Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Grab
Date: 25 Sep 01 - 08:23 AM

There's also the "King of Rome" parody which is in the DT, which goes:-

In the west end of Hayes there lives a working man,
Who says, I can't fly, but my moggy can.
And when my cat gets free, he comes flying back to me,
Lifted up by next door's toe.

"Cat's in the kettle" has been mentioned in Mudcat before. I don't think Weird Al wrote it, I think it was someone (the Ill Eagles IIRC). And there's a Flash animation for it too.

You may have guessed, I'm not a cat lover. They're nice and fluffy, yes, but they dig in your garden, shit on your lawn, kill other animals for fun, try to get in your house to "mark their territory", and if you live in a shared house with a cat-owner then the cats inevitably piss and crap everywhere, in every corner of room of the house (and your room is no exception), except for wherever the litter tray is. To quote Terry Pratchett, "If cats looked like toads, we'd see them for the evil little bastards they really are".

And then there's the cat owner attitude. Ppl in flats or small houses can't keep dogs, bcos you can't give a dog enough room to exercise, and it's wrong to just let your dog loose to wander round where it wants and shit everywhere. But somehow cat owners think it's OK to let a cat do the same. Go figure. Not to be nasty, I just don't think a cat is a suitable pet in any area where you have neighbours to consider. Farms, yes - towns, no.

Graham.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: PaulBobbyBuzz
Date: 25 Sep 01 - 01:35 PM

Here's one I wrote a long time ago; it's the second half of a pair of songs, the first being "Richard the Rat King"(for another thread)... Requiem for a Careless Cat

I'm sorry little girl, I didn't mean to kill your cat
I was drivin' pretty fast I know, but I thought cat's were smarter than that
he was headin' in from a hard day in the fields
guess that's where his thoughts were at
his eyes were full of home & dinner
and his mouth was full of rat
I couldn't stop I tried to swerve
I blew the horn he never heard
he ran on straight in front of my car
I guess that's how careless some cats are.

I drove right on by, I couldn't bear to face him
to see you cry or to try & replace him
I've got a cowardly heart but it broke just the same
I killed your cat
doesn't matter if him or me is to blame. Love the cat & the dog in all of us PBB

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: GUEST,Peter from Essex
Date: 25 Sep 01 - 03:29 PM

Weepiper: Version of Cats on the Rooftops that I know (from the tradition) is a parody of John Peel

D'ye ken John Peel with his coat so grey
he's a very funny fellow, some folks say
'cos he doesn't do it in the normal way
but with his hounds and his horses in the morning

Cats on the rooftops, cats on the tiles
cats with syphilis, cats with piles
cats with their arseholes wreathed in smiles
as they revel in the joys of fornication

After than extemporise whatever filthy verses you like, usually with the last line
As he(she/they) revels in the joys of fornication

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: raredance
Date: 25 Sep 01 - 10:27 PM

I think I might have put this in the "grandmother's cat" thread, but here it is again.

"Songs of the Cat" by Garrison Keillor and Frederica von Stade. 1991 HighBridge Company HBP 17398.
this hs 20 songs: The Cat Came Back
The Hallelujah Patrol
The Mystery
The Cats of Cash
Dance To My Cats
Eine Kleine Kat
In memory of Our Cat Ralph
Alaska Cats
Beethoven Chased by Rossini
Near Death: Or the Search Rewarded
Oy, Chuck and Katie
Forty Miles
The Rescue Cat As I Walked Out
Cats May Safely Sleep
The In and Out song
Guilt and Shame
Out in the Catskill Mountains
Cat, You Better Come Home

rich r

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Long Firm Freddie
Date: 26 Sep 01 - 08:24 AM

The Oldham Tinkers (Bless 'em) sing a medley of kid's songs which includes this one to the tune of In and Out the Windows:

Not last night but the night before
Three tomcats came a-knocking at the door
One had a fiddle and another had a drum,
And the third had a pancake stuck to its bum

Early in the morning,
Early in the morning,
Early in the morning,
Before the break of day

LFF

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: CapriUni
Date: 26 Sep 01 - 05:05 PM

In Alan's Midi Page, there's one tune that's given two titles and two authors:

"A Cat Catch" attributed to Robert Brown, 1710 and "A Catch on Cats" attributed to Micheal Wise, 1685.

I did a digitrad search for the lyrics, and couldn't find anything... *are* there lyrics? (Since my cats have a vet's appointment next week, and I will have to try to "catch" them, I'm naturally curious as to what the old time thinking was on this subject ;-))

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Sep 01 - 07:33 PM

Rich R,
I think "The In and Out Song," may be the Garrison Keillor cat song I once heard him sing on Prairie Home Companion. I am wondering if anyone has the lyrics.
Calico

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Genie
Date: 03 Oct 01 - 03:09 AM

These folks have some others:
Click here

Subject: Lyr Add: THE IN AND OUT SONG (Garrison Keillor)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Oct 01 - 03:47 AM

Hi, Calico. Here's your song. My friend Mr. Scanner was happy to copy it for you.
Excuse me for saying so, but I must say that Mr. Scanner has proven himself a far more loyal and helpful companion than any cat I've ever had. No hairballs, either.
-Joe Offer-

---

THE IN AND OUT SONG
(Garrison Keillor)

I want to go out - open that door if you love me
Gotta go out, want to breathe the air
I gotta get loose with that blue sky above me
I been here long enough, I got to be there

I want to come in - what's the matter, can't you hear me?
I want to come in, I am your cat!
I gotta get warm with the people
I been gone a long, long time and now I'm back

And now I want to go out - I'm an independent creature
I am a cat - we're the wandering kind!
It's the call of the wild - I gotta get back to nature
These paws are made for walking and now it's time.


