If I may suggest a radical yet logical point of view?
I think that most of you guys are right by saying the rats are symbolism for something bad but I have a different point of view.
I think the rats are desire/bad intentions as a whole and the whining by them and their illnesses ("Our muscles have turned into cement", "Veins are flowing barbed wire" etc) are almost reminders of the ugliness of the desire and when it turns bad. I think that the song's intent was to make the Candy character look like the cause of all this yet the rats remain at the end of the song. To me, this means that the desire and bad intentions of this "Mr. Howell" keep corrupting the willing and follow him over and over again. Like in the opening lines it seems that Mr. Howell was alright until he noticed something in Candy that brought out the "rats behind her teeth" that started "screaming and sobbing", or perhaps a desire for her. When he wakes up in the morning, all the desires/bad intent (the rats) are gone for one reason or another and he can move on again.
If I may suggest a radical yet logical point of view?
I think that most of you guys are right by saying the rats are symbolism for something bad but I have a different point of view.
I think the rats are desire/bad intentions as a whole and the whining by them and their illnesses ("Our muscles have turned into cement", "Veins are flowing barbed wire" etc) are almost reminders of the ugliness of the desire and when it turns bad. I think that the song's intent was to make the Candy character look like the cause of all this yet the rats remain at the end of the song. To me, this means that the desire and bad intentions of this "Mr. Howell" keep corrupting the willing and follow him over and over again. Like in the opening lines it seems that Mr. Howell was alright until he noticed something in Candy that brought out the "rats behind her teeth" that started "screaming and sobbing", or perhaps a desire for her. When he wakes up in the morning, all the desires/bad intent (the rats) are gone for one reason or another and he can move on again.
This is what I think. Feel free to criticize.