The Cat Came Back: Lyrics and Provenence?
Elizabeth McDowell
First, I've taken the lyrics off a 2nd generation tape of the Kenny
Rogers show, but Rolph mumbled the words in two lines. I'll type in
what I've got below; can anyone fill in the missing words?
Second, a friend who knew I wanted to learn the song gave me a book
of teacher-led songs with a song by that title. The melody for both
verse and chorus are very different, though, and the words completely
different. There's no little Benny at all! I'm wondering if this song
is a folk song, with many variants, or if it's a copyrighted song that
someone changed significantly to avoid paying fees on (kind of like
Sesame Street does with its parodies). If the latter is the case, did
the book do the changes, or did Henson? (I tend to think Henson might
have done some rewriting, knowing his prediliction for bombs and
crashes). On the other hand, I can easily imagine a teacher cleaning up
the other lyrics (and the rhyme in the chorus) to remove violent
references.
Anyway, here's the lyrics. First, the Muppet Show version, then a verse
from the teaching book:
LIttle Benny had a cat that they wouldn't let him keep
So he put her up for sale at a price he thought was cheap
He took her to a neighbor to ask him for advice,
He said, "Leave the kitty here: she'll help me with the mice."
But the cat came back, she wouldn't stay away
She was sitting(sometimes waiting) on the porch the very next day
The cat came back, she didn't want to roam,
The very next day, it was home, sweet home.
Little Benny met a man who was driving way out West
He would give the cat a ride as a special honored guest
The steering wheel was sloppy, he drove into a tree
(The Car?) xxxxxxxx was just a total wreck, as anyone could see. . .
Little Benny bought a gun from the Human Cannonball
He put the cat inside xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
When Benny pulled the trigger the cannon made a roar
The neighbors all surrendered cause they thought it was a war. . .
Little Benny gave the cat to a man who had a bomb
He took the cat away; she was acting cool and calm
ANd then the bomb exploded; it made an awful sound
They looked and looked for ages, and the man was never found! BUT. . .
The alternate lyrics:
There was an old yellow cat had problems all her own,
Her owners didn't want her, But she wouldn't leave her home
They tried everything they could to keep that cat away,
Eeven sent her to Austrailia, and they told her there to stay. . .
But the cat came back, She just couldn't stay too long.
The cat came back, She just wouldn't stay away.
The cat came back, They all thought that she was gone.
But the cat came back on the very next day.
Marny Helfrich '94
: Second, a friend who knew I wanted to learn the song gave me a book
: of teacher-led songs with a song by that title. The melody for both
: verse and chorus are very different, though, and the words completely
: different. There's no little Benny at all! I'm wondering if this song
: is a folk song, with many variants, or if it's a copyrighted song that
: someone changed significantly to avoid paying fees on (kind of like
: Sesame Street does with its parodies). If the latter is the case, did
That's really interesting - I learned that song at camp, and the verses
were totally different from either of the versions that you posted:
Old Mr Johnson had troubles of his own
There was this yellow cat that would not leave his home
he tried and he tried to give that cat away
this is the story of that fateful day when
The Cat Came Back
the very next day
the cat came back
she just wouldn't stay away
H(on and on through verses about a boy tht tries to dron her, a man with a
hot-air balloon, the h-bomb, and I think something else)
I guess this lends support to the idea of it being a flk song with
variants.
One of my favorite camp songs, though...
Marny --
*******************************************************************************
*** Marny Helfrich "Can you tell me how to get, ***
*** mhel...@minerva.cis.yale.edu how to get to Sesame Street?" ***
*** Yale '94 - I NEED A JOB! -CTW ***
*******************************************************************************
Rebecca Rapoport
way different than either of the above-mentioned words. Though we all
seem to agree on the chorus. Anyway, I think it's an old folk song.
I wish I remembered the words to the version I knew. But I know there
was no Benny. I think in the version I knew, the cat's owners were
trying to kill it too. Whatever. Sorry I can't be of more help.
--
Democracy is a form of government that substitutes election by the
incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few.
-- G. B. Shaw
Rebecca Rapoport rapo...@husc.harvard.edu
Laura Dunham
> Rebecca Rapoport rapo...@husc.harvard.edu
I could get the Muppet Show lyrics and transcribe them for people who
are interested, and I also have a tape with the song on it that is
completely different, and I could transcribe that too if someone really
wants it...
--
-Laura Dunham-
From Seattle, where the rain gods live...
Rebecca Rapoport
similar to mine but it isn't. The lyrics *I* remember to the chorus
go something like:
But the cat came back
the very next day.
They thought he was a goner,
But the kitty came back
'cus he couldn't stay away.
I F Gow
sounds like it might be describing the same sort of things which occur
in the song - it did have vocals, the only lines of which I remember (as
were posted earlier, and may not be in the orignal poem/song...)
And the cat came back
the very next day,
the cat came back,
hey thought he was a goner...
etc.
regards,
Iain
Champignon Ecrasee
know is pretty violent (and very funny.) They try to drown the cat,
and send it into space, and lovely things like that, but:
The cat came back
The very next day
They thought he wasn't gonna (or is that, they thought he was a
goner?)
But the cat came back
The SS version posted seems incredibly watered down, which is
bothersome in some sense, but then, I suppose SS's goal is not to
advocate violence.
