The Cat Came Back

[Verso 1]


 C 
Old Mister Johnson had trouble all his own. 
                               G7 
He had an old yellow cat that wouldn’t leave home, 
        C 
Tried everything he knew to do to keep the cat away. 

He took him to the Nullarbor and told him for to stay. 


[Refrão]

        G7       C 
But the cat came back 
                              G7   C 
The very next day the old cat came back. 
F                            C 
Thought he was a goner but the cat came back 
         G7            C 
Cause he wouldn’t stay away. 


[Verso 2]


     C 
They put him in a cotton sack and gave him to a girl 
                               G7 
Who started on a bicycle all around the world. 
      C 
Well, over there in China a total wreck was found. 

She’s singing now in Heaven with the angels all around. 


[Refrão]

        G7       C 
But the cat came back 
                              G7   C 
The very next day the old cat came back. 
F                            C 
Thought he was a goner but the cat came back 
         G7            C 
Cause he wouldn’t stay away. 


[Verso 3]


     C 
They gave a boy a dollar for to set the cat afloat. 
                               G7 
He took him up the river in a sack in a boat. 
          C 
Well, the fishing it was fine, till the news got around - 

The boat was missing and the boy was drowned. 


[Refrão]

        G7      C 
But the cat came back 
                              G7   C 
The very next day the old cat came back. 
 F                            C 
Thought he was a goner but the cat came back 
         G7            C 
Cause he wouldn’t stay away. 


[Verso 4]


     C 
They threw him in the kennel where the dog was asleep 
                          G7 
And the bones of cats lay piled in a heap. 
     C 
The kennel burst apart and the dog flew out the side 

With his ears chewed off and holes in his hide. 


[Refrão]

        G7      C 
But the cat came back 
                              G7       C 
The very next day the old cat came back. 
  F                            C 
Thought he was a goner but the cat came back 
         G7            C 
Cause he wouldn’t stay away. 


[Verso 5]


     C 
They sneaked into the shop with the butcher not around 
                                          G7 
& they dropped him in the hopper where the meat was ground. 
        C 
The old cat disappeared with a blood-curdling shriek 

And the town's folk meat tasted furry for a week. 


[Refrão]

        G7      C 
But the cat came back 
                              G7   C 
The very next day the old cat came back. 
  F                            C 
Thought he was a goner but the cat came back 
         G7            C 
Cause he wouldn’t stay away. 


[Verso 6]


     C 
They gave the old cat to a man in a balloon 
                                 G7 
They told him to give him to the man in the moon 
        C 
The balloon it busted and everybody said 

Ten miles away they picked the man up dead 


[Refrão]
 
G7      C 
But the cat came back 
                              G7       C 
The very next day the old cat came back. 
  F                            C 
Thought he was a goner but the cat came back 
         G7            C 
Cause he wouldn’t stay away. 


[Verso 7]


     C 
The farmer on the corner said he’d shoot the cat on sight. 
                               G7 
He loaded up his gun full of nails and dynamite. 
        C 
He aimed it at the spot where the cat would appear. 
All they ever found was the man’s left ear. 
"Where did they find it?" 
"Well, it was just left 'ere!" 


[Refrão]

        G7       C 
But the cat came back 
                              G7   C 
The very next day the old cat came back. 
  F                            C 
Thought he was a goner but the cat came back 
         G7            C 
Cause he wouldn’t stay away. 


[Verso 8]


     C 
They put him on a boat bound for Sydney town. 
                               G7 
They thought with all the rain that he’d surely drown. 
        C 
When the rain came down for the forty-second day, 

The whole durned city just a-floated out the bay. 


[Refrão]

        G7      C 
But the cat came back 
                              G7       C 
The very next day the old cat came back. 
  F                            C 
Thought he was a goner but the cat came back 
         G7            C 
Cause he wouldn’t stay away.