Purdue Extension Service
Purdue Extension Service
Vanderburgh County, Indiana
Come fill up your glasses, set yourself down
I'll tell you a story of somebody's town
It isn't too near and it's not far away,
It's not a place where I'd want to stay.
(Chorus)
The people are scratching all over the street
Because the rabbits had nothing to eat.
The winter came in with a cold icy blast
It killed off the flowers and killed off the grass.
The rabbits were starving because of the freeze;
They started eating all the bark on the trees.
(Chorus)
The farmers said, "This sorta thing won't do;
Our trees will be dead when the rabbits get through.
We'll have to poison the rabbits it's clear
Or we'll have no crops to harvest next year.
(Chorus)
So they bought the poison and spread it around
And soon dead rabbits began to be found.
The dogs ate the rabbits and the farmers just said
"We'll poison those rabbits 'til the last dog is dead."
(Chorus)
Now up in the sky there were meat-eating fowl,
The dead rabbits poisoned the hawks and the owls.
Thousands of field mice the hawks used to chase
Started multiplying all over the place.
(Chorus)
The fields and meadows were barren and brown;
The mice got hungry and moved into town.
The city folks took the farmer's advice,
And all of them started to poison the mice.
(Chorus)
There were dead mice in all the apartments and flats.
The cats ate the mice and the mice killed the cats.
The smell was awful and I'm glad to say
I wasn't the man hired to haul 'em away.
(Chorus)
Well, all through the country and all through the town,
There wasn't a dog or a cat to be found.
The fleas asked each other, "Now where can we stay?"
They've been on the people from then till this day.
(Chorus)
So all you small creatures that live in this land
Stay clear of the man with the poisonous hand.
A few bales of hay might keep you alive;
But he'll pay more to kill ya than to let you survive.
(Chorus)
Copyright 1963 (renewed) by FALL RIVER MUSIC INC. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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