OK, I'm back, but not for long I'll soon be going -
Give me a bite now and I'm on my way
Now open that door and I'll - good grief, it's snowing -
Open up - lemme in - I'm back to stay

Well, now it's stopped, so thanks for all your lovin' -
Gotta hop that freight, I'm a ramblin' guy
Gotta hit that road - it's in my blood or somethin' -
I know you understand so please don't cry

Hello it's me - I knew you'd probably miss me
So I came back, because I missed you so
But I can't stay long, so honey come and kiss me -
I think I hear that lonesome whistle blow

I'm on my way, got to leave my mom and daddy -
Got to say goodbye, want to hear that highway hum
Now I'm all alone, I'm feeling so unhappy -
It's time that I went back where I came from

Yes, it's lime to go back, time to put that road behind me -
I drifted away, but I'm going back now.
Here's the little white house -
Here s that picket fence and the ivy -
I'll scratch on the door - meow

It's me...lemme in...I can hear you talking in there
Hey - Mom'
All right, I get the joke!
Open up the door.

Meow

(Keillor, arr. Barnett)

From "Songs of the Cat," CD by Garrison Keillor and Frederica von Stade

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: SueH
Date: 03 Oct 01 - 05:01 PM

Heavens, Grab, you really do have an attitude don't you? Most cats which have been reared with any thought & subsquently neutered ('altered') use their litter trays or go outside.

I breed Burmese. They aren't fluffy. They crap in their trays. And you won't have encountered any of my kittens; I don't sell them to people who let them out, nor to those who don't treat them properly. They get in cars & end up hundreds of miles away. They traumatise all moggies within a 5 mile radius. They go into your neighbours' houses & make themselves at home. They are called 'the dogs of the cat world', because they are so people-oriented - but they are the epitome of the difference between the dog & the cat. I am proud to have bred them for the last 20 years.

Fortunately, they also housetrain themselves, so whoever wrote the song Genie quoted didn't have Burmese. Nor did the people you have encountered - nor did they own any other properly bred pedigree kitten, for that matter.

Farms? Of course, farmers with entire(un-neutered) cats ('we keep them to keep the rats/mice/vermin/(*insert own word here) down') & other irresponsible people are in fact responsible for 90-odd percent of the general, untrained, unneutered moggie population. And the litters of kittens with leukaemia, feline Aids, etc, etc., put down en masse by rescue centres. You hate cats? What about the irresponsible people who put these cats on the street, in the care of irresponsible owners? 'Farms' are probably responsible for 50% of the cats you are ranting about.

Apologies for the rant; but you really can't blame the animal for its conception or its owner. Incidentally, I also own dogs & birds (& used to own various rodents when the children were younger, including rats) & I should feel just as strongly about the random & irresponsible breeding of any of them, too). Just remember where the fault lies.
Just to keep on topic, our flautist (also a cat owner & lover) loves the 'Nobody's Moggy Now' song. And a number of others. So far we have managed to disuade him from performing them in public.

SueH

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Genie
Date: 04 Oct 01 - 02:17 AM

Yeah, Sue!
I could (but won't) rant about dogs that jump up on white dresses with muddy paws, bark all night, hump the guests' legs, chew slippers--not to mention terrorize cats!--, etc. I like dogs, birds, cats, etc., but all can be annoying in the wrong setting or with the wrong owner!

BTW, this is not on a par with the other cat songs above, but if "moggy" is a (UK?) term for cat, how about:

How much is that moggy in the window, (meow)
The one who is laund'ring her fur-ur-ur-ur-ur?
How much is that moggy in the window? (meringue!*)
I'll give you five dollars for her!
(Or, "She has such a deafening purrrrrrr!")

Genie

*One of the dozen or so words most cats can say.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Genie
Date: 06 Oct 01 - 02:07 AM

A related link

Click here

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: katlaughing
Date: 06 Oct 01 - 06:31 AM

My dog doesn't trust cat-haters.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Kaleea
Date: 07 Oct 01 - 12:42 AM

Does no one remember the nursery song of "Puss 'N Boots"?

Pussy cat, Pussy cat, where have you been? I've been to London to visit the Queen. Pussy cat, Pussy cat, what did you there? I frightened a little mouse under her chair.

Not to mention Joanie Madden's "Cat's Meow".

