Rat Trap
Cruising time for the young bright lights,
Just down past the gasworks, by the meat factory door,
The five lamp boys were coming on strong.
The Saturday night city beat had already started
The pulse of the corner boys sprang into action
And young Billy watched it all under the yellow street light
And said "tonight of all nights there's gonna be a fight"
Billy doesn't like it living here in this town
He says the traps have been sprung long before he was born
He says "hope bites the dust behind all the closed doors
And pus and grime ooze from its scab crusted sores.
There's screaming and crying in the high rise blocks"
It's a rat trap Billy and you're already caught
But you can make it if you want to or you need it bad enough
You're young and good looking and you're acting kind of tough
Anyway it's Saturday night time to see what's going down.
Put on the bright suit Billy, head for the right side of town
It's only 8 o'clock but you're already bored
You don't know what it is but there's got to be more
You'd better find a way out, hey kick down the door
It's a rat trap and you've been caught
In this town Billy says "everybody tries to tell you what to do"
In this town Billy says "everybody says you gotta follow rules."
Hey you walk up to those traffic lights,
Switch from your left to right
You push in that button, and when that button comes alight
It tells you
"Walk don't walk
Talk don't talk"
Hey Billy take a walk...with me.
Little Judy's trying to watch "Top of the Pops"
But mum and dad are fighting don't they ever stop,
She take down her coat and walks out on the street,
It's cold on that road, but it's got that home beat,
Deep down in her pockets she finds 50p,
Now is that any way for a young girl to be,
"I'm gonna get out of school work in some factory,
Work all the hours God gave me get myself a little easy money"
Now, now, now na na.
Her mind's made up, she walks down the road,
Her hands in her pockets, coat buttoned 'gainst the cold,
She finds Billy down at the Italian cafe
And when he's drunk it's hard to understand what Billy says
But then he mumbles in his coffee and suddenly roars,
"It's a rat trap and we've been caught...."
Just down past the gasworks, by the meat factory door,
The five lamp boys were coming on strong.
The Saturday night city beat had already started
The pulse of the corner boys sprang into action
And young Billy watched it all under the yellow street light
And said "tonight of all nights there's gonna be a fight"
Billy doesn't like it living here in this town
He says the traps have been sprung long before he was born
He says "hope bites the dust behind all the closed doors
And pus and grime ooze from its scab crusted sores.
There's screaming and crying in the high rise blocks"
It's a rat trap Billy and you're already caught
But you can make it if you want to or you need it bad enough
You're young and good looking and you're acting kind of tough
Anyway it's Saturday night time to see what's going down.
Put on the bright suit Billy, head for the right side of town
It's only 8 o'clock but you're already bored
You don't know what it is but there's got to be more
You'd better find a way out, hey kick down the door
It's a rat trap and you've been caught
In this town Billy says "everybody tries to tell you what to do"
In this town Billy says "everybody says you gotta follow rules."
Hey you walk up to those traffic lights,
Switch from your left to right
You push in that button, and when that button comes alight
It tells you
"Walk don't walk
Talk don't talk"
Hey Billy take a walk...with me.
Little Judy's trying to watch "Top of the Pops"
But mum and dad are fighting don't they ever stop,
She take down her coat and walks out on the street,
It's cold on that road, but it's got that home beat,
Deep down in her pockets she finds 50p,
Now is that any way for a young girl to be,
"I'm gonna get out of school work in some factory,
Work all the hours God gave me get myself a little easy money"
Now, now, now na na.
Her mind's made up, she walks down the road,
Her hands in her pockets, coat buttoned 'gainst the cold,
She finds Billy down at the Italian cafe
And when he's drunk it's hard to understand what Billy says
But then he mumbles in his coffee and suddenly roars,
"It's a rat trap and we've been caught...."
Bob Geldof
©The Boomtown Rats
℗1978 Ensign Records
b/w So Strange
I was screaming but I soon woke up
On that night on that night with you
I realized it was gonna be me or you
Ooh and it made me feel strange
So strange, strange
So I knelt down and said my prayers that night
The fog was closing in on what remained of the light
On that night on that night with you
I heard the wild dogs howling in the distant moon
Ooh and it made me feel strange
So strange, strange
On that night on that night with you
I realized it was gonna be me or you
Ooh and it made me feel strange
So strange, strange
So I knelt down and said my prayers that night
The fog was closing in on what remained of the light
On that night on that night with you
I heard the wild dogs howling in the distant moon
Ooh and it made me feel strange
So strange, strange
Oh yeah..
You told me you had arranged
For something special and strange
But suddenly I saw your eyes
And realized that you were quite insane
And when the dawn came I listened hard for your breath
You once told me the bottom line in life is death
On that night on that night with you
I realized it was gonna be me or you
And it made me feel strange
So strange, strange
You told me you had arranged
For something special and strange
But suddenly I saw your eyes
And realized that you were quite insane
And when the dawn came I listened hard for your breath
You once told me the bottom line in life is death
On that night on that night with you
I realized it was gonna be me or you
And it made me feel strange
So strange, strange
Bob Geldof
©The Boomtown Rats
℗1978 Ensign Records