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The Rat Plague Of '66

by Don Morrison

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Mark Fearenside
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about

I tried for years, without success, to write a song about this adventure but it was finding an old pic in my late mother's photo album that finally got it to happen.

lyrics

THE RAT PLAGUE OF ’66

The rats were big as rabbits in 1966
They came in from the paddock and chewed Mum’s garden to bits
I though maybe I could catch one and make something with it’s fur
Then we went to town and saw the film Ben Hur

So I made a small chariot with the wheels from my sisters toy pram
All the uncles started laughing when I told them my plan
They said “Good luck boy, we hope you succeed
How many rats to pull that thing do you think your gonna need?”

I could get away with four but I really wanted six
I was going to rope them all together and teach them to do tricks
We’d roll around the neighbourhood at fantastic speed
Those rats would pull me faster than any racing steed

Old Pop came down from Broken Hill and helped me build a trap
We built a pretty big one ‘cause I wanted the biggest rats
He said “Don’t let the dog out, boy, he’ll eat all the bait
And you’ll have to be patient and wait and wait and wait”.

So I waited and I waited buried in the grass
I got really worried the rats would start chewing at my arse
I could hear all the other kids playing in the street
But the only time I left my post was when I had to eat

The holidays were ending and the cousins came to play
I got a bit distracted and the rats just went away
I got enrolled at Marist Brothers starting in a week
So I went back to playing cricket and catching yabbies in the creek

Then Dad put the wheels back on my sisters pram
And one of the uncles went off to some place called Viet Nam
But none of that worried me much ‘cause now I had the best plan of all
We were going to hike all the way to Morialta and find the mythical Third Fall

credits

released May 9, 2020

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Don Morrison Adelaide, Australia

“Don Morrison is a larger than life character who is smaller than he should be in terms of fame and success. He could have been Paul Kelly, or John Mellencamp, or Bruce Springsteen, and to some loyal followers he is in the same category as these well known troubadours. Circumstances have prevented Don from achieving similar levels of fame, but he is a local treasure none the less." ... more

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Featuring Riley Pinkerton (aka The Rat Queen) from the theatrical NYC rockers, Castle Rat.
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