"The Racing Rats" is the third single from Editors

Editors

Editors are a British indie rock band based in Birmingham, who formed in 2002. Previously known as Pilot, The Pride and Snowfield, the band consists of Tom Smith , Chris Urbanowicz , Russell Leetch and Ed Lay .Editors have so far released two platinum studio...

' second album An End Has a Start

An End Has a Start

An End Has a Start is the second album by British indie rock band Editors. It was released on June 25, 2007 in the UK and on July 17, 2007 in the US. The album was certified Platinum in the UK on the same day it was released....

. The single was released on 26 November 2007 with a CD format and three 7" singles in the UK, as well as on two CD formats and DVD on PIAS in Europe. It reached number 26 in the UK Charts, one place higher than the previous single, "An End Has a Start

An End Has a Start (song)

"An End Has a Start" is the title track and second single from Editors' second album. The single was released September 3, 2007 on CD, maxi-CD and 7" vinyl...

".

Track listings

CD SKCD97

• Card sleeve

1. "The Racing Rats" (Radio Edit) – 3:50
2. "Banging Heads" – 3:42

Vinyl SKX972

1. "The Racing Rats" (Original Demo)
2. "A Thousand Pieces" – 3:42

Limited Vinyl 1 SKX97

• Transparent red vinyl

1. "The Racing Rats" (Live from Wolverhampton Civic Hall
   Wolverhampton Civic Hall
   Wolverhampton Civic Hall is a music venue in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It has been one of the most important live music venues in the county for several decades. It is part of a complex also including Wulfrun Hall and the newer Little Civic...
   
   )
2. "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors" (Live Demo)

Limited Vinyl 2 SKX973

1. "Escape the Nest" (Demo)
2. "When Anger Shows" (Demo)

Note: 1000 copies only, all vinyls are numbered

CD1 (PIAS European Release)

• 4 panel digipack

1. "The Racing Rats" (Radio Edit) – 3:48
2. "When Anger Shows" (Live) – 5:52
3. "Lights" (Live) – 2:43
4. "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors" (Live) – 5:02

CD2 (PIAS European Release)

• Card sleeve

1. "The Racing Rats" (Live) – 4:14
2. "The Weight of the World" (Live) – 4:16
3. "Fingers in the Factories" (Live) – 4:43
4. "An End Has a Start " (Live) – 3:52

DVD (PIAS European Release)

• Card sleeve

1. "The Racing Rats" (video)
2. "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors" (VPRO
   VPRO
   The VPRO was established in the Netherlands in 1926 as a religious broadcasting organization. Falling under the Protestant pillar, it represented the Liberal Protestant current...
   
    Session @ Lowlands
   A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise
   A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise, also known as simply Lowlands, is a music festival, held annually in the Netherlands in August. Lowlands has about 55,000 visitors, over 200 acts and more than ten stages every year which are named according to the NATO phonetic alphabet apart from the Grolsch...
   
   )
3. "An End Has a Start" (video)

CD3 (PIAS European Release)

• Slimline jewel case

1. "The Racing Rats" (Radio Edit)
2. "The Racing Rats" (Live)
3. "Banging Heads"
4. "A Thousand Pieces"

Promo:

• Card sleeve

1. "The Racing Rats" (Radio Edit) – 3:50
2. "The Racing Rats" (Full version) – 4:15
3. "The Racing Rats" (Instrumental) – 4:16

Music video

The music video for "The Racing Rats" features the band performing in a rural suburb in slow motion, much like the video for the band's other single "Bullets

Bullets (Editors song)

"Bullets" is a song by British post-punk revival band Editors and is featured on their 2005 debut album, The Back Room.It was originally released 24 January 2005 as their first single. The single was mixed by Cenzo Townshend and the video made for the song was directed by Mike Brady. Both editions...

". Tom notices a little girl who is drawing a big circle on the pavement. Near the end of the video a solar eclipse

Solar eclipse

As seen from the Earth, a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun as viewed from a location on Earth. This can happen only during a new moon, when the Sun and the Moon are in conjunction as seen from Earth. At least...

 occurs directly parallel to the girl's circle causing it to light up spectacularly as the band and other citizens look on in awe. At the end of the video the town is empty of life, suggesting the eclipse consumed all the townspeople.

The relevance the video has to the song is from the lyrics "Slow down little one, you can't keep running away / You mustn't go outside yet, it's not your time to play / Standing at the edge of your town with the skyline in your eyes / Reaching up to God, the sun says its goodbyes".

Charts

Chart (2007)	Peak position
Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...	12
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	26
Belgian Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995...	36