(Charlie King)
Since I was a boy my life's been a mad one
Getting ahead don't make it a sad one
Trying to win, having no fun
Playing the game by the rules
Everyone said, You must be the smartest
Those who go furthest are those who work hardest
I was feeding the slave, I was starving the artist
I was working like a mule
In school, I studied hard for years
Getting into college cost me blood, sweat and tears
But the one thing wrong with this rat race
I've been running all my life
Is, the rats are winning
I knew that college would be fierce competition
But I sold my soul to the Dean of Admission
Trying to win the game of attrition
Was tough, but I knew I could beat it
Now you never get by by just getting by
So I looked for a job where the wages were high
I got a piece of pie in the sky
But I never got time to eat it
At twenty-two my ambition was to be a wealthy man
So I took a job because it had a great retirement plan
But the one thing wrong with this rat race
I've been running all my life
Is, the rats are winning
Wouldn't it be nice to take it easy for a while
Standing at the side, watching the rats run by
Then I went to work like the eagerest beaver
The young executive, the over-achiever
The God of Work's truest believer
Hoping the boss could see me
Every day planned to the minute
Beating the system by working within it
Life was a game, I knew I could win it
Don't you wish you could be me
'Cause maybe some day I'll become the chairman of the board
I could be a millionaire at thirty-five with a Rolls Royce at the door
But the one thing wrong with this rat race
I've been running all my life
Is, the rats are winning
Now it seems my life just gets madder
The closer I get to the top of the ladder
I'm getting older, I'm getting sadder
Ashamed of things that I did
The road to the top is winding and shifty
You dress like a lord, tell the wife to be thrifty
Seeing your friends dying at fifty
Saying, I did it all for the kids
But oh, it's good to see them on the weekend if they're home
It seems like only yesterday they're born but now they're gone
But the one thing wrong with this rat race
I've been running all my life
Is, the rats are winning
Wouldn't it be nice to take it easy for a while
Standing at the side, watching the rats run by
(as sung by Iain MacKintosh)