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Jessica13 Member	Posted Does anyone have any thoughts as to the meaning of the songs that the rats sing?
	Posts: 14 | Registered: February 16, 2004

GMZoe Village Elder Member	Posted Hide Post Been awhile since I read it, but it's a creepy ditty about how rats, as a species, predates mankind and will outlast them as well (we will be here when you fallll...). What a way to thumb their noses at the humans, eh?
	Posts: 13083 | Location: Tucson | Registered: June 19, 2001

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Dweller in Darrkness Administrator/Colporteur Member

Posted Hide Post It's also done in a very simple, almost childish rhyming scheme. The temptation when making animals more human is to make them extra-smart, but Neil chose (I think wisely) to keep the rats as not all that bright but powerfully cunning creatures. __________ AJGraeme "You see, I have a policy about honesty and ass-kicking: if you ask for it, I have to let you have it." -Taylor Mali "Science is the foot that kicks magic square in the nuts." -Scratch Fury

Posts: 43014 | Location: Concord, NH, USA | Registered: July 20, 2001

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Death Gerbil Dread Pirate AlyssaRGH! Member	Posted Hide Post It's really very creepy when you think about it. Humans will die out, and rats will be here forever. If they were a little smarter, we'd probably all be dead. ______________________ SQUEAK ______________________ "The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes"
	Posts: 1033 | Location: Under the stairs. | Registered: December 03, 2003

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Zzedar Member

Posted Hide Post Most children's rhymes are pretty bloody, or were before the bowlderists got to them. Which is the whole point of Coraline, of course. I don't think that the simplicity of the rhyme was supposed to indicate that the rats weren't bright; I think they were doing it like that to mock the humans. In the depths of my heart I can't help being convinced that my dear fellow men, with a few exceptions, are worthless. -- Sigmund Freud

Posts: 26 | Registered: May 02, 2004

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Cdammen Member

Posted Hide Post quote: Originally posted by Death Gerbil: It's really very creepy when you think about it. Humans will die out, and rats will be here forever. If they were a little smarter, we'd probably all be dead. Or maybe they'll be dead too. Think about it, when an organism gets to smart for it's own good it destroys itself. I don't that we eventually will but think about it. It's portrayed in nearly every sci-fi book/film. We are so smart and create (as an example) machines and AI (Matrix, Terminator). Rats on the other hand just think about survival and food. They don't start nuclear wars One giant step on mankind...

Posts: 2 | Location: Ystad, Sweden | Registered: May 16, 2004

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AnnA BellA Member	Posted Hide Post oooohhh....the rat song was so creepy. I can just imagine those high-pitched little voices singing eerily....They definitely added to the 'mood' or 'tone' of the book. try it, you'll like it--www.theautumns.com
	Posts: 160 | Registered: May 02, 2004

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Dweller in Darrkness Administrator/Colporteur Member

Posted Hide Post quote: Originally posted by Anna Bella: oooohhh....the rat song was so creepy. I can just imagine those high-pitched little voices singing eerily....They definitely added to the 'mood' or 'tone' of the book. We got the audio book version of this, and it's as creepy as you imagine. __________ AJGraeme "You see, I have a policy about honesty and ass-kicking: if you ask for it, I have to let you have it." -Taylor Mali "Science is the foot that kicks magic square in the nuts." -Scratch Fury

Posts: 43014 | Location: Concord, NH, USA | Registered: July 20, 2001

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__fadedxmemories Member	Posted Hide Post I think that younger children will find the poems very amusing, and they might memorize them and repeat them over && over again. However, as Neil said, it will creep adults out.
	Posts: 17 | Registered: December 17, 2005

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Oniichan Wigber Member	Posted Hide Post I believe there used to be a screensaver available on the main site that had the rat's song in it, sung by Neil himself(perhaps?). It may still be up, but the song is certainly every bit as creepy as you'd imagine.
	Posts: 22 | Location: WGB | Registered: June 23, 2007

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slothflyer Member	Posted Hide Post I think it's a warning to Beldam, basically saying that she's going down and the rats will still be there, and they won't be her slaves anymore.
	Posts: 11 | Location: Gamaliel, KY | Registered: March 21, 2007

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Novpyro Member	Posted Hide Post I never thought about it that way. I always saw them as taunting Coraline. Maybe they're taunting everyone... except the cat because he eats them all the time.
	Posts: 8 | Location: Pendleton, SC | Registered: January 31, 2008

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