The People are Scratching

Notation: modern / lyric song
PDF Files: Ernie Marrs/Harold Martin

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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush  
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Lyrics:


Come fill up your glasses and set yourselves down.
I'll tell you a story of somebody's town.
It isn't too near and it's not far away.
It's not a place where I'd like to stay.

Chorus:
The people are scratching all over the street
Because the rabbits had nothing to eat.

The winter came in with a cold icy blast.
It killed off the flowers and killed off the grass.
The rabbits were starving because of the freeze.
They started eating the bark off the trees.
Chorus

The farmers said, "This sort of thing won't do.
Our trees will be dead when the rabbits get through.
We'll have to poison the rabbits, it's clear;
Or we'll have no crops to harvest next year."
Chorus

So they brought the poison and spread it around.
And soon dead rabbits began to be found.
Dogs ate the rabbits and the farmers just said,
"We'll poison those rabbits 'til the last dog is dead."
Chorus

Up in the sky there were meat-eating fowls.
The dead rabbits poisoned the hawks and the owls.
Thousands of field mice the hawks used to chase
Were multiplying all over the place.
Chorus

The fields and the meadows were barren and brown.
The mice got hungry and they moved into town.
The city folk all took the farmer's advice
And all of them started to poison the mice.
Chorus

There were dead mice in all the apartments and flats.
The cats ate the mice and the mice killed the cats.
The smell was awful and I'm glad to say
I wasn't the man hired to haul them away.
Chorus

All through the country and all through the town
There wasn't a dog or cat to be found.
The fleas asked each other, "Where shall we stay?"
They've been on the people from then 'til this day.
Chorus

All you small creatures throughout this land
Stay clear of the man with the poisonous hand!
A few bales of hay might keep you alive
But he'll pay more to kill you than let you survive.
Chorus

- Words and Music by Ernie Marrs and Harold Martin

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