However for the opera buffs at the cafe, there is the ever popular "Duetti Buffo di du Gatto" which I, of course, sing in the original Italian and accompanied by my ever faithful pianist, Thommasso Gatto. The lyrics are as follows:

Miau . . .

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Genie
Date: 07 Oct 01 - 12:50 AM

So that's how you spell "Meow" in Italiano!

Genie

Subject: Lyr Add: OVERFLOWING CAT BOX BLUES (Jane Robinson)
From: Barbara
Date: 07 Oct 01 - 01:44 AM

I'm pretty sure I've posted this before, but just in case, here ya go again:

OVERFLOWING CAT BOX BLUES
(Jane Robinson PhD )
LA paleontologist.

First I must mention the lack of attention:
Here I am wasting away. (it's awful)
Why did you get me if you won't pet me
Seventeen hours a day? I ask you
What is this crap when I sit on your lap?
I expect a devoted masseuse;

I got those `Nobody loves me,
nobody feeds me
Overflowin' cat box blues.

Now I have grown gaunt from privation and want
But catfood I don't deign to take (how gauche)
But I could connive to completely revive
When you give-a me half of your steak (done rare)
I'll sit and I'll beg with my claws in your leg
Until you concede what I'm due;

CHORUS

Hey, I don't deserve this lousy door service:
I'm always on the wrong side. You know this
Prancing and yowling, moaning and growling
Works, but it hurts a cat's pride. So I'll just
Claw and I'll spray till the door rots away
And leaves me a hole to pass through;

CHORUS

Say, whenever I go for the bed or the sofa
You always shoo me away. (How rude!)
You say I get hair on the fabric of chairs
That offends your pristine derriere. Well now if
I can't repose where I want, I suppose, I'll
Throw up where you most like to snooze;

CHORUS

Well, you ought to know when a cat's got to go
That you owe her a spotless commode.
(Let's hear it)
Why should I squat on the same soggy spot
Right on top of three weeks worth of load?
( Now really!)
If I were a grouch I would piss on the couch,
But instead I have pissed in your shoe;

CHORUS

Since you have spayed me nobody's laid me -
I'm all neurotic and tense - it's true now -
Kneading and mewing is all that I'm doing
And not wooing toms on the fence. Don't think that
I've become bitter because I can't litter
No, but I've lost a few screws;

LAST CHORUS
I got those `Nobody loves me, nobody feeds me
Overflowin' cat box blues.
I got those `Nobody loves me, nobody feeds me,
Overflowin' cat box blues.

You can do it to a basic 12 bar blues pattern, and I always end it (last note, last chorus) on the flatted seventh rather than the tonic. Have fun.
Blessings,
Barbara

And Charlie, I found Nobody's Moggyland in the Database here when I was looking for something else one time...

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 Oct 01 - 09:57 AM

There are a couple HERE-- two under "C" for "Cat," and maybe others-- they are pretty strange though.

~S~

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: SINSULL
Date: 07 Oct 01 - 03:00 PM

Civil War Era "Poor Kitty Popcorn". A tear jerker.

Subject: Lyr Add: WHITE CAT AND BLACK CAT
From: GUEST,Genie
Date: 08 Oct 01 - 09:33 PM

I stumbled upon this (the song, not the cat) while perusing a Civl War Song site.
America Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets

WHITE CAT AND BLACK CAT (George S. Harris' card and job printing office. S. E. corner of 4th and vine Sts, Philad. [n. d.])

White cat, black cat, any cat at all,
When you catch de pussy cat don't you let her squall.

CHORUS.

When you catch de white cat, sabe him, oh, sabe him,
When you catch de black cat shabe him by de tail.
Tom cat's a gemmen an' he rambles in de park,
Bull dog de bow-wow, skeer him wid his bark.

Ole cat and kittens was playing on de bay,
Big cat get out ob de little cat's way.

When you catch, etc.

Tom cat, he bellows at de bristles on his back,
'Kase he see de pussy cat a peepin' thro' de crack.

When you catch, etc.

Green peach puddin, and a punkin pie,
De black cat kicked out de white cat's eye.

When you catch, etc.

Big cat, little cat, any sort o' cat,
Skit at te at, te skat, te it, at de skat.
When you catch, etc.

PRINTED AND SOLD WHOLESALE AT GEORGE S HARRIS' CARD & JOB PRINTING OFFICE, S. E. Cor. 4th & Vine Sts. Philad.

Stamped: 1490

COLLECTION: American Song Sheets

REPOSITORY: Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress

DIGITAL ID: as114900

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Genie
Date: 10 Dec 01 - 07:24 PM

Here is a new verse to "The Friendly Beasts." It's about the tabby cat's gift to the baby Jesus on the first Christmas and was inspired by an old legend.

