Lyrics of The Rat's Nest Bar

I remember when I was young and still paying my dues
All I ever wanted was to sing the blues
All I could think about was someday hitting it big
And that night I had just lined up my very first gig
So I tuned up and packed up my ratty old guitar
And put in the back of my ratty old car

I thought to myself "tonight I'm going to be a star"
As I pulled up to a place called the Rats Nest Bar
I was so nervous I wanted to run and hide
But I gathered up my courage and went inside
There sitting on a bar stool was an old man named Clyde
Who looked so rough I thought he just died

And to make matters worse I think he read my mind, when he said.........
HELLO PUNK, that wasn't very kind
and you might say I've been around forever
I AM an OLD blues man
I've been singing the blues since the world began. And if you already ain't had enough
Stick around young man and I'll show you my stuff

Then he jumped off the bar stool and sat on a pail
Picked up his guitar and began to wail
He sang about "poor Otis" who was long dead and gone
And how he had left him behind to sing his song
Something about the walking blues
And how he had walked for centuries without any shoes

He sang about how he never shied from a fight
He never took a break, he sang all night
Pretty soon there will be no one left to complain and shout
The whole human race is dying out
Nuclear war is going to happen pretty dang soon
And anyone left on the Earth will soon be walking on the Moon

Well I never got a chance to play that night
And then through the window came the morning light
I heard a chilling howl and then a very loud crash
The morning sun had turned Clyde into a pile of ash

Now I'm an old man and I'm still singing the blues
I'm well known. Can sing wherever I choose
My life has been good, the blues have taken me far
But never once have I ever gone back to the RATS NEST BAR

No way! I'll probably never go back to the Rat's Nest Bar.

© 2020 Bruce Coghill for Lyrics, Dan Carlson for Song. All rights reserved.
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