| The Cat Came Back | |
| Cover: | Cat-Came-Back-1893.jpg |
| Caption: | Cover, sheet music, 1893 |
| Language: | English |
| Published: | Christmas, 1893 |
"The Cat Came Back" is a comic song written by Harry S. Miller[1] in Christmas 1893. It has since entered the folk tradition and been recorded under variations of the title—"But the Cat Came Back", "And the Cat Came Back", etc. It is also a popular children's song.
The song is humorous in nature, telling a silly tale about "ole Mister Johnson" who had an "ole yaller cat" that he did not want, and which kept coming back when he tried to get rid of it:
Throughout the song, Mr. Johnson tries disposing of the animal in a variety of perilous ways. In one verse, he gives it to someone riding in a balloon, a trip that ends when the balloon drops far away with the person's whereabouts unknown. In another, a neighbor tries killing the cat with a shotgun, but accidentally blows himself up instead ("97 pieces of the man is all they found..."). Additional verses see Mr. Johnson handing the cat over to a man travelling west on a train that soon derails, killing everyone onboard except the cat; a little boy with a dollar riding up a river in his boat (which leads to the boy drowning and the river being dragged, while the cat, who had a rope tied around its neck, escapes unharmed), and a ship sailing across the ocean (an incoming gust of wind results in every person aboard dying, but the cat survives). One verse even reveals that the cat has its own family of seven kittens, until a cyclone destroys its home and the kittens are blown around, never to be seen again.But the cat came back, he couldn't stay no long-er,Yes the cat came back de very next day,the cat came back—thought she were a goner,But the cat came back for it wouldn't stay away.
In Miller's original, the cat finally died when an organ grinder came around one day and:
De cat look'd around awhile an' kinder raised her headWhen he played Ta-rah-dah-boom-da-rah, an' de cat dropped dead.
Even then the cat's ghost came back.
The first commercial recording of the song was ca. 1894 for the Columbia Phonograph Company, Washington D.C., performed by Charles Marsh.[2] "The Cat Came Back" was later recorded by Fiddlin' John Carson (OKeh catalog #40119) in April 1924. Other early recordings include one by Dock Philipine "Fiddlin' Doc" Roberts ("And The Cat Came Back The Very Next Day", Gennett 3235), on November 13, 1925.
The original sheet music described the song as "A Comic Negro Absurdity" on the back page and provided an additional eight verses as well as a final chorus.[3] A 1900 London edition of the sheet music described it as "A Nigger Absurdity" on the cover sheet.[4]
The song is often used to teach children the concepts of rhythm and tempo. It is an excellent example in this regard, especially the minor key versions of the song, because of the strong and consistent beat pattern, combined with amusing and humorous lyrics.
Like many children's songs, the song has a strong well-defined beat pattern. It consists of one weak beat, one strong beat, so it is often sung in time. Thus it can be (and often is) sung while walking, with, for example, strong beats when the left foot hits the ground and weak beats when the right foot hits the ground.
There are many versions of the song. One such variation goes something like:
Now old Mr. Johnson had troubles of his own,
He had a yellow cat that wouldn't leave his home,
He tried and he tried to give the cat away,
He gave it to a man going far away.
But the cat came back the very next day,
The cat came back, we thought he was a goner,
The cat came back, he just wouldn't stay away.
But the cat came back he wouldn't stay away,
He was sitting on the porch the very next day.
Every second beat is emphasized (emphasized beats are shown underlined in bold).
Each line of text in the above has eight beats, and usually the chords fall (piano) or begin (organ) on the capitalized words.
The chord progression repeats every 8 beats, so one might think of the song as being in either 2/ time or 8/ time (whichever denominator is used for reference time, i.e. 2/4 or 8/4 time if the beat is a quarter note, etc.). The pattern of 2/ and 8/ is similar to the beat pattern in "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", but phase-shifted by 180 degrees (since the song starts on a weak beat rather than the strong beat beginning of "Twinkle Twinkle").
A later version of the song emerged during the Cold War, in which the final verse made references to the "atom bomb" and "H-bomb", and the subsequent destruction of the human race.[5]
Many versions are in a major key, but there are some versions in a minor key. The chord progression for many of the minor-key versions is Em, D, C, B (or Am, G, F, E).
The additional verses often have a notable variation in melody but with the same chords.For example, the second verse often shoots up an octave to emphasize the words "dynamite" and "found" (each sung an octave above the first note of the song, which is "E" if the song is sung in the key of A-minor), even though the first verse does not shoot up that way
The third verse often contains a descending scale that does not appear in the first or second verses.
See also: Microtonal music.
Also, the second line of the chorus "thought he was a goner" is often sung either off-key (deliberately), or just spoken (not sung), or includes chirps or quarter tones (notes that fall between semitones). In some versions the chirps can be approximated by a chromatic glissando.
The chord progression lends itself to a bass line that is natural minor descending, and harmonic minor ascending, i.e. in the key of A-minor, the 8 beats (in 8/ time) would play out as A, A, G, G, F, F, E, G♯. This is practically the lament bass used in many chaconnes, e.g. Pachelbel's Chaconne in F minor.
Additionally, the bass line may be played as melodic minor (i.e. including both an F♯ and a G♯ on the way up). This second variation is effective in teaching children the concept of a melodic minor scale, since melodic minor otherwise occurs so seldom in simple children's songs.
See main article: The Cat Came Back (1988 film).
Although the Barker animation does not involve many spoken lyrics, relying more on its animation to show the action, both spoken verses, as shown here, are different than other versions:
and
The song has been translated in 1970 by Steve Waring, a French-American author, under the title "Le matou revient" (a follow-up song has even been written in 2008 by the same author).
The song has been translated in the late 1970s into a German dialect, spoken in southwestern Germany around Saarbrücken. Its punch line is political: After the fall of atomic and hydrogen bombs, the whole world decays, including the Saar region, but the cat survives.[8] Erich Steiner, university professor for Anglistics, is cited as translator by folk musician Jürgen Brill.[9] Meanwhile, there exists another version in the similar dialect from Idar-Oberstein; here, the political statement has been removed.[10]