Genie

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Genie
Date: 20 Jan 02 - 03:47 PM

linking to related threadsSongs about Pets

Throw Away Your Cat

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Genie
Date: 20 Jan 02 - 03:50 PM

also

Songs For Cats

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Jan 02 - 04:34 PM

Not a Song, but a bumper sticker I saw the other day that simply said. "Cats: the other white meat."
A variant on the commercial, "Pork: the other white meat."
I love cats, but they need to be kept in their place.
Jerry

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Kenny B (inactive)
Date: 20 Jan 02 - 05:08 PM

Here is another site About Moggies & in particular a well known Glesga cat called "Sam the Skull" a.s.b. Alistair McDonald

Sam the Skull & other Moggies -Click here
,;>}

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Kenny B (inactive)
Date: 20 Jan 02 - 05:20 PM

PS additional verses in the DT in a previous thread re Sam the Skull other verses in the DT
;>}

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Genie
Date: 24 Jan 02 - 02:32 AM

Hereare the words to "How Can I Keep From Purring?"

Genie

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Dan Schatz
Date: 24 Jan 02 - 12:38 PM

Lois Lyman, who wrote "Wiscasset Schooners" and the "Going On" song (both recorded by Gordon Bok, among others) has an "Alpha Cat" song:

Oh I'm an alpha kitty, I am a alpha cat.

I'm fluffy and tough and I got the right stuff

'Cause I'm the alpha cat.

Unfortunately I do not believe it has yet been recorded.

Dan

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Genie
Date: 25 Jan 02 - 11:29 PM

Joe, I'm a cat lover and I'm not at all vicious! (I even like dogs [but don't tell my cats].)

Sinsull, you are such a sucker! §;-)

Joe, to paraphrase,

You just haven't met the right cat yet!

Genie §;-)

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Genie
Date: 01 Feb 02 - 11:50 PM

The Body In The Bag is about a cat. There's a link to an MP3 of it, too.

Subject: Lyr Add: DOG HAIKU
From: Genie
Date: 25 Jun 02 - 10:19 AM

Even the dog pays due tribute to the cat:

Dog Haiku
 (Anon.)

 I love my master;
 Thus I perfume myself with
 This long-rotten squirrel.

 I lie belly-up
 In the sunshine, happier than
 You ever will be.

 Today I sniffed
 Many dog behinds—I celebrate
 By kissing your face.

 I sound the alarm!
 "Paper boy—come to kill us all—
 Look! Look! Look! Look! Look!"

 I sound the alarm!
 "Garbage man—come to kill us all—
 Look! Look! Look! Look! Look!"

 I lift my leg and
 Whiz on each bush.  Hello, Spot—
 Sniff this and weep.

 How do I love thee?
 The ways are numberless as
 My hairs on the rug.

 My human is home!
 I am so ecstatic I have
 Made a puddle.

 I hate my choke chain!
 "Look, world, they strangle me!  Ack
 Ack Ack Ack Ack Ack!"

 Sleeping here, my chin
 On your foot, no greater bliss—well,
 Maybe catching rats...

 Look in my eyes and
 Deny it.  No human could
 Love you as much I do.

 The cat is not all
 Bad. She fills the litter box
 With Tootsie Rolls.

 Dig under fence—why?
 Because it's there.  Because it's
 There.  Because it's there.

 I am your best friend,
 Now, always, and especially
 When you are eating.

 My owners' mood is
 Romantic. I lie near their
 Feet.  I fart a big one.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Genie
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 11:50 PM

Twelve Days Of Christmas - Feline version

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: SuzyQ
Date: 15 Dec 08 - 12:31 AM

Hi, All!
Cat songs--yes! There is this way wonderful overlap between science fiction fandom and cat love. I've enjoyed a collection called "Bedlam Cats" for many years now. Some of the songs in this collection have been mentioned above. A copy is available on Amazon:

"Bedlam Cats - A Collection of Songs About Our Favorite Felines
Jane A. Robinson (Performer), Cynthia McQuillan (Performer), Various Artists (Performer)

Product Description
This is a collection of fast and funny songs about cats and the people that they own. The songs are folk in sound and feature the clever parody details the culinary perils faced by cat owners. Some of the songs have been featured on the Dr. Demento's syndicated radio. It should be noted that this is a cheerful collection and that no cats are harmed in any of the songs. This is a MUST have for all cat lovers. 1. Catbox Blues * 2. Bella Chow 3. Kitty Cat "Z" 4. Lap Top Unit 5. Cats Are Not Graceful 6. A Familiar Beast 7. Milk to Feed The Cat 8. Autumn Cats 9. Kitten's Blood 10. When Kittens Call 11. Bedlam Cats 12. Flea Enterprise 13. Night Mewsic 14. Cats 15. Skitter Skat Cat 16. Black Cat Blues 17. Only Human 18. "The Cat Who Warps By Herself" 19. Cats In The Dawn 20. "Top Cat" Rap."
My fave in this collection is a song sung by a man and a woman in which the chorus is "I love cats!"

Leslie Fish sings, "I Believe the Cats are Taking Over" on her "It's Sister Jenny's Turn to Throw the Bomb " tape.
Carly Simon and her sister sing a lovely "Owl and the Pussycat" on their vintage album "Lobster Quadrille," and there's a version just as charming sung by a couple of men at Bayfilk I (a tape I've got in my I-Tunes now.) Dr. Jane Robinson (of "Overflowing Catbox Blues" fame) also sings "Muscles of the KittyCat" on her tape "Science Notes".

