The Cat Came Back
"The Cat Came Back" is a blues-folk gallows comedy song written by Harry S. Miller in 1893. It has since entered the world of folklore and became a famous children's song.
Theme
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 a balloon, 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 a shotgun, but accidentally blows himself up instead. 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, and a ship sailing across the ocean. One verse reveals that the cat has a family of seven kittens, until a cyclone 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. "The Cat Came Back" was later recorded by Fiddlin' John Carson in April 1924. Other early recordings include one by Dock Philipine "Fiddlin' Doc" Roberts, 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. A 1900 London edition of the sheet music described it as "A Nigger Absurdity" on the cover sheet.
Timing of the song
The song's combination of a strong and consistent beat pattern with amusing and humorous lyrics suit it well for use in teaching the concepts of rhythm and tempo to children.Like many children's songs, the song has a strong, well-defined beat pattern. Its rhythm consists of alternating strong and weak beats, so it is often sung in time or cut time, although in its original sheet-music printing it is notated in ("common") time. Accordingly, it can be sung while walking, for example, timing the left or right footfall to coincide with a strong beat and the other footfall to coincide with a weak beat. In the process, the song also lends itself to demonstration of a "walking" bass line such as the descending roots of the simple i–VII–VI–V "Andalusian" minor-key chord progression, with which minor-key versions of the song's melody are compatible.
Versions of the song
There are many versions of the song, which have removed the racist elements of the lyrics and song title. One such variation goes something like:; First verse:
; Chorus:
; Alternative chorus:
Every second beat is emphasized.
Each line of text in the above has eight beats, and usually the chords fall or begin 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. The pattern of 2/ and 8/ is similar to the beat pattern in "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", but phase-shifted by 180 degrees.
A later version of the song emerged during the Cold War, in which the final verse made references to the "atom bomb" and "H-bomb", and the subsequent destruction of the human race, which the cat survived.
Variations in the melody of the additional verses
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", 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.
Microtonal and chirp-based versions of the chorus
Also, the second line of the chorus "thought he was a goner" is often sung either off-key, or just spoken, or includes chirps or quarter tones. In some versions the chirps can be approximated by a chromatic glissando.Bass line
Harmonic minor variations
The chord progression lends itself to a bass line that is natural minor descending, and harmonic minor ascending, i.e. in the key of A-minor, the 8 beats would play out as A, A, G, G, F, F, E, G♯. This is practically the lament bass used in many chaconnes, e.g. Pachelbel's Chaconne in F minor.Melodic minor variations
Additionally, the bass line may be played as melodic minor. 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.Cordell Barker's animated film
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:and