- Return of the Rat
Return of the Rat is a song written by the
Punk rock bandThe Wipers , and is the first track on The Wiper’s1980 debut album Is This Real? . The song was later covered by the band Nirvana on a tribute album called 'Eight Songs for Greg Sage And The Wipers' which was released in 1992. The same recording appeared on the Nirvana 2004 Box SetWith the Lights Out , though remixed.Like much of the album, the song structure is circularly tight and catchy, containing a driving drum beat and choppy, distorted guitar riffs.
The lyrics are vague, lending to a sense of paranoid doom regarding the mysterious "return of the rat": "You better watch out/You better beware
"They’re coming from all sides of the country/Yeah, you better beware
"Return of the rat/Return of the Rat/Return of the Rat
"Oh no! No! No!
"They better confess/They better confess
"They better confess, I know, I've seen them do it/Now, they better confess
"Return of the rat/Return of the Rat/Return of the Rat
"Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!
The song (and the band) grew in popularity after the grunge band Nirvana recorded a cover of "Return of the Rat" for a Wipers tribute record entitled "
Eight Songs for Greg Sage and The Wipers " onTim Kerr records. For the tribute, Nirvana initially recorded a cover of The Wiper’s songD-7 (song) (which also appears on the "With the Lights Out CD-Box). However, to record the song, the band had taken advantage of studio time provided by theirrecord label ,Geffen Records . The label did not allow the release of the song, so Nirvana ultimately bought their own studio time and recorded Return of the Rat instead. "D-7" was eventually released on the Nirvana album "Hormoaning " in 1992 instead.The song bears a striking resemblance to The Lung by
Dinosaur Jr. .
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