On one of her great filk tapes Roberta Rogow sings her "Cat Woman's Song." And Julia Ecklar's "Golden eyes" about a pair of were-cats is gorgeous. it's on her "Horsetamer's Daughter" tape.
I love cats, but I have to admit I LOVE Jane Hobson's "Throw Your Cat Away" song:-)

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: GUEST,joen
Date: 06 Mar 09 - 08:14 AM

what about "love cats" from the cure??

a song i know from the 70'ties, always good fun to hear again

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: breezy
Date: 06 Mar 09 - 03:35 PM

'Its a cats life' by Chris Flegg

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: SINSULL
Date: 06 Mar 09 - 04:28 PM

Poor Kitty Popcorn - a Civil War tearjerker.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Anne Lister
Date: 06 Mar 09 - 06:57 PM

I can offer "The Small Black Cat" on my "Waiting for the Hero" album and there's a lovely cat song by Grant Baynham which I think is just called "The Cat Song".

Anne

Subject: Lyr Add: SIX FOOT TOM
From: Joe_F
Date: 06 Mar 09 - 09:35 PM

Six Foot Tom
by Columbine

Now you've stowed your tack and taters for a sailor's feast to cater
Take a good exterminator when across the sea you rove
For your ship's as good as beaten if your food has all been eaten
And all I ask is shore leave and a place beside the stove

Chorus:
For starvation stalks the sea, but her minions run from me
I find them very tasty, and their teeth and claws don't matter
With more stripes than you'd survive, and three times as many wives
With four in the front and two in the back, I'm Six Foot Tom the ratter!

I don't need gold or copper, just a juicy rat for supper
I don't wear your silly clothing, I don't care for rum or corn
But if you chance to catch a fish, drop the head into my dish
And you've bought yourself a bunkmate when we go around the Horn!

(Chorus)

Those pampered Persian pretties can be very friendly kitties
In Siam the swelt'ring summer's not the only thing that's hot
The cool Norwegian forest's hosted many a feline chorus
And somewhere in Argentina there's a six-foot ocelot

(Chorus)

So make the right decision to protect your ship's provisions
And I'll bring you luck a-plenty, could a captain ask for more?
When you rove with Tom the Ratter soon your fortunes will grow fatter
Just ask any of the tabbies that I've dallied with ashore

(Chorus)

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/NE_ChanteySings/files/Lyrics%20%26%20Tunes/

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: vlmagee
Date: 07 Mar 09 - 06:47 PM

I haven't checked the thread to see what songs are listed, but Cindy Mangsen released an entire CD of cat songs in November, 2005 (long after this thread was started). Called Cat Tales: Songs of the Feline Persuasion, the CD includes both covers and new original songs. Perhaps the standout track is her original song Rudy's Big Adventure, the true story of the cat who got his head stuck in a garbage disposal and lived to meow about it. (It's a great song, but not easy to sing). Needless-to-say, husband Steve Gillette accompanies her on the album. And her own cat, Alice, graces the cover.

You can listen to clips of the songs here and find lyrics to the songs here

Subject: Lyr Add: RAMBLING MOGGY
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 07 Mar 09 - 07:09 PM

Don't forget the series of 3 CDs "Guide Cats for the Blind" featuring songs and readings by various famous personages, and with the opportunity to contribute to a very worthwhile cause:

http://www.bcab.org.uk/guide-cats.html




And also, with apologies to one of my very favourite songwriters:

RAMBLING MOGGY                        Based on "Rambling Boy" by Tom Paxton


She was a tabby with big green eyes,
She stuck with me 'cos I treated her nice,
Whatever the weather, out she would go,
To ramble round in the rain and snow.

Chorus
So here's to you, my rambling moggy,
Why did you always come in so soggy,
When you'd been rolling in that boggy,
Oh why oh why, miaow, miaow.

On the edge of town, she chanced to stray,
She thought she'd hunt a rat one day,
But that rat had eaten warfarin,
So moggy's blood got far too thin.

Chorus

Late one night, off went my moggy,
The weather it was cold and foggy,
She got the bleeds and she got them bad,
They took the only moggy I had.

Chorus

She left me here to ponder on,
Why my rambling moggy is dead and gone,
If when cats die, they go somewhere,
I'll bet you a Whiskas she's miaowing there.


Miaow, miaow, miaow, miaow,
Miaow, miaow, miaow, miaow,
Miaow, miaow, miaow, miaow.


(Classical buffs will instantly recognise the last 3 lines as being part of the "Cat Duet" by Rossini!)

Subject: Lyr Add: ON THE DEATH OF A FAVOURITE CAT (Colville
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 29 Apr 09 - 07:59 AM

This is a poem, not a song.

