CATS - Growltiger's Last Stand lyrics
rate meIn the fantasy sequence "Growltiger's Last Stand," Gus relives <br />
one such triumph, playing the pirate Growltiger. In this sequence,<br />
Growltiger, a feared feline sea captain and his amour, Griddlebone,<br />
meet an untimely end after battling a crew of Siamese sailors.<br />
<br />
CHORUS: <br />
Growltiger was a bravo cat who travelled on a barge <br />
In fact he was the roughest cat that ever roamed at large <br />
From Gravesend up to Oxford he pursued his evil aims <br />
Rejoicing in his title of the "Terror of the Thames" <br />
<br />
His manners and appearance did not calculate to please <br />
His coat was torn and seedy, it was baggy at the knees <br />
One ear was somewhat missing, no need to tell you why <br />
And he scowled upon a hostile world from one forbidding eye <br />
<br />
The cottagers of Rotherhithe knew something of his fame <br />
At Hammersmith and Putney, people shuddered at his name <br />
They would fortify the hen house, lock up the silly goose <br />
When the rumor ran along the shore: Growltiger's on the loose! <br />
<br />
Woe to the weak canary that fluttered from it's cage <br />
Woe to the pampered Pekinese, that faced Growltiger's rage <br />
Woe the bristly bandicoot that lurks on foreign ships <br />
And woe to any cat with whom Growltiger came to grips <br />
<br />
But most to cats of foreign race his hatred had been vowed <br />
To cats of foreign name and race, no quarter was allowed <br />
The Persian and the Siamese regarded him with fear <br />
Because it was a Siamese had mauled his missing ear <br />
<br />
Now on a peaceful summer night all nature seemed at play <br />
The tender moon was shining bright, the barge at Molsey lay <br />
All in the balmy moonlight it lay rocking on the tide <br />
And Growltiger was disposed to show his sentimental side <br />
<br />
In the forepeak of the vessel, Growltiger stood alone <br />
<br />
Concentrating his attention on the lady Griddlebone <br />
And his raffish crew were sleeping in their barrels and their bunks <br />
As the Siamese came creeping in their sampans and their junks <br />
<br />
Growltiger had no eye or ear for aught but Griddlebone <br />
And the lady seemed enraptured by my manly baritone <br />
Disposed to relaxation and awaiting no surprise <br />
But the moonlight shone reflected from a thousand bright blue eyes <br />
<br />
And closer still and closer the sampans circled 'round <br />
And yet from all the enemy there was not heard a sound <br />
The foe was armed with toasting forks and cruel carving knives <br />
And the lovers sang their last duet in danger of their lives <br />
<br />
Oh, how well I remember the old Bull and Bush <br />
Where we used to go down of a Sattaday night, <br />
Where, when anything happened, it came with a rush, <br />
For the boss, Mr. Clark, he was very polite; <br />
<br />
A very nice house, from basement to garret <br />
A very nice house. Ah, but it was the parrot, <br />
The parrot, the parrot named Billy M'Caw, <br />
That brought all those folk to the bar. <br />
Ah! He was the life of the bar. <br />
<br />
Of a Sattaday night, we was all feeling bright, <br />
And Lily LaRose, the barmaid that was, <br />
She'd say "Billy! Billy M'Caw! Come give us, <br />
Come give us a dance on the bar." <br />
And Billy would dance on the bar, and Billy would dance on the bar. <br />
<br />
And then we'd feel balmy, in each eye a tear, <br />
And emotion would make us all order more beer. <br />
Lily, she was a girl what had brains in her head; <br />
She wouldn't have nothick, no not that much said. <br />
<br />
If it came to an argument, or a dispute, <br />
She'd settle it offhand with the toe of her boot <br />
Or as likely as not put her fist through your eye. <br />
But when we was happy and just a bit dry, <br />
Or when we was thirsty, and just a bit sad, <br />
She would rap on the bar with that corkscrew she had <br />
<br />
And say "Billy! Billy M'Caw! <br />
Come give us a tune on your pastoral flute!" <br />
And Billy'd strike up on his pastoral flute, <br />
And Billy'd strike up on his pastoral flute. <br />
And then we'd feel balmy, in each eye a tear, <br />
And emotion would make us all order more beer. <br />
<br />
"Billy! Billy M'Caw! <br />
Come give us a tune on your moley guitar!" <br />
Billy'd strike up on his moley guitar, <br />
And Billy'd strike up on his moley guitar. <br />
And then we'd feel balmy, in each eye a tear, <br />
And emotion would make us all order more beer. <br />
<br />
"Billy! Billy M'Caw! <br />
Come give us a tune on your moley guitar!" <br />
Ah! He was the life of the bar. <br />
<br />
CHORUS: <br />
Then Genghis gave the signal to his fierce Mongolian hordes <br />
Abandoning their sampans, the chinks they swarmed aboard <br />
Abandoning their sampans, their pullaways, their junks <br />
They battened down the hatches on the crew within their bunks <br />
<br />
Then Griddlebone she gave a screech for she was badly skeered <br />
I am sorry to admit it, but she quickly disappeared <br />
She probably escaped with ease I'm sure she was not drowned <br />
But a serried ring of flashing steel Growltiger did surround <br />
<br />
The ruthless foe pressed forward in stubborn rank on rank <br />
Growltiger to his vast surprise was forced to walk the plank <br />
He who a hundred victims had driven to that drop <br />
At the end of all his crimes was forced to go kerflip, kerflop <br />
<br />
Oh there was joy in Wapping when the news flew through the land <br />
At Maidenhead and Henley there was dancing on the Strand <br />
Rats were roasted whole in Brentford and Victoria Dock <br />
And a day of celebration was commanded in Bangkok! <br />
<br />
GUS: <br />
These modern productions are all very well <br />
But there's nothing to equal from what I hear tell <br />
That moment of mystery when I made history
