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Was it a Rat I Saw

by David G Harrington

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about

This song is based around the palindrome in the title. The rat is a metaphor for the desire in us all to live forever, whether that is actually or in the minds of our fellow men.

We cannot live forever currently so I guess it has to be living on as a legend, a Marilyn or a Janice or a Jimmy Dean.

It is a big price to pay for immortality, your actual mortality, and I often wonder if John Lennon or another dead legend were offered the choice to relinquish their fame for a longer life what would they choose?

What would you choose if offered the same Faustian bargain?

lyrics

C.
Was it a rat I saw?
Or was it just in my head
Phantoms fly in the dead of night
Fill me with wonder and dread

Was it a rat I saw?
Gnawing its way in my soul
Or was it just the passage of time
In the end we must all must grow old.

V1.
We all want to live forever
We all want to soar
But what price are we willing to pay
To save us from that far shore

V2.
Staying on in the minds of men
While we moulder in the grave
Living fast and dying young
Does not that you will be saved

V3.
So what price are you willing to pay
To secure your place in the stars
Legend on the gravestone
Secured by a life of scars

C.

V4,
Getting older is not that bad
When consider the other choice
Would Jimmy Dean give up that fame
For a chance of longer voice?

V5.
Is it fine to be a legend
If the price is an early grave?
If we could ask Kurt and Janice now
I wonder now what they would say?

V6.
Lennon burned bright like a star
That lasted for 40 years
If he had the choice to forsake all that fame
Would he have avoided the tears?

C.

BRIDGE

Would you want to give your life
For a chance of eternal fame
Your name would ring down the ages
But you’d be dead just the same

credits

released April 6, 2021
Words and Music David G Harrington

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all rights reserved

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about

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David G Harrington Cambridge, UK

David is a singer songwriter based in Cambridge UK.

David has many years of experience in the music business in various areas and is an accomplished producer and composer.

David loves to collaborate with other artists to explore differing musical directions.

David currently also plays with the band The Weirdest Thing. ... more

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