The People Are Scratching

[Verso 1] Am Dm Come fill up your glasses and set yourselves down. E7 Am I'll tell you a story of somebody's town. C G7 It isn't too near and it's not far away. C Am It's not a place where I'd like to stay. [Refrão] Am7 Dm The people are scratching all over the street E7 Am Because the rabbits had nothing to eat. [Verso 2] Am Dm The winter came in with a cold icy blast. E7 Am It killed off the flowers and killed off the grass. C G7 The rabbits were starving because of the freeze. C Am They started eating the bark off the trees. [Refrão] Am7 Dm The people are scratching all over the street E7 Am Because the rabbits had nothing to eat. [Verso 3] Am Dm The farmers said, "This sort of thing won't do. E7 Am Our trees will be dead when the rabbits get through. C G7 We'll have to poison the rabbits, it's clear; C Am Or we'll have no crops to harvest next year." [Refrão] Am7 Dm The people are scratching all over the street E7 Am Because the rabbits had nothing to eat. [Verso 4] Am Dm So they brought the poison and spread it around. E7 Am And soon dead rabbits began to be found. C G7 Dogs ate the rabbits and the farmers just said, C Am "We'll poison those rabbits 'til the last dog is dead." [Refrão] Am7 Dm The people are scratching all over the street E7 Am Because the rabbits had nothing to eat. [Verso 5] Am Dm Up in the sky there were meat-eating fowls. E7 Am The dead rabbits poisoned the hawks and the owls. C G7 Thousands of field mice the hawks used to chase C Am Were multiplying all over the place. [Refrão] Am7 Dm The people are scratching all over the street E7 Am Because the rabbits had nothing to eat. [Verso 6] Am Dm The fields and the meadows were barren and brown. E7 Am The mice got hungry and they moved into town. C G7 The city folk all took the farmer's advice C Am And all of them started to poison the mice. [Refrão] Am7 Dm The people are scratching all over the street E7 Am Because the rabbits had nothing to eat. [Verso 7] Am Dm There were dead mice in all the apartments and flats. E7 Am The cats ate the mice and the mice killed the cats. C G7 The smell was awful and I'm glad to say C Am I wasn't the man hired to haul them away. [Refrão] Am7 Dm The people are scratching all over the street E7 Am Because the rabbits had nothing to eat. [Verso 8] Am Dm All through the country and all through the town E7 Am There wasn't a dog or cat to be found. C G7 The fleas asked each other, "Where shall we stay?" C Am They've been on the people from then 'til this day. [Refrão] Am7 Dm The people are scratching all over the street E7 Am Because the rabbits had nothing to eat. [Verso 9] Am Dm All you small creatures throughout this land E7 Am Stay clear of the man with the poisonous hand! C G7 A few bales of hay might keep you alive C Am But he'll pay more to kill you than let you survive. [Refrão] Am7 Dm The people are scratching all over the street E7 Am Because the rabbits had nothing to eat.