The Cat Came Back (Live 1947)

Lyrics

[Intro Stage Banter: (Cliffie Stone), Merle Travis] (It's Merle Travis, folks, on the Hollywood Barn Dance) (Whatcha gonna sing, Merle?) I'd like to sing you a little song about Mister Johnson's cat Here's the way it goes [Verse] Old Mister Johnson had trouble of his own He had an old yeller cat that wouldn't leave his home Tried everything he knew to keep the cat away He gave him to the preacher and he told him fer to stay [Chorus] But the cat come back, they thought he was a goner But the cat come back on the vеry next day The cat come back, hooray for Mistеr Johnson Oh, the cat come back on the very next day [Verse] Now, Mister Johnson give him to a man in a balloon He told him fer to give him to the man in the bal–, in the moon, heh Doggone, that balloon and moon got mixed up Well, the balloon, it busted, and everybody said It was forty miles away or more, they picked the man up dead [Chorus] But the cat come back, hooray for Mister Johnson Oh, the cat come back 'cause he couldn't stay away The cat come back, they thought he was a goner But the cat come back on the very next day [Verse] Now, the cat, he was a terror, and they thought it was the best To gave him to a feller that was goin' out West The train was goin' around a curve, struck a broken rail Not a single soul aboard the train was left to tell the trail [Chorus] But the cat come back, heh Hooray for Mister Johnson Oh, the cat come back on the very next day Well, the cat come back, they thought he was a goner But the cat come back on the very next day [Verse] Well, a little boy took him with a twenty-dollar note To the middle of the river in a little open boat Tied a rock around his neck, it weighed forty pound Now they fishin' in the river for a little boy that's drowned [Chorus] But the cat come back, they thought he was a goner But the cat come back on the very next day The cat come back, hooray for Mister Johnson But the cat come back 'cause he couldn't stay away [Verse] Well, a man on the corner swore to kill the cat on sight He loaded up his musket with nails and dyneemite He waited on the corner for the cat to come around Half-a-dozen little pieces of the man was all they found [Chorus] But the cat come back, they thought he was a goner But the cat come back 'cause he couldn't stay away The cat come back, hooray for Mister Johnson Oh, the cat come back on the very next day