{title: The Cat Came Back}
{artist: Traditional (Harry S. Miller, 1893)}
{key: D}
{tempo: 130}
{difficulty: beginner}
{tags: kids,traditional,humor,public-domain}
{audio: /static/audio/the-cat-came-back.mp3}
{credit: Audio: Yodeling Dick Brooks & C.R. Clarke, 'The Cat Came Back' (78rpm, pre-1972). Public domain. Source: Internet Archive Great 78 Project.}
{video: youtube:FJl_4IsQJ2g}
{credit: 'The Cat Came Back' (NFB animated short, 1988, dir. Cordell Barker). Oscar-nominated. Based on Harry S. Miller's 1893 song (PD composition). (c) National Film Board of Canada.}

{c: An 1893 minstrel song that became a Canadian campfire classic via the 1988 NFB animated short by Cordell Barker (watch it — go now, watch it).}
{c: Public domain (composed by Harry S. Miller, copyright long expired). Modern versions clean up the original racist lyrics — what's below is the modern singalong version.}

{start_of_verse}
Old [D]Mister Johnson had troubles of his [A]own
He had a yellow cat that wouldn't leave his [D]home
He tried and he tried to give that cat [G]away
He gave it to a [D]man going [A]far, far a[D]way
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
But the [D]cat came back the very next day
The cat came [A]back, they thought he was a [D]goner
But the cat [G]came back, he just couldn't [D]stay a[A]way... a[D]way... a[D]way
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
He gave it to a [D]little boy with a dollar [A]note
Told him to take it up the river in a [D]boat
They tied a rope around its neck, must have [G]weighed a pound
Now they [D]drag the river [A]for a little boy that's [D]drowned
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
But the [D]cat came back the very next day
The cat came [A]back, they thought he was a [D]goner
But the cat [G]came back, he just couldn't [D]stay a[A]way... a[D]way... a[D]way
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
He gave it to a [D]man going up in a bal[A]loon
Told him for to take it to the man in the [D]moon
The balloon came down about ninety [G]miles away
And [D]where the man is [A]now, well, I dare not [D]say
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
But the [D]cat came back the very next day
The cat came [A]back, they thought he was a [D]goner
But the cat [G]came back, he just couldn't [D]stay a[A]way... a[D]way... a[D]way
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
He gave it to a [D]man going way out [A]west
Told him for to take it to the one he loved the [D]best
First the train hit the curve, then it jumped the [G]rail
Not a [D]soul was left be[A]hind to tell the gruesome [D]tale
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
But the [D]cat came back the very next day
The cat came [A]back, they thought he was a [D]goner
But the cat [G]came back, he just couldn't [D]stay a[A]way... a[D]way... a[D]way
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
The [D]atom bomb fell just the other [A]day
The H-bomb fell in the very same [D]way
Russia went, England went, and then the [G]USA
The [D]human race was [A]finished without a chance to [D]pray
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
But the [D]cat came back the very next day
The cat came [A]back, they thought he was a [D]goner
But the cat [G]came back, he just couldn't [D]stay a[A]way... a[D]way... a[D]way
{end_of_chorus}

{c: ===== HOW TO PLAY THIS =====}
{c: Three chords: D, A, G. Maybe an A7 instead of A — easier for small hands.}
{c: Capo 2 makes it C-shapes if those are easier.}
{c: Tempo: brisk. The dark humor lands when you sing it cheerfully.}

{c: ===== STRUM PATTERN =====}
{c: Standard boom-chuck or D-DU-UDU.}
{c: On the chorus "AWAY... AWAY... AWAY" — let those long notes ring.}

{c: ===== KIDS' FAVOURITE =====}
{c: 7yos LOVE the morbid humor. The cat survives every disaster. Hold the long "AWAY... AWAY... AWAY" — they'll yell it.}
{c: Watch the NFB animated short (Cordell Barker, 1988) afterward. It's on YouTube and at nfb.ca. The song's whole vibe is in that animation.}

{c: ===== VERSES TO MAKE UP =====}
{c: "He gave it to a man going [PLACE] / Told him to take it to the [JOB]" — kid can fill in the blanks. Disaster ensues. Cat returns. Format never fails.}