Year Of The Rat

This is just speculation, but it sounds to me somewhat like an ode to the hiders and smugglers of Nazi Germany (or more generally any such regime, it just fits the Nazi one best.) 'Walk the line/keep your direction/& read the signs' refers to the fact that you couldn't afford to look back and had to find the strength to keep going 'Play the game or fade away/ make your confessions & book a ride' refers to the fact that many had to play a twisted 'game' and rat out other Jews to survive. The next verse 'Now that your sparkling smile is outworn...' is about someone having been beaten and pummeled so hard, and is sung from the perspective of a smuggler saying 'I'll help you'. The next one ('Change your name and change your face/For your protection and the new day/Believe in me you can be free/Escape the aggression and book that ride) is someone who has changed their identity and is fleeing from Poland (or wherever) on a train. The finale (Now you’re a rat and you can’t sleep at night/Under the spell of the following eye/This is the game there’s no getting out/I’ve seen the end and it looks like a nine/You feel the chill that just crept down your spine/This time, the last surrender/The axe won’t be buried, not ever, not sorry/It is too late to worry) is about the many demons that have been unearthed by the whole harrowing event- for smugglers, for 'rats' (ie Jews who told on others to survive) & for the countless other survivors. Part of this song's beauty is that it has many different meanings, and can be interpreted in many different ways- this is just the one that both seemed most likely and most resonated with me. What a rare, majestic and beautiful piece of art it is. I only heard it just now and I almost cried =').