Andrew Lloyd Webber - Gus The Theatre Cat

song : gus : the theatre cat
artist : andrew lloyd webber

from the musical , cats

D ( 4 bars )

Gmaj7 D/F# F#7 Bm
gus is the cat at the theatre door
Em7 A Dsus2 D
his name as i ought to have told you before
Gmaj7 D/F# F#7 Bm
is really asparagus , but that’s such a fuss
G – – F#m7 – – Em9 – – G/A G D
to pronounce that we usually call him just gus

Gmaj7 D/F# F#7 Bm
his coat’s very shabby . he’s thin as a rake
Em7 A Dsus2 D
and he suffers from palsy that makes his paw shake
Gmaj7 D/F# F#7 Bm
yet he was in his youth quite the smartest of cats
G – – F#m7 – – Em9 – – G/A G D
but no longer a terror to mice and to rats

G D/F# Em7 D/F#
for he isn’t the cat that he was in his prime
G D F#7 Bm
though his name was quite famous , he says , in his time
G D/F# Em7 D/F#
and whenever he joins his friends at their club
G D F#7 Bm
( which takes place at the back of the neighbouring pub )

Em7 A Dsus2 D
he loves to regale them if someone else pays
Em7 A Dsus2 D
with anecdotes drawn from his palmiest days
G D/F# Em7 D/F#
for he once was a star of the highest degree
G D/F# F#7 Bm
he has acted with irving , he’s acted with tree
G D/F# Em7 D/F#
and he likes to relate his success on the halls
G D/F# F#7 Bm
where the gallery once gave him seven catcalls

G – – F#m7 – – Em9 – – G/A Bm Bm
but his grandest creation as he loves to tell
Em7 – – F#m7 – – Gmaj7 – – G/A Csus2 G D
was firefrorefiddle , the fiend of the fell

Gmaj7 D/F# F#7 Bm
“i have played , in my time , every possible part
Em7 A Dsus2 D
and i used to know seventy speeches by heart
Gmaj7 D/F# F#7 Bm
i’d extemporize backchat . i knew how to gag
G – – F#m7 – – Em9 – – G/A G D
and i knew how to let the cat out of the bag
Gmaj7 D/F# F#7 Bm
i knew how to act with my back and my tail
Em7 A Dsus2 D
with an hour of rehearsal , i never could fail
Gmaj7 D/F# F#7 Bm
i’d a voice that would soften the hardest of hearts
G – – F#m7 – Em9 – G/A G D
whether i took the lead , or in character parts

G D/F# Em7 D/F#
i have sat by the bedside of poor little nell
G D/F# F#7 Bm
when the curfew was rung then i swung on the bell
G D/F# Em7 D/F#
in the pantomime season i never fell flat
G D/F# F#7 Bm
and i once understudied dick whittington’s cat

G – – F#m7 – – Em9 – – G/A Bm Bm
but my grandest creation as history will tell
Em7 – – F#m7 – – Gmaj7 – – G/A Csus2 G/B D
was firefrorefiddle , the fiend of the fell

D D D

D C#/A D D
then if someone will give him a toothful of gin
A7sus/E A7 D D
he will tell how he once played a part in east lynne
D C#/A D D
at a shakespeare performance he once walked on pat
D A E7 A
when some actor suggested the need for a cat

G D/F# Em7 D/F#
“and i say now these kittens , they do not get trained
G D/F# F#7 Bm
as we did in the days when victoria reigned
G D/F# Em7 D/F#
they never get drilled in a regular troupe
G D/F# F#7 Bm
and they think they are smart just to jump through a hoop”

Em7 A Dsus2 D
and he says as he scratches himself with his claws
Em7 A Dsus2 D
“well , the theatre is certainly not what it was
G D/F# Em D/F#
these modern productions are all very well
G D/F# F#7 B
but there’s nothing to equal from what i hear tell

G – – F#m7 – – Em9 – – G/A Bm Bm
that moment of mystery when i made history
Em7 – – F#m7 – – Gmaj6 – G/A Csus2 G
as firefrorefiddle , the fiend of the fell”

D

( reprise )
“i once crossed the stage on a telegraph wire
to rescue a child when a house was on fire
and i think that i still can much better than most
produce blood – curdling noises to bring on the ghost
and i once played growltiger
could do it again
could do it again
could do it again . . . ”