Return of the Rat

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Return of the Rat is a song written by the Punk Rock band The Wipers, and is the first track on The Wiper’s 1980 debut album Is This Real?. The song was later covered by the band Nirvana on a tribute album called 'Eight Songs for Greg Sage And The Wipers' which was released in 1992. The same recording appeared on the Nirvana 2004 Box Set With the Lights Out, though remixed.

Like much of the album, the song structure is circularly tight and catchy, containing a driving drum beat and choppy, distorted guitar riffs.

The lyrics are vague, lending to a sense of paranoid doom regarding the mysterious "return of the rat":

You better watch out/You better beware

They’re coming from all sides of the country/Yeah, you better beware

Return of the rat/Return of the Rat/Return of the Rat

Oh no! No! No!

They better confess/They better confess

They better confess, I know, I've seen them do it/Now, they better confess

Return of the rat/Return of the Rat/Return of the Rat

Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!

The song (and the band) grew in popularity after the grunge band Nirvana recorded a cover of "Return of the Rat" for a Wipers tribute record entitled "Eight Songs for Greg Sage and The Wipers" on Tim Kerr records. For the tribute, Nirvana initially recorded a cover of The Wiper’s song D-7 (song) (which also appears on the "With the Lights Out CD-Box). However, to record the song, the band had taken advantage of studio time provided by their record label, Geffen Records. The label did not allow the release of the song, so Nirvana ultimately bought their own studio time and recorded Return of the Rat instead. "D-7" was eventually released on the Nirvana album "Hormoaning" in 1992 instead.