Lyr Req: Big Tom? / Tough Top Cat (M Rainwater)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Big Tom? / Tough Top Cat (M Rainwater)
From: maeve
Date: 12 Oct 13 - 05:55 PM

Thanks, Jim!

Subject: Lyr Add: TOUGH TOP CAT (from Marvin Rainwater)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 12 Oct 13 - 05:01 PM

My transcription from the YouTube recording (Thanks to Maeve for the link):


TOUGH TOP CAT
As recorded by Marvin Rainwater, 1962.

(Big Tom, Big Tom, the tough top cat.
Meow!)

Every night in the alley when the moon was high,
A big tough cat come a-struttin' by.
The claws on his paws were like a ten-penny nail,
And everybody knew you didn't step on the tail
Of Big Tom.

(Meow!)

After daylight nobody knew where he went
But ever'body knew he didn't pay no rent
When he passed, ever'one made a little bow
And if you spoke at all, well, you just said "meow"
To Big Tom

(Big Tom, Big Tom, the tough top cat.
Meow!)

Some say he came from Tin Pan Alley
Where he got in a fight for a puss named Sally.
Cat fur flew and after a little,
That stray cat's hide wouldn't string a fiddle.
Big Tom.

(Meow!)

Then came the night on a one-way street
When they heard the rumble of four big feet.
A great big bulldog a-grinnin' wide
Left 'em all there parallel side by side
Except Tom.

(Big Tom, Big Tom, the tough top cat.
Meow!)

Now ev'ryone knew their leader was brave,
And not one doubted that he'd be saved.
They knew that once Tom made his play,
That bulldog wouldn't see the light of day,
Big Tom.

(Meow!)

While the rest of 'em stood there frozen in fear,
Big Tom grabbed a mouthful o' bulldog's ear.
They found Big Tom's body after the splash
Under forty-nine cats in a barrel of trash.
Big Tom

(Big Tom, Big Tom, the tough top cat.
Meow!)

They dug through the beets and the coffee grounds
And the watermelon rinds and the Bozo clowns,
And when they reached the cabbage and the apple cores,
They all knew they just couldn't do no more
For Big Tom.

(Meow!)

They never reopened this worthless can;
They just left this note for the garbage man:
When you pass by here, remove your hat,
'Cause at the bottom of this here can lies a tough top cat.

(Big Tom, Big Tom, the tough top cat.
Meow!)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Big Tom
From: maeve
Date: 09 Oct 13 - 12:52 AM

It's too late at night for me to turn on my speakers to listen- but might this be the song you are remembering? Marvin Rainwater - Tough Top Cat

Subject: Lyr Req: Big Tom
From: GUEST,robk
Date: 09 Oct 13 - 12:38 AM

Looking for lyrics for a song that was a take-off on Jimmy Dean's "Big John." I heard it at a camp near Detroit Lakes, MN about 40 years ago. It was called "Big Tom" and is the story of a tom cat that took on the local bulldog. Lyrics include the lines "Big Tom! Big Tom! The tough tom cat," and "at the bottom of that can (trash can) lies a tough tom cat! Big Tom! Probably strictly a local phenomenon.