From Poems and Songs on Home and Abroad by Elizabeth Colville (Kilmarnock [Scotland]: Dunlop & Drennan, 1905):


ON THE DEATH OF A FAVOURITE CAT.
Elizabeth Colville

My wee bit cat, my bonnie cat,
That purring by the fire sat,
With her blinking, half-closed e'e,
And wha would think that she could see?
Her favourite place the chimney cheek,
The cleanest place that she could seek;
And when she wasna purring there,
The fireside seemed unco bare.

The bairnies a' she kent sae weel,
And oft her paws would round them steal,
For since she was a wee bit kitten
She saved them a' frae many a licking.
Nae other cat would tak' the pains
To play so kindly wi' the weans;
No other cat, though e'er so bonnie,
Purrs so sweet when I wait on Johnnie.

For when I was my leefu' lane,
Waiting on Johnnie coming hame,
She coiled hersel' into a clew
And purred away while time it flew;
For Johnnie liked a social dram,
And oft to Tibbie's he would gang,
To hear the news, as he would say,
And Duncan Glen, the fiddler, play.

Wi' ilka crack and ilka sang
He didna think the night was lang,
And when we heard him on the stair
Our pussy was the foremost there.
But noo she's deid, our bonnie puss,
And sair we miss her in the hoose,
For never mair we'll see the cat
That purring by the fire sat.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Genie
Date: 25 Nov 09 - 11:30 AM

For anyone who's ever had to say goodbye to a beloved moggy:

Cat Lullaby - a song of goodbye

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Genie
Date: 28 Mar 11 - 05:37 PM

Via Robin Hall & Jimmie MacGregor, a song NOT to warm the hearts of ailurophiles:

"The Craw Killed The Pussie-o"

Subject: Lyr Add: NO HAIRBALLS IN HEAVEN
From: Charley Noble
Date: 25 Jan 16 - 03:13 PM

Here's another collaborative Mudcat thread song from way back when:


Initial verse and chorus by Charlie Ipcar © 1982
Traditional Tune: Lightning Express

No Hairballs in Heaven

Chorus:

There'll be no hairballs in Heaven,
No weariness sorrow or pain,
No claws that are bleeding and broken,
No nights left out in the rain.

We'll be in that beautiful jungle,
With birdies to chase through the leaves,
And mice will be there in abundance,
We'll snatch them whenever we please;
There'll be no Pit Bulls in Heaven,
No German Shepherds, nor Chows,
And all will be tuna and salmon,
And cream drawn fresh from the cow.(CHO)

We'll sleep on the softest of pillows,
With Catnip to colour our dreams,
And no one will dare to awake us,
Until we have hatched all our schemes
There'll be no thrown boots in Heaven,
When up on the rooftops we sing
And the door we go out, when it opens
Will always lead out into Spring. (MMario)

The toys will always be fun ones
That scurry and scamper and hide,
With fur we can sink all our claws in,
And good things to eat inside.
When we sharpen our claws on the sofa,
Nobody cares if we shred and tear,
And when WE want to get some attention
A broad lap will always be there. (Lin in KS)

The elm trees grow tall up in Heaven
Just right for a hunter to lie
Stretched out on a branch with his eyes shut
In that home between green grass and sky
With the smells of the earth in his nostrils
And the feel of the bark 'neath his feet,
And the screams and the shrieks of the songbirds
In his ears, making music so sweet. (Lin in KS)

The ladies all will be willing,
The toms will all be debonair,
The kittens will stay safe with Mother
Until they no longer need care.
There'll be no needles in Heaven,
No dogs, no fear, no cars--
Just plenty of catnaps and grooming
And singalongs under the stars. (Lin in KS)

We'll never get bumped off the pillows
Where cat hair galore we can shed
Big Mama will never roll over
Disturbing our nest by her head (Mag)
She'll let us go out at All Hallow's
(She's nervous because we're all black)
We'll cruise with the kids scamming candy
And collect little mice in our sack (Mag)

She'll put back the cat door she took out
Disgusted with what we brought home
Our friends will drop through to visit
Even if we're out on a roam.(Mag)

Though no cat can make it to Heaven
Till all of her nine lives are done,
When you've used your sixth or seventh,
Your Cat Heaven dreams have begun.
There we chase butterflies through the cloud fields,
And claw the celestial walls,
For cats always seek out the highest perch,
And Heaven's the loftiest of all! (Genie)

Charlie Ipcar

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 28 Jan 16 - 03:36 AM

Slightly thread drifting but there's a part-parody of "Sam the Skull" which goes "Eh'm a doag, eh'm a doag, eh'm a Dundee doag, that's a D O A G, doag" written by Dundonian Steve Inglis (sadly no longer with us.)

Subject: Lyr Add: THE OLD WOMAN AND HER CATS
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 29 Jan 16 - 10:39 PM

From Comic Songs by Thomas Hudson (London: Gold and Walton, 1818), page 3:


THE OLD WOMAN AND HER CATS.

