The People Are Scratching

[Verso 1]
 
Am                            Dm 
Come fill up your glasses and set yourselves down. 
     E7                    Am 
I'll tell you a story of somebody's town. 
  C                         G7 
It isn't too near and it's not far away. 
C                          Am 
It's not a place where I'd like to stay. 
 


[Refrão]
 
                Am7                     Dm 
The people are scratching all over the street 
             E7                     Am 
Because the rabbits had nothing to eat. 
 


[Verso 2]
 
Am                         Dm 
The winter came in with a cold icy blast. 
     E7                       Am 
It killed off the flowers and killed off the grass. 
    C                         G7 
The rabbits were starving because of the freeze. 
     C                       Am 
They started eating the bark off the trees. 
 


[Refrão]
 
                Am7                     Dm 
The people are scratching all over the street 
             E7                     Am 
Because the rabbits had nothing to eat. 
 


[Verso 3]
 
Am                            Dm 
The farmers said, "This sort of thing won't do. 
     E7                    Am 
Our trees will be dead when the rabbits get through. 
  C                         G7 
We'll have to poison the rabbits, it's clear; 
C                          Am 
Or we'll have no crops to harvest next year." 
 


[Refrão]
 
                Am7                     Dm 
The people are scratching all over the street 
             E7                     Am 
Because the rabbits had nothing to eat. 
 


[Verso 4]
 
Am                            Dm 
So they brought the poison and spread it around. 
     E7                    Am 
And soon dead rabbits began to be found. 
  C                         G7 
Dogs ate the rabbits and the farmers just said, 
C                           Am 
"We'll poison those rabbits 'til the last dog is dead." 
 


[Refrão]
 
                Am7                     Dm 
The people are scratching all over the street 
             E7                     Am 
Because the rabbits had nothing to eat. 
 


[Verso 5]
 
Am                        Dm 
Up in the sky there were meat-eating fowls. 
     E7                       Am 
The dead rabbits poisoned the hawks and the owls. 
  C                         G7 
Thousands of field mice the hawks used to chase 
     C                        Am 
Were multiplying all over the place. 
 


[Refrão]
 
                Am7                     Dm 
The people are scratching all over the street 
             E7                     Am 
Because the rabbits had nothing to eat. 
 


[Verso 6]
 
Am                              Dm 
The fields and the meadows were barren and brown. 
     E7                      Am 
The mice got hungry and they moved into town. 
   C                        G7 
The city folk all took the farmer's advice 
C                          Am 
And all of them started to poison the mice. 
 


[Refrão]
 
                Am7                     Dm 
The people are scratching all over the street 
             E7                     Am 
Because the rabbits had nothing to eat. 
 


[Verso 7]
 
Am                              Dm 
There were dead mice in all the apartments and flats. 
     E7                      Am 
The cats ate the mice and the mice killed the cats. 
    C                         G7 
The smell was awful and I'm glad to say 
C                          Am 
I wasn't the man hired to haul them away. 
 


[Refrão]
 
                Am7                     Dm 
The people are scratching all over the street 
             E7                     Am 
Because the rabbits had nothing to eat. 
 


[Verso 8]
 
Am                           Dm 
All through the country and all through the town 
      E7               Am 
There wasn't a dog or cat to be found. 
    C                        G7 
The fleas asked each other, "Where shall we stay?" 
C                              Am 
They've been on the people from then 'til this day. 
 


[Refrão]
 
                Am7                     Dm 
The people are scratching all over the street 
             E7                     Am 
Because the rabbits had nothing to eat. 
 


[Verso 9]
 
Am                            Dm 
All you small creatures throughout this land 
     E7                        Am 
Stay clear of the man with the poisonous hand! 
  C                       G7 
A few bales of hay might keep you alive 
C                              Am 
But he'll pay more to kill you than let you survive. 
 


[Refrão]
 
                Am7                     Dm 
The people are scratching all over the street 
             E7                     Am 
Because the rabbits had nothing to eat.