Lyrics The People Are Scratching - Pete Seeger

The People Are Scratching

Come fill up your glasses and set yourselves 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
Now 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 the bark off the trees
Now the people are scratching all over the street
Because the rabbits had nothing to eat
The farmers said, «This sort of thing just 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.»
Now the people are scratching all over the street
Because the rabbits had nothing to eat
So they brought the poison and spread it around
And soon dead rabbits began to be found
Dogs ate the rabbits and the farmers just said
«We'll poison those rabbits 'til the last dog is dead.»
Now the people are scratching all over the street
Because the rabbits had nothing to eat
Up in the sky there were meat-eating fowls
The dead rabbits poisoned the hawks and the owls
Thousands of field mice the hawks used to chase
Were multiplying all over the place
Now the people are scratching all over the street
Because the rabbits had nothing to eat
The fields and the meadows were barren and brown
The mice got hungry and moved into town
The city folks took the farmer’s advise
And all of them started to poison the mice
Now the people are scratching all over the street
Because the rabbits had nothing to eat
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 them away
Now the people are scratching all over the street
Because the rabbits had nothing to eat
All through the country and all through the town
There wasn’t a dog or cat to be found
The fleas asked each other, «Where can we stay?»
They’ve been on the people from then 'til this day
Now the people are scratching all over the street
Because the rabbits had nothing to eat
All you small creatures that live in this land
Stay clear of the man with the poisonous hand!
A few bails of hay might keep you alive
But he’ll pay more to kill you than let you survive
Now the people are scratching all over the street
Because the rabbits had nothing to eat