The Kitten That Couldn't Be Good 1907 'The Tattooed Man'

James Pitt-Payne, London UK - 18 Feb 2004

There once was a tabby,
a fond and proud mother,
and six little kittens she had.
Now five of those kittens were good,
but the other, the youngest
was naturally bad.
Those five little kittens
were lively as chickens,
a spool they would gambol all day with,
but that one little kitten
was full of the dickens,
'twas poker chips he loved to play with.
Mew, mew.

"I tug so awfully, Lord," he said,
with a sorrowful shake of his poor little head,
"I sit up nights trying
and purring that's sighing,
I'd be as good as cream if I could;
but there's no use trying I can't, that's flat,
for I just am a naturally bad little cat.
A sad little, bad little, mad little kitten,
a kitten who cannot be good."

All good little kittens
are fond of the fireside,
and cream's the best tipple they think.
But this little kitten
kept begging his mother
for something much stronger to drink.
Soon as he was able
he climbed on the table,
regarding with scorning all warning;
he drank all the wine left
in the glasses at dinner,
then oh, such a headache next morning!
Mew, mew.

"I fear I'll go to the bad," said he,
as his mother put ice on his poor little head,
"I fear I inherit this fondness for spirit,
I really could not stop if I would;
I was just born naughty and wild,
that's flat, and I just am a gay,
irresponsible cat. A bad little scamp,
little tramp of a kitten,
a kitten who cannot be good."

Soft karaoke
Words
piano 1
piano 2
piano 3
piano 4
lyric
pizz str bass
*
The Kitten That Couldn't Be Good 1907
Lyrics by Harry B. Smith
Music by Victor Herbert
copyright MCMVII by M. Witmark & Sons
*
sequence and karaoke by James Pitt-Payne, London UK
on Thursday 19 February 2004 at 16.54
in association with Doug Grierson
*
Frank Daniels in Chas. Dillingham's Production
"The Tattooed Man." -  A Comic Opera.
Music by Victor Herbert. Lyrics by Harry B. Smith.
Book By Harry B. Smith and A.N.C. Fowler.
Harry B. Smith A. N. C. Fowler Publication: New York:
M. Witmark & Sons, 1907.
*