SoTD: Unknown – Senor Don Gato (Was A Cat)

"Señor Don Gato" is a children’s song about a domestic cat who is sitting on a roof when he discovers that his true love has agreed to marry him. In his excitement, he falls off and injures himself. The doctors are unable to save him and he passes away. However, as his funeral procession passes through the market, the scent of fish from the market is so strong that he returns to life.

This English version is familiar to generations of school-age children in North America due to its inclusion in several common elementary school songbooks in the second half of the 20th century. The lyrics are loosely translated from the traditional Spanish song "Estaba el señor Don Gato", but the melody is from a different song, "Ahora Que Vamos Despacio". There is also a French version of "Estaba el señor Don Gato" called "Monsieur le Chat".

—

O Senor Don Gato was a cat.
On a high red roof Don Gato sat.
He was there to read a letter,
(meow, meow, meow)
where the reading light was better,
(meow, meow, meow)
‘Twas a love-note for Don Gato!

"I adore you," wrote the lady cat,
who was fluffy white, and nice and fat.
There was not a sweeter kitty,
(meow, meow, meow)
in the country or the city
(meow, meow, meow)
and she said she’d wed Don Gato!

O Senor Don Gato jumped with glee!
He fell off the roof and broke his knee,
broke his ribs and all his whiskers,
(meow, meow, meow)
and his little solar plexus
(meow, meow, meow)
"Ay Caramba!!" cried Don Gato.

All the doctors they came on the run,
just to see if something could be done.
And they held a consultation,
(meow, meow, meow)
about how to save their patient,
(meow, meow, meow)
how to save Senor Don Gato.

But in spite of everything they tried,
poor Senor Don Gato up and died.
No, it wasn’t very merry,
(meow, meow, meow)
going to the cemetery,
(meow, meow, meow)
for the ending of Don Gato.

But as the the funeral passed the market square,
such a smell of fish was in the air,
though the burial was slated,
(meow, meow, meow)
he became reanimated,
(meow, meow, meow)
he came back to life, Don Gato!

Technorati Tags: Senor Don Gato,Mexico,Children’s Songs,Funeral,fish markets,kitties

SoTD: Alanis Morissette – Ironic

An old man turned ninety-eight
He won the lottery and died the next day
It’s a black fly in your Chardonnay
It’s a death row pardon two minutes too late
And isn’t it ironic… don’t you think

It’s like rain on your wedding day
It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid
It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take
Who would’ve thought… it figures

Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought
"Well isn’t this nice…"
And isn’t it ironic… don’t you think

It’s like rain on your wedding day
It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid
It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take
Who would’ve thought… it figures

Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything’s okay and everything’s going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everything’s gone wrong and everything blows up
In your face

A traffic jam when you’re already late
A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break
It’s like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife
It’s meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife
And isn’t it ironic…don’t you think
A little too ironic…and, yeah, I really do think…

It’s like rain on your wedding day
It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid
It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take
Who would’ve thought… it figures

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
Life has a funny, funny way of helping you out
Helping you out

Artist: Alanis Morissette
Album: Jagged Little Pill
Release Date: 1995

Technorati Tags: Alanis Morissette,Jagged Little Pill,Irony,Rock

SoTD: The Cars – Since I Held You

I really love the way you talk
I don’t mind sayin’ so
and oo I love it when you da-ance
so silky slow
o baby please don’t go

I know you refuse to get involved
you won’t help me out none
You run around like a paper doll
pretending it’s fun
O baby please don’t run

Somethin’ in the night just don’t sit right
looks like I’m gonna be up all night, yeah

It’s been such a long time
since I held you
I said it’s been such a long time
since I held you
Oo oo such a long time
since I held you

I won’t forget the way you said
it doesn’t bother you much
tutor impressions in your he-ead
just before the last touch
that meant so much

Somethin’ in the night just don’t sit right
looks like I’m gonna be up all night, yeah

it’s been such a long time
since I held you
I said it’s been such a long time
since I held you
Oo oo such a long time
since I held you

It’s been a long time
It’s been a long time
It’s been a long time
Such a long time

