LyricMeaning

Growltiger's Last Stand And The Ballad Of Billy McCaw
Cats Musical

CHORUS:

Growltiger was a bravo cat who travelled on a barge

In fact he was the roughest cat that ever roamed at large

From Gravesend up to Oxford he pursued his evil aims

Rejoicing in his title of


GROWLTIGER:

The Terror of the Thames! Ha ha ha ha!


GRUMBUSKIN:

His manners and appearance did not calculate to please

His coat was torn and seedy, it was baggy at the knees

One ear was somewhat missing, no need to tell you why

And he scowled upon a hostile world from one forbidding eye


CHORUS:

The cottagers of Rotherhithe knew something of his fame

At Hammersmith and Putney, people shuddered at his name

They would fortify the hen house, lock up the silly goose

When the rumor ran along the shore:


GROWLTIGER:

Growltiger's on the loose! Ha ha ha ha!


SOLOS:

Woe to the weak canary that fluttered from its cage

Woe to the pampered Pekinese, that faced Growltiger's rage

Woe the bristly bandicoot that lurks on foreign ships

And woe to any cat with whom Growltiger came to grips


But most to cats of foreign race his hatred had been vowed

To cats of foreign name and race, no quarter was allowed

The Persian and the Siamese regarded him with fear

Because it was a Siamese had mauled his missing ear


TUMBLEBRUTUS:

Now on a peaceful summer night all nature seemed at play

The tender moon was shining bright, the barge at Molesey lay


CHORUS:

All in the balmy moonlight it lay rocking on the tide

And Growltiger was disposed to show his sentimental side


GRUMBUSKIN:

Growltiger's bucko mate, Grumbuskin, long since had disappeared

For to the bell at Hampton he had gone to wet his beard


TUMBLEBRUTUS:

And his bosun, Tumblebrutus, he too had stol'n away

In the yard behind the lion he was prowling for his prey


GROWLTIGER:

In the forepeak of the vessel, Growltiger sat alone


GRIDDLEBONE:

Concentrating his attention on the lady Griddlebone


CREW:

And his raffish crew were sleeping in their barrels and their bunks


SIAMESE:

As the Siamese came creeping in their sampans and their junks


GROWLTIGER:

Growltiger had no eye or ear for aught but Griddlebone


GRIDDLEBONE:

And the lady seemed enraptured by his manly baritone


BOTH:

Disposed to relaxation and awaiting no surprise


SIAMESE:

But the moonlight shone reflected from a thousand bright blue eyes


And closer still and closer the sampans circled 'round

And yet from all the enemy there was not heard a sound

The foe was armed with toasting forks and cruel carving knives


GROWLTIGER AND GRIDDLEBONE:

And the lovers sang their last duet in danger of their lives


GROWLTIGER:

Oh, how well I remember the Old Bull and Bush

Where we used to go down of a Saturday night

Where, when anything happened, it come with a rush

For the boss, Mr. Clark, he was very polite


A very nice house, from basement to garret

A very nice house. Ah, but it was the parrot--

The parrot, the parrot named Billy McCaw

That brought all those folks to the bar

Ah! He was the life of the bar.


Of a Saturday night, we was all feeling bright

And Lily La Rose -- the barmaid that was --

She'd say, Billy, Billy McCaw!

Come give us, come give us a dance on the bar!

And Billy would dance on the bar

And Billy would dance on the bar

And then we'd feel balmy, in each eye a tear

And emotion would make us all order more beer


Lily, she was a girl what had brains in her head

She wouldn't have nothing, no not that much said

If it come to an argument or a dispute

She'd settle it offhand with the toe of her boot

Or as likely as not put a fist through your eye

Or when we was happy and just a bit dry

Or when we was thirsty and just a bit sad,

She would rap on the bar with that corkscrew she had

And say,


GROWLTIGER AND GRIDDLEBONE:

Billy, Billy McCaw!


GROWLTIGER:

Come give us a tune on your pastoral flute!

And Billy'd strike up on his pastoral flute


GROWLTIGER AND GRIDDLEBONE:

And Billy'd strike up on his pastoral flute


GROWLTIGER:

And then we'd feel balmy, in each eye a tear

And emotion would make us all order more beer


GROWLTIGER AND GRIDDLEBONE:

Billy, Billy McCaw!

Come give us a tune on your moley guitar!

And Billy'd strike up on his moley guitar

And Billy'd strike up on his moley guitar

And then we'd feel balmy, in each eye a tear

And emotion would make us all order more beer


CHORUS:

Billy, Billy McCaw!

Come give us a tune on your moley guitar


GROWLTIGER:

Ah! He was the life of the bar.


Gilbert:

Then Gilbert gave the signal to his fierce Mongolian hordes

With a frightful burst of fireworks, the chinks they swarmed aboard


Then Griddlebone she gave a screech for she was badly skeered

I'm sorry to admit it, but she quickly disappeared


GROWLTIGER:

She probably escaped with ease I'm sure she was not drowned


CHORUS:

But a serried ring of flashing steel Growltiger did surround


The ruthless foe pressed forward in stubborn rank on rank

Growltiger to his vast surprise was forced to walk the plank

He who a hundred victims had driven to that drop

At the end of all his crimes was forced to go ker-flip, ker-flop!


GROWLTIGER:

Ahhhhh!!!


CHORUS:

Oh there was joy in Wapping when the news flew through the land

At Maidenhead and Henley there was dancing on the Strand

Rats were roasted whole in Brentford and Victoria Dock

And a day of celebration was commanded in Bangkok!


(DANCE -- SIAMESE)


GUS:

These modern productions are all very well

But there's nothing to equal from what I hear tell

That moment of mystery when I made history


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Lyrics by Cats Musical

  Bustopher Jones   Grizabella   Gus The Theater Cat   Macavity The Mystery Cat   Memory   Mr Mistoffelees   Mungojerrie And Rumpelteazer   Old Deuteronomy   Prologue: Jellicle Songs For Jellicle Cats   Skimbleshanks The Railway Cat   The Ad-Dressing Of Cats   The Invitation To The Jellicle Ball   The Jellicle Ball   The Journey To The Heaviside Layer   The Moments Of Happiness   The Nameing Of Cats   The Old Gumbie Cat   The Rum Tum Tugger   Whole Musical

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