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Soundtrack to the Rat Opera

by The Rat Opera

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1.
Your bags are packed But you don’t even know if you’re coming back ‘Cause Rat is on the ground You can fly But you might start to wonder why ’Cause Rat is on the ground He’s been up for forty hours Don’t need plugs Ignore the tower Live and shave Assuming you make it the entire way ’Cause Rat is on the ground No delays The skies are clear, not a thing to fear ’cause Rat is on the ground Boston on the radio So long hippies I’ve got a show Your bags are packed But you don’t even know if you’re coming back ‘Cause Rat is on the ground
2.
Mrs. Falestra: Oh, what future will this poor boy have? He’s asleep with those headphones on, again What kind of noises does he seek? What if the voices start to speak? What will we call him if he blows? No one knows It’s the sound of a thing in pain It’s the sound of an aero plane It’s the sound of a… Rat: I’m just a simple son I learned my chords, I had my fun This music’s dead, I’m through with that Now you can call me Rat Mrs. Falestra: What kind of songs play in his head? What are those tapes under his bed? Is he a Mozart for today? Who can say? It’s the sound of a Marshall stack It’s the sound of a heart attack It’s the sound of no turning back Rat: I’m just a simple son I learned my chords, I had my fun This hippie shit is dead and gone I’m just a simple son, I’m just a simple son I’m just a simple son I learned my chords, I had my fun This music’s dead, I’m through with that I’ll clear the room and won’t look back Now, you can call me Rat!
3.
Pollard: Francis is sleeping Lives in a dream Likes to count horses Mrs. Fallestra and Pollard: Francis was not a mistake Pollard: He’s got a purpose, a reason for being Mrs. Fallestra and Pollard: Since he was small, there was a tiny light Francis was not afraid He kept his mouth shut tight His eyes were alive… Pollard: Francis is dreaming Lives on a cloud Vessels like castles Head like a velvet sponge He’s got a purpose, a reason for being Mrs. Fallestra and Pollard: Since he was small, there was a tiny light Francis was not afraid He kept his mouth shut tight His eyes were alive… Now he’s awake -there is a tiny light Francis is not afraid, no He keeps his mouth shut tight His eyes are alive He is unknown...
4.
I’ve broken my piano I’ve snapped some keys in half To tune it like Sinatra I’d take out all the black There’s a distinct sound you get When you stick it in a box And fill it up with paper Torn from the letters that I got You can carry your tune over your shoulder But it’ll never be a cross You’ve got to drive the good ones crazy Till the bad ones hit the spot And all your polish will not save you from the hot, hard rain Let’s see how you sound when the rust gets to your brain I’ve broken my piano But I’d shatter my guitar To tune it like Sinatra I’d play half the fucking strings Yeah, I’ve got intuition But that’s just asking for a cliff You’ve got to jump off of curbs in South Beach Before you’ll ever write a hit
5.
Bernando: If there was a sound Made by people you hate That set your teeth on edge Could you flip it around? What if music was war? Rian: What if they were your friends? Bernando: Shining, uncontested stands the awful truth Elected and infected wears the crown Three horsemen bring apocalypse Three horsemen ride into your town Rian: It was decided back in ninety three A porn lit heir put forth the call For all the worst, there has to be a first Someone to bravely take the fall Rian: If there was a band Made of people you loved Bernando: But their music was shit Would you still remain true? Would you still come around, If the joke was on you?
6.
Rat takes a nap And the tape goes on and on Rat takes a nap And the take is over Rat takes a nap And all I’ve got here is a 12 minute song And a maniac Who will stop the tape? Who will end this take? Who will stop the tape? Rat takes a nap And the bartender stole my guitar Rat takes a nap Go visit Antonia Rat takes a nap And the chorus just goes on for miles Who’s going to rewind the tape? Who will stop the take? Who will end this take? Hey Rat! Hey Rat!!! Wake the fuck up!
7.
You’ll sell a lot of cars You’ll sell a lot of beer You’ll captivate the country With your beat and your veneer The heart of the heartland The best of the Midwest You’ll pull it all in You’ve got it right kid, You’re gonna be a star You’ve got it right kid, You’re gonna be a star You’ll sell a lot of soda You’ll find fortune and fame Yeah, you’ll be a darling You’ll be know by your first name And at the festival you will upstage The clown with the balloons And the baboon You’ve got it right kid, You’re gonna be a star You’ve got it right kid, You’re gonna be a star You’re a winner, you know who you are You’re gonna be a star You’ll sell lots of cars
8.