Well, it’s been a long, long time
I said it’s been a long, long time
It’s been a long time
since I held you
Oo oo such a long time
since I held you

Artist: The Cars
Album: Candy-O
Release Date: 1979

Technorati Tags: The Cars,1970s,Rock

SoTD: The Association – Along Comes Mary

Every time I think that I’m the only one who’s lonely
Someone calls on me
And every now and then I spend my time in rhyme and verse
And curse those faults in me

And then along comes Mary
And does she want to give me kicks, and be my steady chick
And give me pick of memories
Or maybe rather gather tales of all the fails and tribulations
No one ever sees

When we met I was sure out to lunch
Now my empty cup tastes as sweet as the punch

When vague desire is the fire in the eyes of chicks
Whose sickness is the games they play
And when the masquerade is played and neighbor folks make jokes
As who is most to blame today

And then along comes Mary
And does she want to set them free, and let them see reality
From where she got her name
And will they struggle much when told that such a tender touch as hers
Will make them not the same

When we met I was sure out to lunch
Now my empty cup tastes as sweet as the punch

And when the morning of the warning’s passed, the gassed
And flaccid kids are flung across the stars
The psychodramas and the traumas gone
The songs are left unsung and hung upon the scars

And then along comes Mary
And does she want to see the stains, the dead remains of all the pains
She left the night before
Or will their waking eyes reflect the lies, and make them
Realize their urgent cry for sight no more

When we met I was sure out to lunch
Now my empty cup tastes as sweet as the punch

Sweet as the punch
Sweet as the punch

Sweet as the punch

Artist: The Association
Album: And Then…Along Comes The Association
Release Date: 1966

Technorati Tags: The Association,Curt Boettcher,Pop/Rock,1960s,Sunshine Pop

SoTD: Wang Chung – Dance Hall Days

Take your baby by the hand
And make her do a high hand stand
Take your baby by the heel
And do the next thing that you feel

We were so in phase
In our dance hall days
We were cool on craze
When i, you, and everyone we knew
Could believe, do, and share in what was true
Oh, I said

Take your baby by the hair
And pull her close and there there there
Take your baby by the ears
And play upon her darkest fears

We were so in phase
In our dance hall days
We were cool on craze
When i, you, and everyone we knew
Could believe, do, and share in what was true
Oh, I said

So take your baby by the wrist
And in her mouth an amethyst
And in her eyes two sapphires blue
And you need her and she needs you
And you need her and she needs you

We were so in phase
In our dance hall days
We were cool on craze
When i, you, and everyone we knew
Could believe, do, and share in what was true
Oh, I said

Artist: Wang Chung
Album: Points On A Curve
Release Date: 1984

Technorati Tags: Wang Chung,New Wave,1980s,Jack Hues,Nick Feldman,Darren Costin,Points On A Curve

SoTD: Toy Matinee – Last Plane Out

Greetings from Sodom
How we wish you were here
The weather’s getting warmer
Now that the trees are all cleared
There’s no time for a conscience
And we recognize no crime
Yeah we got dogs and Valvoline
It’s a pretty damn good time

Men of reason, not of rhyme
Keep the spoils and share your crime
Goodman, Badman, lost without
A hope for passage on the last plane out

There was one repressed do-gooder
And a few who still believed
Yes I think there were five good men here yesterday
But they were asked to leave
So we’ve kept the good old vices
And labored to invent a few
With cake in vulgar surplus
We can have it and eat it, too

Men of reason, not of rhyme
Keep the spoils and share your crime
Goodman, Badman, lost without
A hope for passage on the last plane out

Men of reason, hide your face
Walking backwards, plays his ace
Goodman, Badman, lost without
A hope for passage on the last plane out

Here’s a concept you can’t dance to
An idea you cannot hum
There may not be an empty seat
When all is said and done
I’m not the guy who sings the hymns
No bleeding heart to mend
But I like the part where Icarus
Hijacks the little red hen

Someone said the Big Man
May be joining us soon
But I never was the type to hang
With the harbingers of doom
And this party is addictive
Self-destructive, no doubt
So I hope that someone saves a seat for me
On the last plane out

Men of reason, not of rhyme
Keep the spoils and share your crime
Goodman, Badman, lost without
A hope for passage on the last plane out

Artist: Toy Matinee
Album: Toy Matinee
Release Date: 1990

Technorati Tags: Toy Matinee,Alternative Rock,1990s

SoTD: Bruce Springsteen – Born In The U.S.A.

