There must have been an amazing network of elementary school music teachers in the seventies from the looks of this thread. I learned it, in 3rd or 4th grade, in Cincinnati around '73-'74. As I remember, the tempo slows way down on the "in spite of everything they tried" verse until it picks up with "he became re-animated". The tune is as evocative for me as it apparently is for many. I always thought it had an "exotic" feel to it, but then, I was in 3rd grade, in the bowels of suburbia ...

Y'all have inspired me to work it up on the guitar and sing it for the kids - it may twist their minds a little. I'm sure Don Gato will live on in the next generation - he's nowhere near his 7th life (let alone his 9th!)

Shalom,

Bo