and I don't know why. I bumped two old SOTD posts, and you are the only one who responded...I thought maybe if people got the chance to read the intelligent and warm things people used to say around here, it would spark an interest in them again...it doesn't seem to be working though. I guess people would rather read threads about cheese doodles and toe jam, while threads like this one, with insights and words people put so much thought into, get buried under the rubble. Read some of the things these people have to say...they actually thought about their words and put their feelings out there...they weren't doing it so they could say, "hey look, I have 156,000 posts!" These are the songs that supposedly mean so much to all of us...it's the reason we're here, right? And, yet, sometimes...it doesn't feel that way...
I am not trying to attack anyone here, don't be offended...just take a minute to think about it.
~Kelly

"Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life"

spanna161
4/19/01 06:12 AM
Re: SOTD: ...RATS!

heyas.. i've only just started to look about these posts, and i checked out the very last pages the other day and found all these old SOTD's and found them hell interesting when reading others interpretations of songs, especially when i was stumped with the meaning of a particular one. it was also great that there was somewhere to share my own interpretation (i feel so smart when i think i've something out..hehe).. it'd be cool to keep them going..

vegetable rights and peace

RrVwMirror
4/19/01 09:02 AM
Re: SOTD: ...RATS!

again....for spanna and evedder who have tried to bring the interest back in these threads...

UP YOU GO!

I let my music take me where my heart wants to go....
~C.S.

Overboard
4/19/01 09:47 AM
Re: SOTD: ...RATS!

Just a really, really, really, good song. I think the name says it all. Any more explaining would overcomplicate things i think.

"ben the two of us need look no more"

EdHead99
4/19/01 10:18 AM
I don't compare...

I just thought I'd add to this one, because this song has such a great message...and it's one of the many PJ songs that has really made me stop and think about myself, about the world around me, about the people around me. Time to take stock and make ommissions;) Rats reminds me that I am just an insignificant little rodent in the race of life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and so it goes...