Born down in a dead man’s town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that’s been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up

Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.

Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man

Born in the U.S..A….

Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man said son if it was up to me
Went down to see my v.a. man
He said son, don’t you understand

I had a brother at Khe Sahn
Fighting off the Viet cong
They’re still there, he’s all gone

He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arm’s now

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I’m ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run aint got nowhere to go

Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., I’m a long gone daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., I’m a cool rocking daddy in the U.S.A.

Artist: Bruce Springsteen
Album: Born In The U.S.A.
Release Date: 1984

Technorati Tags: Bruce Springsteen,Viet Nam,Patriotism,1980s,Rock,Independence Day

SoTD: Dean Martin – Ain’t That A Kick In The Head?

How lucky can one guy be;
I kissed her and she kissed me
Like the fella once said,
Ain’t that a kick in the head?
The room was completely black
I hugged her and she hugged back.
Like the sailor said, quote,
"Ain’t that a hole in the boat?"
My head keeps spinning;
I go to sleep and keep grinning;
If this is just the beginning,
My life’s gonna be beautiful.
I’ve sun- shine enough to spread;
It’s like the fella said,
"Tell me quick
Ain’t love like a kick in the head?"

Like the fella once said,
Ain’t that a kick in the head?

Like the sailor said, quote,
"Ain’t that a hole in the boat?"
My head keeps spinning;
I go to sleep and keep grinning;
If this is just the beginning,
My life’s gonna be beautiful.
She’s telling me we’ll be wed;
She’s picked out a king size bed.
I couldn’t feel any better or I’d be sick;
Tell me quick, oh ain’t love a kick?
Tell me quick, ain’t love a kick in the head?

Artist: Dean Martin
Album: Capitol Collectors Series
Release Date: 1989

Technorati Tags: Dean Martin,The Rat Pack,Pop,Love Songs,1960s,Las Vegas

SoTD: The Ink Spots – Address Unknown

Address Unknown – not even a trace of you.
Oh what Id give to see the face of you.
I was a fool to stay away from you so long.
I should have known there’d come a day when you’d be gone.

Address Unknown – oh how could I be so blind?
Who’d think that you would never be hard to find?
From the place of your birth to the ends of the earth
I’ve searched only to find – only to find – Address Unknown.

Address Unknown – honey chile, I aint even got a trace of ya.
You know one thing?
Id give anything in the world just to see the face of ya.
I was a fool to stay away from you and everything else so long.
I should have been diplomatic and figured that some day
You’d be solid gone.

Address Unknown – oh how could I be so blind?
Who’d think that you would never be hard to find?
From the place of your birth to the ends of the earth
I’ve searched only to find – only to find – Address Unknown.

Artist: The Ink Spots
Album: How High The Moon
Release Date: 1939

Technorati Tags: The Ink Spots,1930s,Jazz Vocals,Loss,Address Unknown

SoTD: Midnight Oil – Bullroarer

I woke up this morning with this song echoing in my head…

—

In the desert in the dry
Before the breaking of the rain
The temperature in the shade
Had reached a hundred and ten again

In the desert in the dry
On the overland telegraph line
Don’t take the law into your own hands
Don’t go looking for a fight

I’ve heard the bullroarers

In the desert in the dry
Sun sits so high
Long day’s mile and the
Radio crackles and the bones bleached white

It’s a knock-em-down storm
See the tin roof shake
Wild dog howls and the long grass
Whistles and the tall trees break

I’ve seen the wild horses
I’ve heard the bullroarers
I’ve seen the wild horses

I’ve seen the wild horses
I’ve heard the bullroarers
I’ve seen the wild horses

Shifting sands and broken plans
Lead me on to my homeland

Artist: Midnight Oil
Album: Diesel And Dust
Release Date: 1988

Technorati Tags: Midnight Oil,Australia,1980s,Rock,Enviromentalism,Bullroarers