As far as this song being ironic, it is. The ridiculous of his lyrics that portray rats as civilized is a mockery of similar rhetoric that humans are civilized and superior. Vedder is using this irony to reveal the truth that humans are just as animalistic as rats - and maybe worse due to the calculated cruelty we exact on one another on large scales.
You have it exactly right and explained it really well.
You have it exactly right and explained it really well.
vedder compares humans and rats but not to say they're different but equal or even worse... he uses irony when he says "Don't take what's not theirs" the first thing we think is that rats do that.. yes! they do that so as we do, so we are like rats... on the contrary, when he says "they don't compare" we think no, they don't compare but we do, we are worse than rats... it's just a way to say that we act worse than animals...
one of may favorite songs
don't take whats not theirs to take is actually the comparison which in reality no animal other than humans take what they're not supposed to take. Do you see rats invading other nations or rats stealing from their buddies.. No rats eat in packs hence they arent actually stealing at all. thats the irony. The real irony is as much as we think they are the plague creature we are worse...
don't take whats not theirs to take is actually the comparison which in reality no animal other than humans take what they're not supposed to take. Do you see rats invading other nations or rats stealing from their buddies.. No rats eat in packs hence they arent actually stealing at all. thats the irony. The real irony is as much as we think they are the plague creature we are worse...
The Ben at the end of the song is in reference to the song Ben by Michael Jackson for the movie of the same name. In the movie, a young boy befriends the rat Ben, but then the rat turns evil and recruits other rats to attack people.
Read the lyrics synically (sarcastically), then they'll make sense...
No, no, no, you've got it all wrong. Its "Lick the dirt off Olajuwon's feet"
;)
@freshdecay dude I fkn love you. I ALWAYS ALWAYS sang it that way, hail Hakeem. You fkn rock !!! ✌
@freshdecay dude I fkn love you. I ALWAYS ALWAYS sang it that way, hail Hakeem. You fkn rock !!! ✌
Seems to me that this song is a jab at our behaviour as humans. By pointing out how rats behave in their own culture, it demonstrates how creatures with so much less capacity for thought can exist to be so much more thoughtful than us...
vedder is obviously comparing rats and humans. however, he is vague as to which trait belongs to which species, and whether he is condemning humans or not. for instance, "they don't scurry when something bigger comes their way." does this apply to humans? if so, that doesn't necessarily describe a negative trait. but, "starve the poor so they can be well fed" seems to be a jab at people. this song is really good and one of my favorites on vs., but its message is confusing.
actually, i think it refers to Ben the rat in the story Ratman's Notebooks, which became a movie in the 70s called Willard, now redone as a new movie more recently. The man befriends Ben and Socrates, 2 rats, and he gets payback from all the people that treated him bad with his legion of rats that will do what he says.
I agree and the social commentary the movie inspires is somewhat like Animal Farm, but here Vedder is saying, "Hey, we (the people) aren't rats so don't treat us like them...or else." We are human and have other ways of throwing out the big guys. Who really is the rat? Interesting and thought provoking. Yay!
I agree and the social commentary the movie inspires is somewhat like Animal Farm, but here Vedder is saying, "Hey, we (the people) aren't rats so don't treat us like them...or else." We are human and have other ways of throwing out the big guys. Who really is the rat? Interesting and thought provoking. Yay!
actually, i think it refers to Ben the rat in the story Ratman's Notebooks, which became a movie in the 70s called Willard, now redone as a new movie more recently. The man befriends Ben and Socrates, 2 rats, and he gets payback from all the people that treated him bad with his legion of rats that will do what he says.
I think it's difficult to know when he's talking about humans or rats for a reason. If you can't differentiate between the two, is there a significant difference? He's saying that humans act just like rats..