Growltiger was a bravo cat who travelled on a barge
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In fact he was the roughest cat that ever roamed at large
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From Gravesend up to Oxford he pursued his evil aims
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Rejoicing in his title of the "Terror of the Thames"
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His manners and appearance did not calculate to please
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His coat was torn and seedy, it was baggy at the knees
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One ear was somewhat missing, no need to tell you why
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And he scowled upon a hostile world from one forbidding eye
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The cottagers of Rotherhithe knew something of his fame
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At Hammersmith and Putney, people shuddered at his name
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They would fortify the hen house, lock up the silly goose
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When the rumor ran along the shore: Growltiger's on the loose!
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Woe to the weak canary that fluttered from its cage
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Woe to the pampered Pekinese, that faced Growltiger's rage
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Woe the bristly bandicoot that lurks on foreign ships
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And woe to any cat with whom Growltiger came to grips
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But most to cats of foreign race his hatred had been vowed
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To cats of foreign name and race, no quarter was allowed
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The Persian and the Siamese regarded him with fear
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Because it was a Siamese had mauled his missing ear
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Now on a peaceful summer night all nature seemed at play
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The tender moon was shining bright, the barge at Molsey lay
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All in the balmy moonlight it lay rocking on the tide
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And Growltiger was disposed to show his sentimental side
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In the forepeak of the vessel, Growltiger stood alone
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Concentrating my attention on the lady Griddlebone
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And my raffish crew were sleeping in their barrels and their bunks
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As the Siamese came creeping in their sampans and their junks
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Growltiger had no eye or ear for aught but Griddlebone
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And the lady seemed enraptured by my manly baritone
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Disposed to relaxation and awaiting no surprise
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But the moonlight shone reflected from a thousand bright blue eyes
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And closer still and closer the sampans circled 'round
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And yet from all the enemy there was not heard a sound
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The foe was armed with toasting forks and cruel carving knives
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And the lovers sang their last duet in danger of their lives
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In una tepida notte d'estate, allorche la natura
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Era nel pieno fulgore, e la resca rugiada
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Splendeva al chiar di luna sopra la verzura
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Si poteva vedere il galeone ancorato
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Oscillare in silenzio nel vento profumato
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Dalla marea del naviglio serenamente cullato
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In quella tepida notte che c'e dunque di male
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Se in tnata poesia anche il pirata divento sentimentale?
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Oscillare in silenzio nel vento profumato
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Dalla marea do naviglio serenamente cullato
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In quella tepida notte
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In quella tepida notte
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In quella tepida notte
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Then Genghis gave the signal to his fierce Mongolian hordes
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Abandoning their sampans, the chinks they swarmed aboard
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Abandoning their sampans, their pullaways, their junks
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They battened down the hatches on the crew within their bunks
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Then Griddlebone she gave a screech for she was badly skeered
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I am sorry to admit it, but she quickly disappeared
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She probably escaped with ease I'm sure she was not drowned
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But a serried ring of flashing steel Growltiger did surround
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The ruthless foe presssed forward in stubborn rank on rank
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Growltiger to his vast surprise was forced to walk the plank
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He who a hundred victims had driven to that drop
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At the end of all his crimes was forced to go kerflip, kerflop
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Oh there was joy in Wapping when the news flew through the land
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At Maidenhead and Henley there was dancing on the Strand
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Rats were roasted whole in Brentford and Victoria Dock
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And a day of celebration was commanded in Bangkok!
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These modern productions are all very well
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But there's nothing to equal from what I hear tell
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That moment of mystery when I made history
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'Growltiger`s Last Stand' Including 'The Ballad Of Billy McCaw'
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| Andrew Lloyd Webber |
