Ratas Rabiosas (Versión 1987)

Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a visceral, apocalyptic picture of a city overrun by decay and desperation. The opening lines immediately establish a grim urban landscape, with "dogs, worms, crossing / The cemetery city" and "rabid rats, decomposed / Coming out of their sewers." This creates a tone of widespread corruption and infestation, setting a stage for extreme survival or breakdown. The core of the song seems to revolve around a horrifying concept of "new food" and "new nutrition," presented as a grim necessity in this blighted environment. This phrase, repeated like a mantra, underscores a descent into cannibalism and self-consumption. The imagery shifts from external decay to internal horror with lines like "I have eaten my ears / And for dessert an eye" and "Yesterday I ate my fingers / My dick and my two balls." This graphic self-devouring suggests a complete loss of self and a desperate, primal drive for sustenance. The lyrics employ stark, almost clinical descriptions of bodily destruction alongside the repeated, almost jingle-like refrain of "new food." The interjection of "Look, doctor, how bad he is" and the comparison to a "rabid rat of pain" introduces an observer, perhaps a medical professional, witnessing this extreme suffering and degradation. This contrast between the detached medical observation and the raw, visceral horror of self-cannibalism highlights the profound psychological and physical collapse depicted. Ultimately, the effectiveness of these lyrics lies in their unflinching, almost surreal depiction of ultimate degradation. The repetition of the "new food" phrase, juxtaposed with the graphic self-mutilation and the desperate "No!" at the end, creates a powerful, disturbing effect. It’s a raw, guttural expression of a world where survival has devolved into the most extreme, self-destructive acts imaginable, leaving the listener with a sense of profound unease and horror.