One other thing, about 5 or 6 years ago, I think MTV did an animated
video of "The Cat Came Back," but it was different from the version I
learned and from that posted. (Music was slightly different too.) I
think a folk singer (maybe Pete Seeger, but I don't quote me on that)
sang my version on a children's record that I listened to when I was a
kid. (Make that, when I was a smaller kid. (: )
Just what I know,
Julie
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Julie Rapoport 97...@williams.edu
Mary Graham
hm. I dunno about canada, but I learned that song in third grade right
here in DC. It goes...
The cat came back, the very next day
O yeah the cat came back,
Thought he was a goner
O the cat came back,
just couldn't stay away..
Or something like that.
Locke
mar...@et.tudelft.nl
But the cat came back,
they thought he was a goner,
but the very next day
it was home sweet home
But I was only 10 and English is *not* my native language.
But I loved the sketch, featuring one of my favourite
muppets (Rowlf) in such a funny way.
Marten
Russell Brown
>
> The cat came back, the very next day
> O yeah the cat came back,
> Thought he was a goner
> O the cat came back,
> just couldn't stay away..
>
I also can't remember any of the verses, but my memory is very clear
on the chorus (caveat: of the version I heard, anyway. As we all know, the
definition of a folk song is one with at least a thousand different versions).
But. . . the. . . cat came back,
He wouldn't stay away.
He was sitting on the porch
The very next day.
The cat came back;
He didn't want to roam.
The very next day it was home, sweet home.
Verses, anyone?
Russell
Elizabeth McDowell
Russell Brown <rbr...@cs.cornell.edu> wrote:
> But. . . the. . . cat came back,
> He wouldn't stay away.
> He was sitting on the porch
> The very next day.
> The cat came back;
> He didn't want to roam.
> The very next day it was home, sweet home.
>
> Verses, anyone?
Russell: This seems to be the Muppet Show version, and I posted all the
verses I was able to decipher from my 2nd generation tape when I started
this thread. I can repost if anyone still needs them.
Everyone else: I'm really enjoying all the variants on this song. Has
anyone found the 2 phrases that I couldn't decipher?
Libby McDowell
lmcd...@chopin.udel.edu
James Bothwell Avison
song by heart (my version.) Anyway, here it is with all the verses I know:
Old Mister Johnson had troubles of his own,
He had a yellow cat that would not leave his home,
He tried and he tried just to give that cat away,
He gave it to a man going far, far away ...
CHORUS:
BUT, the cat came back the very next day,
Yes, the cat came back, they thought he was gone,
But the cat came back, he just wouldn't stay away!
He gave it to a man going up in a balloon,
He said that he'd bring it to the man in the moon,
The balloon came down 'bout ninety miles away,
Where the man today is no one can say ...
CHORUS
He gave it to a little boy with a dollar and a note,
He said to take it on the river with a boat,
He tied a rock around it's head, it must have weighed a pound,
Next day they dragged the river for that little boy had drowned ...
CHORUS
He told that man next door just to shoot that cat on sight (shoot 'em up!),
He loaded up his gun with nails and dynamite,
He waited and he waited for that cat to come around,
Ninety seven peices of that man were all they found ...
CHORUS
The A-bomb fell on us today (sob),
The H-bomb exploded in the very same way,
England went (sniff), Russia went (sniff), and the USA (bawl)
The human race extinguished, without a chance to pray ...
CHORUS
CHORUS
The end.
James
Bruce Caruthers
From "Rise Up Singing" (edited by Peter Blood-Patterson, a Sing Out
Publication, (c) 1988, ISBN 0-86571-137-2), picked up at a Pete
Seeger/Arlo Guthrie concert, page 70:
The Cat Came Back
Old Mr. Johnson had troubles of his own
He had a yellow cat which wouldn't leave its home
He tried & he tried to give the cat away
He gave it to a man going far, far away
Chorus:
But the cat came back the very next day
The cat came back, they thought it was a goner
But the cat came back, it just couldn't stay / Awa-ay
The man around the corner swore he'd kill the cat on sight
He loaded up his shotgun with nails & dynamite
He waited & he waited for the cat to come around
97 pieces of the man is all they found
He gave it to fisherman with a dollar note
Told him for to take it up the river in a boat
They tied a rope around its neck, it must have weighed a pound
But they had to drag the river for the fisherman was drowned
He gave it to a man going up in a balloon
He told him for to take it to the man in the moon
The balloon came down about 90 miles away
And where he is now I dare not say
He gave it to a man goin' way out west
Told him for to take it to the one he loved the best
First the train hit the curve, then it jumped the rail
Not a soul was left behind to tell the gruesome tale
The atom bomb fell one bright summer day
Then they dropped the H-Bomb the very same way
Russia went, England went & then the U.S.A.
The human race was finished without a chance to pray
-- Harry S. Miller (with later folk additions)
Miller was a late 19th c. popular composer specializing in minstrel shows.
This composite is Ethel Raim's. In _SO!_ ("Sing Out" Magazine) 9-2 &
_Reprints_ (from "Sing Out") #7, _Folk_Songs_Abecedary_,
_Fav_S_of_the_'90's_ & _Read_'em_&_Weep_.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bruce Caruthers "Reality doesn't always live up to ideals ...
bcar...@Oracle.Com but that doesn't mean that they're not worth having."
b...@cs.Princeton.Edu -- blurb for "Romantic Ideals", Analog 2/94