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| "The Cat Came Back" | |
|---|---|
 Cover, sheet music, 1893 | |
| Song | |
| Language | English |
| Written | 1893 |
| Published | Christmas, 1893 |
| Genre | Blues-folk, children's music, gallows comedy |
| Songwriter(s) | Harry S. Miller |
| Composer(s) | Harry S. Miller |
| Lyricist(s) | Harry S. Miller |
"The Cat Came Back" is a blues-folk gallows comedy song written byHarry S. Miller[1] in 1893. It has since entered the world of folklore and became a famous children's song.
The song tells a scary story about "old Mister Johnson" who had an "yaller cat" which kept coming back when he tried to get rid of it:
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.
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 aballoon, 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 ashotgun, 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 passenger dying, but the cat survives). One verse reveals that the cat has a family of seven kittens, until acyclone destroys its home and the kittens are blown around, never to be seen again.
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 head
When 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 c. 1894 for the Columbia Phonograph Company, Washington, D.C., performed by Charles Marsh.[2] "The Cat Came Back" was later recorded byFiddlin' John Carson (OKeh catalog #40119) in April 1924. Other early recordings include one byDock 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 "ANigger Absurdity" on the cover sheet.[4]
The song is often used to teach children the concepts ofrhythm andtempo. It is an excellent example in this regard, especially theminor key versions of the song, because of the strong and consistentbeat 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 in2
4 time.[citation needed] 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.
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There are many versions of the song. One such variation goes something like:
Nowold Mr.Johnson hadtroubles of hisown,
Hehad a yellowcat thatwouldn't leave hishome,
Hetried and hetried togive the cat away,
Hegave it to aman goingfar away.
But thecat cameback thevery nextday,
Thecat cameback, wethought he was agoner,
Thecat cameback, hejust wouldn'tstay away.
But thecat cameback he wouldn't stay away,
He wassitting on theporch 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 theCold 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 isEm, D, C, B (or Am, G, F, E).
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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.
Also, the second line of thechorus "thought he was a goner" is often sung eitheroff-key (deliberately), or just spoken (not sung), or includeschirps orquarter tones (notes that fall between semitones). In some versions the chirps can be approximated by achromaticglissando.
The chord progression lends itself to abass line that isnatural minor descending, andharmonic 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 thelament bass used in manychaconnes, e.g.Pachelbel'sChaconne 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.
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:
Now, old Mr. Johnson had troubles of his own.
He had a yellow cat that wouldn't leave his home!
A special plan with deception as the key.
One little cat—how hard could it be?
and
Well, old Mr. Johnson had troubles of his own.
Still the yellow cat wouldn't leave his home!
Steps were needed to remove the little curse.
The old man knew it couldn't get any worse.
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 aroundSaarbrücken. Its punch line is political: After the fall of atomic and hydrogen bombs, the whole world decays, including theSaar region, but the cat survives.[6] Erich Steiner, university professor for Anglistics, is cited as translator by folk musician Jürgen Brill.[7] Meanwhile, there exists another version in the similar dialect fromIdar-Oberstein; here, the political statement has been removed.[8]
