Cats Soundtrack - Growltigers Last Stand LYRICS

including "The Ballad of Billy McCaw"

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
-acap