Pollard: Outside this bar, there’s a man screaming at the top of his lungs There’s a man, screaming not to go down this road Not to do what you’re told In the bedroom, on the microphone He’s holding to the lamp post He’s grabbing on to major chords And popping all the strings And you can hear him sing If you’re outside this bar, on a Friday, At a festival, he goes… In a town which all the partiers were thrown off of balconies Into mediocrity And pop tunes that kill brain cells But sell lots of Chevys Rat: "Outside this bar, there’s no one alive Outside this bar, how does anyone survive? Together you and me turn this quiet night into silence Together we'll turn this love into violence Outside this bar, outside this bar…”
9.
Squelcher 05:03
Harmony is drinking with the band As the noise pours on and on Wash out your ears, stand on your hands While the noise goes on and on Mindy rocks it on stage right Little Julie fakes a scream Lucrecia cranking to be heard Ivy, tuneless and serene Why did you come here? Where did you go wrong? You heard the siren's call Then you heard the siren's song Get some girls Give them guitars Plug them in Now, they're fucking stars Plug them in! Plug them in! Melody died on stage last night On a Thursday of an overdose You're just to blame as anyone else You just sat there, comatose Mindy! Julie! Lucrecia! Ivy! Get some girls Give them guitars Plug them in, Now, they're fucking stars Plug them in! Plug them in! Plug them in! Plug them in! Why did you come here? Where did you go wrong? You heard the siren's call And then, you heard the siren's song
10.
Face it forward You won’t ever see them cringe On your worst day You just never felt the pinch Of a pending collision A Cliff to the tire You always see net when you’re on the high wire Every weekday You just coast down the road And on your worst day You don’t feel any notes Just a sleepwalking song Without any feel With a nod towards the end And the soul that it steals All your tone is wrong – you’ve got to sing a better song If you’re to leave this town – you’ve got to move around Don’t you eat the mic – you must look for fights Aint no use for rock-n-roll if it don’t last all night In a speaker, All the truth comes out You can’t hide it – you can only drown it out With reverb and feedback and chorus and twine And claim that the lie was all meant by design All your tone is wrong – you’ve got to sing a better song If you’re to leave this town – you’ve got to move around Don’t you eat the mic – you must look for fights Aint no use for rock-n-roll if it don’t last all night All you rejects – all you told to stop Come out Thursday…let’s just hear what you’ve got
11.
He’s on that thing again He says it sounds like Hendrix I can’t hear a goddamn thing He’s not in bed again I’ll fall asleep alone But I can dream about a different sound He tells me that I’m crazy He can’t hear me when I sing I’ve got scars that bleed affection He swears that’s not his thing Everything I’ve ever had, I’ve gotten for myself He’s the king of noise, I know I’m the queen of something else He’s my nothing, he’s my nothing He’s my nothing, and that’s everything We’re flying out again To see some band from Dayton, O Then back around again I’m on my feet again I’m waiting for my man to come He’s passed out on the bathroom floor I think he thinks I’m lazy I can’t stay awake that long When his eyes are rolling backwards His brain still buzzes strong Everything I could become, I’ve tossed off in the dirt Just to mend his favorite beanie And wash his stupid shirts He’s my nothing… He tells me that I’m crazy He can’t hear me when I sing I’ve got scars that bleed affection He swears that’s not his thing Everything I’ve ever had, I’ve gotten for myself He’s the king, he’s the king, he’s the king! He’s my nothing, he’s my nothing… And that’s everything
12.
I'm the one who's been here all this time They've got the glory but some glory should be mine They've got ringing they should hear the shit that's in my head All these ghosts just won't stay dead When the history of this is read I'm the one who understood him best Could have plenty but he's mine instead They're far away but always here Dead monuments that he holds dear The ghosts The ghosts They follow us Throughout the scene And you don't understand He's nobody's nothing When the hat comes off and glasses too I see the things that no one knows I do All the kindness and the coldness too And all the ghosts who couldn't cope You haunt our walls, but I have spoken When the hat comes off and glasses too I see the things that no one knows I do Girls who paint and girls with frozen hearts Kick them to the curb but it is just a start Cause I'm the one who's picking up the line I'm the one who's been here all this time They got the glory but the glory should be mine They got the glory, but the bastard he is mine!! They got the glory but the bastard he is mine!! He is Mine!! He is Mine!!! He is Mine!!!
13.
My mother said Music comes from your heart It's in your soul For some, it's all they know But mom was wrong Bless her heart She couldn't know And thankfully never had to hear This noise that’s coming to my ears There is no kindness in the words There is no softness to be heard It's from a place she's never been There is no soul There is no soul She didn't know She didn't know She didn't know of this It has no soul And all the cool kids With their clever, hipster tees They just follow him Like lemmings, until their ears ring and bleed But for me It has no soul It has no soul… There will be kindness in the words There will be softness to be heard There is a sound straight from my dreams I’ll give it soul I’ll give it soul Then they will know Then they will know They will hear all of me I’ll give it soul
