The Cat Came Back
(Harry S. Miller, 1893)


I          I           I               I
Old Mister Johnson had troubles of his own
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He had himself a yellow cat that wouldn't leave his home
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He tried everything he knew to get the cat away
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He gave it to the preacher and he told the cat to stay

            I        I     I    I
    But the cat came back
        I         I
    The very next day
        I        I
    The cat came back
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    They thought it was a goner, but the cat came back
              V              I     I    I    I
    'Cause it wouldn't stay away

Johnson had a neighbor said he'd kill the cat on sight
He loaded up a shotgun full of nails and dynamite
He waited and he waited for the cat to come around
Ninety seven pieces of the man is all they found

    But the cat came back ...

He gave it to a little boy with a dollar note
He took it on the river in a little open boat
He tied a stone around its neck that weighed about a pound
Now they're dragging the river for the little boy that drowned

    But the cat came back ...

He gave it to a man who was going way out West
He told the man to give it to the one he loved the best
The train went 'round the curve and it hit a broken rail
Not a soul was left behind to tell the gruesome tale

    But the cat came back ...

Away across the ocean he did send the cat at last
The vessel only out a day and making water fast
The people all began to pray, the boat began to toss
A great big gust of wind came by and every soul was lost

    But the cat came back ...

He gave it to a man going up in a balloon
He told the man to give it to the man in the moon
The balloon it busted and everybody said
Ninety miles away they picked the man up dead

    But the cat came back ...

The cat was the possessor of a family of its own
With seven little kittens till there came a cyclone
All the doors blew open and the cat was tossed around
The air was full of kittens, and the house was never found

    But the cat came back (the kittens, too!) ...

The cat was sleeping on the porch one fine and sunny day
When a man with a banjo came and he began to play
The cat looked around awhile and raised up its head
When the man played [ the first phrase of Dueling Banjos ] the cat dropped dead

    But its ghost came back
    The very next day
    Its ghost came back
    The cat was a goner, but its ghost came back
    'Cause it wouldn't stay away!