The Cat Came Back

Deliziosa canzoncina la cui prima versione risale al 1893, e che da tempo uno spot televisivo periodicamente ci ricorda.
Ecco, un piccolo pregio del consumistico rito dell'appuntamento con le reclames televisive è stato (ri)scoprire questa filastrocca, piuttosto famosa in America.

 Il signor Johnson vuole crudelmente sbarazzarsi di un gatto rosso (a yellow cat)...ma il gatto trova sempre il modo di ritornare a casa.

Una versione di Riley Puckett, del 1937

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl6u_VmLPuk

La recente versione di Fred Penner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3VZDRfpypw&playnext=1&list=PLE45C7A3A818DC2AD

Prestandosi ad essere canticchiata dai bambini, la canzone, scritta a fine Ottocento da Harry Miller e che  oltreoceano è un classico folk, nel tempo si è arricchita di simpatiche e gustose strofe.

Eccone alcune:

"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 goin' far, far away.


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


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, we thought he was a goner
But the cat came back; it just couldn't stay away.
Away, away, yea, yea, yea


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, we thought he was a goner
But the cat came back; it just couldn't stay away.
Away, away, yea, yea, yea."

Per approfondire:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Cat-Came-Back/105714696128688?ref=ts

SEPULTURE


My heart is but a tomb, where vain and cold

My dead hopes lie: encoffin'd there my Pride

Lies dead, and my Life's Gladness crucified,

And there my Morning Joy long turn'd to mould ;

And there like once-lov'd corpses dead and old

My Victory that long long since hath died,

And all my Hopes lie shrouded side by side,

For whom no eyes have wept, no dirges toll'd.

And there insensate on the darken'd floor

Despair a maniac still doth howl and scream,

Among all these long dead alive alone;

Among these things I sit upon a throne,

In endless contemplation evermore;

Nor these suffice to break my iron dream.

(David Park Barnitz)