The cat came back the very next day

As recorded by the NEW CHRISTY MINSTRELS:



Well, just like everybody you have troubles of your own
But let me tell you, Mister, of the sorrow I have known
I had an old gray cat, that I couldn't bear to keep
He spent the nights a-howl'n and he wouldn't let me sleep

So I put him in a box and I tied it up quite well.
I had some fellows help me and I paid them not to tell
We put it in a boxcar, the Westbound Seven-Ten
The train pulled away and was never seen again

But the cat came back, the very next day
Yes the cat came back and he wouldn't stay away
Meow, kitty! Meow, so pretty!
Meow, such a pity, but the cat came back

So I took him to the harbor and I put in on a ship
I bid him bon voyage! for that oceanic trip
The captain was obligin' and glad to help us out
We tied him to the anchor so that there could be no doubt

Well, we heard that sad report of that might storm at sea
And though it may sound heartless, I was happy as could be
The paper said the ship went down beneath a heavy gale
And not a single soul was left to tell the awful tale

But the cat came back, the very next day
Yes the cat came back and he wouldn't stay away
Meow, kitty! Meow, so pretty!
Meow, such a pity, but the cat came back

So I gave him to a scientist, destined for the moon
The cat was used for ballast in an outer space balloon
I guess you know what happened, that balloon's up there still
And early that next morning, guess what came across the hill

(Meow! That's right)

Now, everyone in town was sworn to shoot that cat on sight
With that crazy cat around you couldn't sleep at night
We even formed a posse just to hunt that critter down
You could hear the guns a-blazin' as they ran him out of town

But the cat came back, the very next day
Yes the cat came back and he wouldn't stay away!
Meow, kitty! Meow, so pretty!
Meow, such a pity, but the cat came back.

Carmen has not come back yet.