A very old woman once liv'd by herself,
    In a garret so monstrously high,
Her cupboard was lined, well stored was each shelf,
And in a sly pocket was plenty of pelf,
    To get a drop of liquor when dry.
But the rats and the mice through the holes,
Came into the cupboard in shoals,
So free exercising their gums,
On cheese-parings, candle-ends, and crumbs;
And though it a strange thing may seem,
They wash'd their tails in the cream,
Which was shocking bad manners you'll say:
    Alas, and alack-a-day!
    A curious moral I make,
    Listen, great and small!
    Better have some crumbs for the mice to take,
    Than to have no crumbs at all.

Plagued out of her life, ah, what could she do?
    She collected of cats fifteen,
And went to bed with them all in her view;
There was black, white, and tabby, and tortoiseshell, too,
    With their gooseberry eyes so green.
But the candle was scarcely out,
They made such a confounded rout,
Seizing the victuals, and tearing,
Clawing, and spitting, and swearing,
Broke cups, plates, and dishes, all her store,
Lapp'd the cream up, and mollrow'd for more,
Which was shocking bad manners you'll say:
    Alas and alack a-day,
    A curious moral I make, &c. &c.

They made such a noise, she awoke with affright,
    Not dreaming the cause of the din,
Groped out her tinder-box, and then struck a light,
And the very first object that came in her sight,
    Was—her bottle broke, and spilt all her gin.
She look'd in the cupboard in despair,
But the devil of any thing was there;
Except plates and dishes, broken small,
Cups, saucers, and cream jug, and all;
Each cat look'd as savage as a cur,
As if he could easy swallow her,
Which was shocking bad manners you'll say,
So the poor old woman ran away.
    A curious moral I make,
    Listen great and small,
    Better have some crumbs for the mice to take,
    Than to have no crumbs at all.

Subject: Lyr Add: OUR OLD TOM CAT
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 29 Jan 16 - 11:09 PM

From Jeremy Jollyboy Songster by Sol Smith Russell (New York: Robert M. De Witt, 1876), page 60:


OUR OLD TOM CAT.
Air:—Ivy Green.

A downy old cove is our old Tom cat,
Just turned of thirty years old.
He eats all the lean and leaves all the fat,
And won't touch his meals if they're cold.
His food must be crumbled and not decayed,
To pleasure his dainty whim,
And a turkey bone that never was touched,
Makes a jolly blow out for him.

CHORUS: Creeping over the tiles so pat,
And crying "Mew," does our old Tom cat.

Old joints have fled and the bones decayed,
And the dishes have broken been,
But old Tom still follows the kitchen maid,
And slyly licks up all the cream;
And our old Tom cat in his lonely days
Will joyfully think of the past,
And a big leg of mutton that never was touched
Will be food for my Tommy at last.

Fast he flies tho' he has no wings,
And a sly old soldier is he.
Close under the window "Mew" he sings,
"Ain't you coming out to-night, love?" says he.
Then slyly he creepeth the gutters all round,
And his old tail he joyously waves,
As his lady love from a garret he spies
Then he sings her his amorous staves.

Subject: Lyr Add: A TALE OF A CAT'S HEAD
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 29 Jan 16 - 11:36 PM

From Comic Songs by Thomas Hudson (London: Gold and Walton, 1818), page 23:


A TALE OF A CAT'S HEAD.

The Widow Tomkins had a back room on the second floor.
Her name was on a neat brass plate on one side of the door.
Many ladies rich in pride were circumstances worse in,
For she was independent—all by going out a-nursing.

Companion she had only one, a beautiful Tom Cat,
Who was a famous mouser and a devil for a rat.
His colour was a tabby, and his skin as soft as silk,
And she would lap him every day the while he lapp'd his milk.

The Widow Tomkins kept herself aloof from every neighbour,
Her pleasure all consisting in assisting at a labour.
One day she was disturb'd from sleep with double rat, tat, tat,
And she went in such a hurry that she quite forgot her cat.

Poor Tom! as soon as day-light came, walk'd up and down the floor,
And heard the dog's meat woman cry cat's meat at the door;
And when he heard the well known cry, to mew he did begin,
In vain, for he could not get out and she could not get in.

Confined to this one single room, he could not roam the house.
He wanted a companion, if it only was a mouse.
He watch'd a hole in vain, for no mouse came his hopes to crown.
Either he was too much up, or the mouse was too much down.

With hunger he got fairly wild, tho' formerly so tame.
Another day pass'd slowly by—another just the same.
With hunger he so hungry was, it did so strong assail,
That altho' very loath he was oblig'd to eat his tail.

This whetted quite his appetite, and tho' the stump was sore,
The next day he was tempted (sad!) to eat a little more!
To make his life the longer then he made his body shorter,
And one after the other 'gad he eat each hinder quarter.

Hunger is a spur which has such long and pointed rowels,
It spur'd him on next day, and next to gobble all his bowels.
He walk'd about on two fore legs, alas! without beholders.
Still more and more by hunger press'd, he din'd on both his shoulders.

Next day he found (the cannibal!) to eating more a check,
Altho' he tried and did reach all he could reach of his neck;
But as he could not bite his ear, all mournfully he cried,
Towards the door he turn'd his eyes, cock'd up his nose, and died!

