I first heard "The Intoxicated Rat" in Memphis, Tennessee, while a young Sailor stationed in the nearby town of Millington. I was so taken by it that I learned it and was fond of singing it to my girl friend (she married me anyway), and others unfortunate enough to be so favored. It became a sort of family joke/tradition. Around 1982, I was driving near Bloomington, IN, listening to the Indiana University radio station which was playing old 78s from the 1930s. When, what do you know, they played "The Intoxicated Rat," record scratches and all. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

I can sing it now, but I have no way of communicating to you the tune by which I know it. The words I know vary a little from the one printed above.


"Well, the other night I tripped and fell, because I could not see.
I got tangled up in the old door mat, fell flat as I could be.

I fell and dropped a bottle of gin, and I didn't have no more.
The cap flew off when I fell down and I spilled it on the floor.

A rat came out of his hiding place and he caught that whiskey scent.
He ran right out and got a little shot and back to his hole he went.

Chorus: Back to his hole he ran, back to his hole he ran.
He ran right out and got a little shot and back to his hole he ran.

Well, the rat came out of his hole again and he headed for the gin on the floor,
A little bit shy, but he winked one eye and he got him a little bit more.

He didn't go back to his hole that time but he stayed by the puddle of gin.
With a twisted smile and a half-closed eye, said, "I'm gonna get drunk again."

He didn't go back to his hole, but he said, "Doggone my soul,
I'm only a rat but no doggone cat could run me back to my hole."

Well, that little ole bottle was soon gone dry and there wasn't any more gin,
That little ole rat was a havin' a time when the old tom cat walked in.

The cat made a pass and the rat made a dash and his boldness faded thin,
The cat jumped over and the rat got sober and back to his hole he ran.

Back to his hole he ran, back to his hole he ran,
the cat jumped over and the rat got sober, and back to his hole he ran.


Can anyone tell me where to get the words/music/recordings to the Johnny Standley series "out In The Valley," Grandma's Lye Soap," and "It's In the Book?"

garrywowens@bellsouth.net