NoMeansNo - Chew Lyrics

(Performed with Jello Biafra)

Someone's dad passed out in the street
The wind-up key woker bees
Buzz right on by
At night he still lies
There 'cos nobody cares

Insects with briefcases ignore him
Been lying here for days
Not my problem, man
Look man, this is new york

Now the rats are coming to feed
Every night they bring more and more of their friends
Immune to rat poison, totally unafraid
And this is a very special treat indeed

They crawl up my pantleg / I'm too weak to move
No one hears my cries as they start on my toes
Their teeth are like razors as they gnaw at my hands
It sure beats mcdonald's so get it while it lasts

Chew Devour
Chew Devour
Chew Devour
Chew Devour

See the headline in the Post?
No one helped that old man for a week
They're homeless cos they wanna be
Let's talk about sports
Watch 'em tear that old building down
On the way home

But when a bulldozer pops the rubble like a pimple
Volcanoes of rats swarm all over us like bees
As big as a cat, not afraid to chase people
Or nibble on the wipers and vinyl roofs of cars

People are panicking, the cops have all fled
A shotgun will only kill one at a time
And it won't be the last time we run for our lives
From those teeth sinking into our arms and legs

Chew Devour
Chew Devour
Chew Devour
Chew Devour
Mmm Mmm Good

City fathers see a bright future ahead
Where the poor no longer exist
Drive the neighborhood people away from their homes
Paint 'em over and quadruple the rent

Isolate the undesirables in places like Harlem
Our sowetos without walls
If they won't go away
Cops smash their heads
Like they did in Tompkins Square

Those stories give me the creeps
I hope I didn't miss that last train
Some smart-ass plastered life-size pictures of rats
On the walls of the subway station
Funny joke

It's so quiet down here
It's a little too quiet down here

Who's that across the tracks
Smoldering eyes are glaring up at me
Inching closer and closer, almost laughing out loud
The train finally comes, but it won't even stop

Not here, not tonight
I'm off in an hour, I don't wanna get involved
With some guy in a suit fighting rats off his face
Just leave 'em to the night, they'll be gone the next day

Chew Devour
Chew Devour
Chew Devour
Chew Devour