Old Mister Johnson had troubles of his own
He had a yellow cat which wouldn't leave its home;
He tried and he tried to give the cat away,
He gave it to a man ´who was going far away.

But the cat came back the very next day,
The cat came back, they thought he was a goner
But the cat came back; it just wouldn't stay away.
Away, away...

The man around the corner swore he'd kill the cat on sight,
He loaded up his shotgun with nails and dynamite;
He waited and he waited for the cat to come around,
Ninety seven pieces of the man is all they found.

But the cat came back the very next day,
The cat came back, they thought he was a goner
But the cat came back; it just wouldn't stay away.
Away, away...

He gave it to a little boy with a dollar note,
Told him for to take it up the river in a boat;
They tied a rope around its neck, it must have weighed a pound
Now they drag the river for a little boy that's drowned.


But the cat came back the very next day,
The cat came back, they thought he was a goner
But the cat came back; it just wouldn't stay away.
Away, away...

He gave it to a man going up in a balloon,
He told him for to take it to the man in the moon;
The balloon came down about ninety miles away,
Where he is now, well I dare not say.

But the cat came back the very next day,
The cat came back, they thought he was a goner
But the cat came back; it just wouldn't stay away.
Away, away...

He gave it to a man going way out West,
Told him for to take it to the one he loved the best;
First the train hit the curve, then it jumped the rail,
Not a soul was left behind to tell the gruesome tale.

But the cat came back the very next day,
The cat came back, they thought he was a goner
But the cat came back; it just wouldn't stay away.
Away, away...

The cat it had some company one night out in the yard,
Someone threw a boot-jack, and they threw it mighty hard;
It caught the cat behind the ear, she thought it rather slight,
When along came a brick-bat and knocked the cat out of sight


But the cat came back the very next day,
The cat came back, they thought he was a goner
But the cat came back; it just wouldn't stay away.
Away, away...

Away across the ocean they did send the cat at last,
Vessel only out a day and making water fast;
People all began to pray, the boat began to toss,
A great big gust of wind came by and every soul was lost.


But the cat came back the very next day,
The cat came back, they thought he was a goner
But the cat came back; it just wouldn't stay away.
Away, away...

On a telegraph wire, sparrows sitting in a bunch,
The cat was feeling hungry, thought she'd like 'em for a lunch;
Climbing softly up the pole, and when she reached the top,
Put her foot upon the electric wire, which tied her in a knot.


But the cat came back the very next day,
The cat came back, they thought he was a goner
But the cat came back; it just wouldn't stay away.
Away, away...

The cat was a possessor of a family of its own,
With seven little kittens till there came a cyclone;
Blew the houses all apart and tossed the cat around,
The air was full of kittens, and not a one was ever found.


But the cat came back the very next day,
The cat came back, they thought he was a goner
But the cat came back; it just wouldn't stay away.
Away, away...

The atom bomb fell just the other day,
The H-Bomb fell in the very same way;
Russia went, England went, and then the U.S.A.
The human race was finished without a chance to pray.


But the cat came back the very next day,
The cat came back, they thought he was a goner
But the cat came back; it just wouldn't stay away.
Away, away...

"The Cat Came Back" is a comic song written by Harry S. Miller in 1893. It 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 original sheet music described the song as "A Comic Negro Absurdity" on the back page and provided an additional eight verses as well as a final chorus. A 1900 London edition of the sheet music described it as "A Nigger Absurdity" on the cover sheet^.