[Verse 1]
I'm an elevator kid pushing buttons when I wanna go home
But my generation hasn't even got a name of its own
We just buy what the TV sells
And almost never stop wishing we were somebody else
But tonight in the dark I can be myself
[Chorus]
When Bobby and the Rat-Kings come to play
We'll make 'em stay
We'll make 'em play
Play 'til the stars all fade
We'll make 'em stay 'til dawn
Make 'em play all night 'til the light
Like we'vе never seen nothin'
Like wе'll never see anybody ever again
When the Rat-Kings go away
We'll never be the same
[Verse 2]
Z tried to edit Reddit, instead it said it had eaten her phone
She goes from tinder to cinder
'Til she remembers she's a flame of her own
You can almost lose your heart
Hoping for something better 'til it tears you apart
While the days get longer and this night won't start
[Chorus]
But when Bobby and the Rat-Kings come to play
We'll make 'em stay
We'll make 'em play
Play 'til the stars all fade
We'll make 'em stay 'til dawn
Make 'em play all night 'til the light
Like we've never seen nothin'
Like we'll never see anybody ever again
When the Rat-Kings go away
We'll never be the same again
Oh, again
[Verse 3]
Now Joey's gotta run for the train
Says he's trying to make it
Back to the City by ten
And Mike's on his bike with the motor running
I told him trains were running all night right then
In the moonlit town after the bridge fell down
There were fires and we lost some power
So we all dressed up for the ramble
And ran those streets long past the witching hour
[Bridge]
I saw Dorothy in drag
Taking the Tin Man for a ride
And then Z the Cat said she knew where to go
Then she kissed me without a thought
And said "Sometimes memories are all that we got
So come on, boy
Let's make some at the show"
[Verse 4]
So there's some leather-wrapped Fender-strapped kid
With a pick-finger twitch
He's got a recipe for radio or rain
I don't know which
In the shadows when the lights are dowsed
The cinder kids flare while they twist and shout
We're the sparks in the dark
That'll never go out
[Chorus]
So when Bobby and the Rat-Kings come to play
We'll make 'em stay
We'll make 'em play
Play 'til the stars all fade
We'll make 'em stay 'til dawn
Make 'em play all night 'til the light
Like we've never seen nothin'
Like we'll never see anybody ever again
When the Rat-Kings go away
We'll never be the same
[Post-Chorus]
So say hey, when the Rat-Kings
When the Rat-Kings
When the Rat-Kings go away
Say hey, when the Rat-Kings
When the Rat-Kings
When the Rat-Kings go away
Say when the Rat-Kings (When the Rat-Kings go)
When they go away (When they go away)
Say hey, when the Rat-Kings go away
We'll never be the same again
[Outro]
Again
Oh, again
Oh, again
Again
Bobby and the Rat-Kings was written by Adam Duritz.
Bobby and the Rat-Kings was produced by Brian Deck.
Counting Crows released Bobby and the Rat-Kings on Fri May 21 2021.