I just had an epiphany about this song!
Lyrics:

There was a dead rat
Beneath the windows of my building
Of my building, of my building
And the children would point sticks at it
And poke
And it went and got itself
All frozen-dead the night before
While Mr. Jones and Miss Gonzales were out
Having a good smoke, having a good smoke

Oh, Charlie with the walker
Was out thinking of Milwaukee
As he downed another thirty-century beer
And so he hadn't noted
That the cold winds were the closest
And so he hadn't noticed
That the night was drawing near

But what's one less in a world of so many
When only mushroom clouds can leave ripples on our souls
What's one less?
Either way, we got a mess
And no one hears the call
Anymore, anymore, anymore, anymore

There was a dead rat
Beneath the windows of my building
Of my building, of my building
And the children would point sticks at it
And poke
And it went and got itself
All frozen-dead the night before
While Mr. Jones and Miss Gonzales were out
Having a good smoke
Having a good...

This song illustrates how people care so little about the well-being of others, as long as those others aren't integral to their lives. the significance of the rat lies in the cavalier attitude the children have toward its death, and how it reflects on the way that the world views the demise of a person (old Charlie with a walker).

specifically, i take the "charlie with a walker" bit to be about a homeless man who was too drunk to realize how late/cold it was getting, failed to seek shelter, and, as a result, froze to death. The people walk on and don't care about him, because they think, "if this isn't a disaster that affects millions of people, then i shouldn't care, because things like /this/ happen all the time." They could care less that this man died so near to their homes, where they could've saved his life just by offering him a blanket or a place to sleep.

Come to think of it, he dies exactly like the rat... any chance the "rat" is actually a metaphore for Charlie? In which case, no one, not even the most innocent people (children) care about him or are affected by his death in the least. This sheds new light on the lines, "while Mr Jones and Miss Gonzales were out havin a good smoke"-they were smoking cigarettes somewhere nearby while this poor man died.

Last thought (trying to keep this brief!) : Any possibility that Charlie is a metaphore for something more universal/far-reaching than a single person/group of people (hobos, hookers, etc.) who is/are disrespected by society? Because i remember a Myspace post from Regina that really struck me, about how the whole world wants to pick on Israel because they can. In light of this, is there a chance that Charlie is representative of Jews?

EDIT: i just noticed that the people who turned their noses up were Hispanic and European, if you'll notice their last names. Reg was careful to emphasize that there is more than one type of people/nation particiapting in this dehumanization.

Link to the blog post (Friday, January 16, 2009) http://blogs.myspace.com/index...endId=3071484&page=5