The Rats and the Roses by Tall Travis Lyrics
Well Lopside Manor was a strange-looking edifice
And no one room had a line to reflect
Maybe forty years back it wasn't quite so treacherous
Now I wouldn't go there if you paid
My sweet old lady used to have nine children
But they all move on to the US of A
Her husband died and only left her with millions
It was me and her and the rats and the roses
He arrived from the mist like like a vulture to a carcass
All young and strong and debonair
She was old and weak and didn't want to seem helplеss
So she said he could stay just for a night
Well onе turned to two turned to three turned to four
As soon it seemed he'd be staying at the Manor for good
I kept my retitude but it was hard to ignore
They only noticed each other, not the rats and the roses
Well late one night I heard the kitchen bell a-ringin'
And the dumbwaiter was heavier than ever before
He scampered off and left the servants' door a-swingin'
And the cops believed every lie they swore
The moon shone brighter than my lantern's candle
And the shovel seemed louder than a flintlock blast
Employment can be hard, but it's nothing I can't handle
So I left her sleeping with the rats and the roses
Today he's travelling in Spain or in Italy
The old woman's still 'neath the garden bed
And I'm stuck here in this cell built with symmetry
And there ain't no one left but the rats and the roses
And no one room had a line to reflect
Maybe forty years back it wasn't quite so treacherous
Now I wouldn't go there if you paid
My sweet old lady used to have nine children
But they all move on to the US of A
Her husband died and only left her with millions
It was me and her and the rats and the roses
He arrived from the mist like like a vulture to a carcass
All young and strong and debonair
She was old and weak and didn't want to seem helplеss
So she said he could stay just for a night
Well onе turned to two turned to three turned to four
As soon it seemed he'd be staying at the Manor for good
I kept my retitude but it was hard to ignore
They only noticed each other, not the rats and the roses
Well late one night I heard the kitchen bell a-ringin'
And the dumbwaiter was heavier than ever before
He scampered off and left the servants' door a-swingin'
And the cops believed every lie they swore
The moon shone brighter than my lantern's candle
And the shovel seemed louder than a flintlock blast
Employment can be hard, but it's nothing I can't handle
So I left her sleeping with the rats and the roses
Today he's travelling in Spain or in Italy
The old woman's still 'neath the garden bed
And I'm stuck here in this cell built with symmetry
And there ain't no one left but the rats and the roses