Catawampuses, or wampus cats, have long been a mascot to me. (But they think I'm THEIR mascot.) They are invisible of course. They direct your life without you knowing it, except when they get really interfering, and then you know it all too well. (Am I only kidding? I think I am ... )

On a more? (less? - you never know) serious note, I know of just two (visible and audible) appearances by the catawampuses in old time music.

W.B. Chenoweth's Cornfield Symphony Orchestra recorded an instrumental, "Arkansaw Wampus Cat," in 1930. But the only recorded wampus song lyric I know of is Lulu Belle and Scotty's Sept.. 24, 1940 Okeh recording "Wampus Cat."

WAMPUS CAT
Written (I believe) and sung by Lulu Belle & Scotty

We heerd there was a wampus in the outskirts of this town,
We thought we'd take our shotguns and hunt that wampus down,
We thought we never would find him, but at last we did,
I took one shot and I missed him -- and the hair rose on my head.

CHO:
Ol' Wampus, please don't bother us,
Ol' Wampus, we never fight nor fuss,
HE: I'll praise her looks and eat her pies,
SHE: I'll never make eyes at the other guys,
Ol' Wampus, if you won't bother us.

He was the strangest critter that ever I did see,
My teeth began to rattle and they echoed on my knee,
SHE: His eyes were big as saucers, or dinner plates I 'spect,
HE: Well, he surely must have scared you the way you grabbed me around the neck!

SHE: I turned and I said to Scotty, Oh, what will we do, dear?
HE: I says in fourteen minutes we'll be fifteen miles from here,
SHE: And then we started runnin', I thought I was way ahead,
But when I got into the house, ol' Scotty was under the bed.

The people in this county'd give a hundred dollars down
To the man that'll catch the wampus cat and bring him into town,
I'll stay a long ways from him, and if he'll stay away from me,
We'll do our courtin' in the house, and let that wampus be!