On a morning with almost no traffic
You no longer care about time
If you stroll, there’s no crowd and you hurry back home
Because now it’s a crime
Cop comes out from a jeep, and a soldier’s running
As if you were involved in a gang
Now they’re asking for an explanation
You tell them that you went to the store
It’s the Year of the Rat

They’re rude and they start asking questions
You think you’ll be locked up for sure
They tell you you’d better follow the directions
And then they disappear
It all started in Wuhan’s market stalls
Or it may have started in a lab
These days you feel you’re wasting your life
Every day now there’s nothing to do
It came from the Bats

Well nature treats us so cruelly
And there’s no work for you or for me
But the president gives stimulus
So you take it while you are staying inside
The Year of the Rat

The evening comes and you’re still inside
And no buses or taxis in sight
You don’t have any choice and you’re losing your patience
But you have to stay in
But the music blares and you cover your ears
Feel the rhythm of your pounding head
You know sometime life will go back to normal
But for now you have to stay
In the Year of the Rat