The Widow did at last return, and oh! how she did stare.
She guess'd the tale as soon as she saw Tom's head lying there.
With grief sincerely heartfelt, as she own'd his fate a hard 'un,
She buried it beneath an apple tree, just down her garden.

Now mark what strange effects from little causes will appear:
The fruit of this said tree was changed, and strangely too next year.
The neighbours say ('tis truth, for they're all folks who go to chapels),
This cat's head was the sole first cause of all the cat's-head apples.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE TOM CAT
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 30 Jan 16 - 08:14 PM

From Ashburner's New Vocal and Poetic Repository (Ulverston: George Ashburner, 1807), page 90:


THE TOM CAT.
[or Somebody, Nobody, Everybody and Anybody]

Well, here I am to tell,
Because it is my fancy,
I lov'd a pretty girl,
And some folks call'd her Nancy.
Now Nance, I thought, loved me,
Or else I dreamt or read so:
And all because, d'ye see,
That somebody had said so.
La ral, la ral la, &c.

'Twas but t'other night
I call'd, a little mellow,
When out she pop'd the light,
And down stairs run a fellow.
Says I, "Pray who's been here?"
When she, who thought me boozy,
Cried, "Nobody, my dear,
Only Tom, our pussy."
La ral, la ral la, &c.

"O curse that Tom!" says I,
"If he comes here, a mousing.
My sweetest Nance, good-bye.
I hate such damn'd carousing."
"But we shall wed,: says she,
"And every body cries so."
Says I, "That ne'er can be.
Since every body lies so."
La ral, la ral la, &c.

So any body now
May take my charming Nancy;
Because, d'ye see, as how
She does not suit my fancy.
That Tom, that damn'd Tom cat,
Should Nance in marriage catch me,
Strange things they might be at,
And, now and then might scratch me.
La ral, la ral la, &c.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Songs about cats
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Jan 16 - 09:07 PM

What about that old Glenn Miller one:

"Pardon me boy, is that the cat who chewed your new shoes...?"

Subject: Lyr Add: THE IDENTICAL CAT
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 31 Jan 16 - 08:05 PM

From a broadside in the Bodleian collection, between 1819 and 1844:


THE IDENTICAL CAT.

I'll try my endeavours to please you all pat,
When I tell you about a curious cat—
Talk about one that Whittington had,
To compare it with this, you'd be worser than mad.
She'd go in and kill, in not many hours,
About such a thing as a million of rats.
You may think it a lie—it's a fact, by the powers,
So I mean for to call her the queen of the cats.
Rum ti, &c.

'Twas my grandfather's father's great-grandmother rear'd it—
Her cat it had kittens, a thousand or more—
She drowned the lot, only this one she spar'd it,
And while ever she kept it, she never was poor.
When a kitten 'twould turn to, and do all the washing,
Empty the slops, do the ironing pat,
And she'd darn all the family's old worsted stockings,
And this is the very identical cat.
Rum ti, &c.

This cat has been living near five hundred years,
And to see her there's money been paid in galore.
If I keep her six weeks, that will drown all my cares,
For I think I shall make twenty thousand or more.
I s'pose you remember that very odd story
About puss in boots, when the giant turn'd rat—
She caught him, and kill'd him, she was in her glory,
And this is the very identical cat.
Rum ti, &c.

She can dance out-and-out; besides, she can smoke.
I'm sure there's no other one can her excel.
She plays 'Tullochgorum,' also 'Johnny Cope,'
Upon the piano exceedingly well.
I dare say you never see her go singing,
To notice how fine she goes round with her hat—
I'm sure she can set all the concert rooms ringing,
And this is the very identical cat.
Rum ti, &c.

You've heard of Dame Trot and her comical cat,
And I dare say you all thought that never was true,
And not the least doubt but you'd call me a flat,
If I told you more wonders that this one could do.
T'other night she went to a professional benefit,
Her singing went down with the greatest eclat,
And six people died while laughing at her they sat—
And this is the very identical cat.
Rum ti, &c.

I'm going to unfathom a regular secret.
Nobody knows it but puss and myself—
And now to disclose it, it is no use to keep it,
For I find that with it I can't make any pelf.
What fools folks must be to think that Jack Thingame,
Escap'd out of quod, as in irons he sat,
'Till a nail, and a file, and things come down the chimney,
Sent down by this very identical cat.
Rum ti, &c.

Her artfulness it is beyond competition.
She caught of large rats, let me see, twenty score,
And she sav'd their lives only on one condition:
That in Newgate they'd gnaw a large hole in each door.
They set to a-gnawing, and soon got 'em shap'd,
Large enough to let any man out that warn't fat—
And that's just the way that Jack Sheppard escap'd,
And 'twas all through this very identical cat.
Rum ti, &c.

Now I've made up my mind, when I've made enough money,
To take her to Dover, and then off to France,
Where I know she'll cut out either Grisi or Honey,
For I mean her to sing as well as to dance.
I've not told you all that I know of this animal,
But some other night I will tell you more pat,
Tales that will run through your veins just like calomel,
Concerning this very identical cat.
Ri tum, &c.