"The Cat Came Back" (originally published as "The Cat Came Back: A Nigger Absurdity") is a comic song written by Harry S. Miller in 1893. "The Cat Came Back" has since entered the folk tradition and been recorded under variations of the title—"But the Cat Came Back", "And the Cat Came Back", etc. It is also a popular children's song.
The song is humorous in nature, telling a silly tale about "ole Mister Johnson" who had an "ole yaller cat" that he did not want, and when he tried to get rid of the cat, the cat kept coming back.
The first commercial recording of "The Cat Came Back" was by Fiddlin' John Carson (OKeh 40119) in April 1924. Other early recordings include one byDock Philipine "Fiddlin' Doc" Roberts ("And The Cat Came Back The Very Next Day", Gennett 3235), on November 13, 1925.
The song was used as the basis for the 1988 short animated film The Cat Came Back by Cordell Barker.
The song is often used to teach children the concepts of rhythm and tempo. It is an excellent example in this regard, because of the strong and consistent beat pattern, combined with amusing and humorous lyrics. Additionally, especially the minor key versions of the song, have a compelling effect with regards to perception of tempo.
Like many children's songs, the song has a very strong well-defined beat pattern. It consists of one weak beat, one strong beat, so it is often sung in 2/4 time.
Thus it can be (and often is) sung while walking, with, for example, strong beats when the left foot hits the ground and weak beats when the right foot hits the ground.
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" (each sung an octave above the first note of the song, which is "E" if the song is sung in the key of A-minor), 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.
Also, the second line of the chorus "thought he was a goner" is often sung either off-key (deliberately), or just spoken (not sung), or includes chirps or quarter tones (notes that fall between semitones). In some versions the chirps can be approximated by a chromatic glissando.
The chord progression lends itself exceptionally well to a bass line that's natural minor descending, and harmonic minor ascending, i.e. in the key of A-minor, the 8 beats (in 8/ time) would play out as A, A, G, G, F, F, E, G#
Additionally, the bass line may be played as melodic minor (i.e. including both an F# and a G# on the way up). This second variation is very effective in teaching children the concept of a melodic minor scale, since melodic minor otherwise occurs so seldom in simple children's songs.
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