14.
Every single one of you is crazy You’re all just missing it, man Yeah, you’ve got a guitar but you’re lazy You know damn well you’re in the wrong band You know damn well you’re in the wrong band You’re all just buying the story Just one hype away from your dreams But your Gods don’t have any glory And they stole all their riffs from me Yeah they stole all their riffs from me I’ve seen the birthplace of Manson In a strip mall bar wrist cut scene And the shock on their faces was classic But now it’s boring and passé and clean, clean, clean You commute to a soundtrack of liars Songs written by robots and thieves In a world where the oils make ricin You at least need a chorus that’s mean You at least need a chorus that’s mean… You’re a freak, you’re a freak, and you know it Deep in your brain it is there And like a seed, if you bury, you’ll grow it Yeah You’re a freak, you’re a freak, and you know it Deep in your brain it is there And like a seed, if you bury, you’ll grow it And when it shows, We’ll record it and stare
15.
Rat: All this torturous back and forth Has brought us here, just like before To begin again, another round Your blurry eyes, my wall of sound So what's our goddamn plan, now? You're not quite gone, so I try to save you Another kiss to resuscitate you You slip away to the other side This town has so many places to hide And what's our goddamn plan, now? What's our goddamn plan now? Charli: I'll meet you at Churchill's We'll sort it out at Churchill's We'll hideaway at Churchill's I’ll meet you at Churchill’s Rat: We can get some food beforehand We can leave the world behind Charli: We'll sort it out at Churchill's Rat: We can write a song on the stage A single note, with words unspoken Charli: We’ll hideaway at Churchill’s Rat: You can take a cab home, cause I’m staying if the club is open
16.
Pollard: All that stress from flying Takes its toll on the design, you know You've got to take a close look at the wing Rat: And falling off the cargo hold My head facing the sky, you know The tarmac hit my head and made it sing Pollard: On the ramp it's just a long parade The planes just come and go Once you get behind the counter You can see through people's soul... Rat: While you take your kids to soccer And the bills begin to pile I'll be halfway to Japan To hear the Voices live Pollard: While you are watching Idol And eating corporate tripe Rat: I'll be dancing in Japan With Robert Pollards wife Pollard: All those iffy landings Take their toll on those big tires, you know You've got to keep inspecting for a flaw Rat: And every day, security Pretends that they don't know me They shrug and tell me, "Frank, it's just the law." Pollard: On the ramp it's just a long parade The planes just come and go Once you get inside the baggage You can see through people's soul... Rat: While you take your kids to soccer And the bills begin to pile I'll be halfway to Japan To hear the Voices live Pollard: While you are watching Idol And eating corporate tripe Rat: I'll be dancing in Japan Pollard: He’ll be dancing in Japan Rat: I'll be dancing in Japan With Robert Pollards wife!
17.
Cast: Your bags are packed But you don’t even know if you’re coming back ‘Cause Rat is on the ground You can fly But you might start to wonder why ’Cause Rat is on the ground We’ve been up for forty hours Don’t need plugs Ignore the tower Your bags are packed But you don’t even know if you’re coming back ‘Cause Rat is on the ground Rat: I’m just a simple son I learned my chords, I had my fun This hippie shit is dead and gone I’m just a simple son, I’m just a simple son I’m just a simple son I learned my chords, I had my fun This music’s dead, I’m through with that I’ll clear the room and won’t look back Now you can call me Rat Cast: RAT, RAT!!

about

Originally conceived in 1996, the Rat Opera is a homage to (still breathing) producer and avant-garde "noise" artist Rat Bastard.
Created by Rob Elba & Brian Franklin, The Rat Opera is a love story of sorts to both a music scene and the people involved in it.

credits

released December 1, 2015

Rob Elba (vocals, guitars)
Brian Franklin (vocals, guitars)
Russell Mofsky (guitars, noise)
Andre Serafini (drums)
William Trev (bass)
Diane Ward (vocals)
Ali Culotta (vocals)

Additional vocals featuring the Rat Opera Chorus:
Amy Baxter
Bobby MacIntyre
Tony Landa

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The Rat Opera Florida

The Rat Opera was created by Rob Elba (Holy Terrors, Shark Valley Sisters) & Brian Franklin (Diane Ward Band, Solo Projects). The soundtrack also features musicians Russell Mofsky (Gold Dust Lounge, Quit), Andre Serafini (Quit) & William Trev (Holy Terrors) as well as vocals by Diane Ward & Ali Culotta. It was recorded at Dan Hosker Studio & Beachsound and was mixed by Bobby MacIntyre at Studio 71 ... more

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