"but the cat came back..."

Lew and I were sitting on the bed chatting this morning, and the two cats were up to their usual alpha male/female dominance shananigans with each other. First there's the stare-down, then the attack, then a counter attack; another attack, a break & run, then finally, a chase down the hall. Pretty much the same routine every AM, each taking turns as the instigator, chaser/chasee.

A little bit later, they both returned and calmly laid down for a snooze, about two feet from one another. Goofy beasts. Now, I don't know where these things come from, tucked as they are back in the far reaches of my gray matter, but come out they do, so on viewing this little scenario, I broke out in song with a little ditty from... somewhere:

"but the cat came back,
the very next day,
the cat came back,
I thought he was a goner,
but the cat came back,
'cause he couldn't stay awaaaaay."

So naturally, my curiosity was piqued as I tried to remember where the song originated. Was it a movie? A cartoon? A story? What? Neither of us had a clue. Ahh, but Google would know - it sates the needs of even the most inquisitive mind! We discovered it was a real oldie, a comic song written in 1893 that made its way into the folk and children's genres, explaining, I guess, where I knew it from. I only ever sang the chorus though... I don't remember knowing the rest of its various lyrics, which is probably just as well. I'm thinking it would've scared the snot out of my sensitive little self!

If you want to know more than you ever cared to know about the song, you can check it here, Wikipedia, or here, KIDiddles.