Live 07 May 2008 version
Catlong sighed holding Kitty's black tooth
She left to marry some
[Crowd:] Top cat
Ain't it the cold truth
There hasn't been a tally since Sally left the alley
Since Kitty left with Big Pretty things have got pretty thin
It's tight on this fence since them young dudes are muscling in
Jack Knife cries 'cause baby's in a bundle
She goes running nightly, lightly through the jungle
Them tin cans are exploding out in the ninety-degree heat
Cat somehow lost his baby down on Bleecker Street
It's sad, but it sure is true
Cat shrugs his shoulders, sits back and sighs
Oh, what can I do?
Oh, oh, what can I do?
Oh, what can I do?
Oh, oh, what can I do?
Catlong lies back bent on a trash can
Flashing lights cut the night, dude in white says he's the man
Well, you better learn to move fast when you're young or you're not long around
Cat somehow lost his Kitty down in the city pound
Get right, get tight, get down
Here she comes, (here she comes)
Here she comes, (here she comes)
Here she comes, (here she comes)
Here she comes, (here she comes)
Here she comes, (here she comes)
Here she comes, (here she comes)
Here she comes, (here she comes)
Here she comes, (here she comes)
Here she comes, (here she comes)
Here she comes, (here she comes)
Come on, boys!
Kitty's back in town (here she comes, now)
Kitty's back (oh, oh, all right)
Kitty's back in town (here she comes, now)
Kitty's back (oh, oh, all right)
Kitty's back in town (here she comes, now)
Kitty's back (oh, oh, all right)
Kitty's back in town (here she comes, now)
Kitty's back (oh, oh, all right)
Cat knows his Kitty's been untrue
That she left him for a city dude
She's so soft, she's so blue
When he looks into her eyes
He just sits back and sighs
Oh, what can I do?
Oh, oh, what can I do?
Oh, what can I do?
Oh, oh, what can I do?
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, all right, well, it's all right)
Yeah, everybody, now
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, all right, well, it's all right)
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, all right, well, it's all right)
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, all right, well, it's all right)
Yeah, come on, C!
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, all right, well, it's all right)
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, all right, well, it's all right)
Come on, let me hear you, Charles!
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, all right, well, it's all right)
Yeah, everybody
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, all right, well, it's all right)
Come on, Max!
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, all right, well, it's all right)
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, all right, well, it's all right)
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, all right, well, it's all right)
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, all right, well, it's all right)
Come on, Max!
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, all right, well, it's all right)
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, all right)
Kitty's back! Kitty's back, and there's somebody with her! There's somebody with her! Bring in up, band!
The above lyrics are for the live 07 May 2008 performance of KITTY'S BACK at Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ, during a benefit show for the Count Basie Theatre. The song was played in a full-band arrangement featuring a horns section.
On 07 May 2008, during a break in the Magic Tour between a North American and a European leg, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played a benefit show for the 82-year-old Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ. The concert was significant for venue, raising alone over $3 million for its restoration fund.
For the very first time ever Springsteen and the band played, not one, but two complete albums from their catalog: Darkness On The Edge Of Town and Born To Run, live and in sequence. Springsteen said that they "decided to do something we've never done before, and that you're not going to see someplace else." However, performances of entire albums would later become a feature of the last two months of the Working On A Dream Tour.
To wrap the night up, Springsteen and the band played a four-song encore featuring a full horn section. "The Mighty Max Horns," as Springsteen later called them, consisted of Mark Pender on trumpet, Richie "LaBamba" Rosenberg on trombone, and Jerry Vivino and Ed Manion on saxophones.
The theatre opened as the Carlton Theater in 1926, was renamed the Monmouth Arts Center in 1973, and in 1984 it was renamed the Count Basie Theatre, in memory to the recently deceased jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, and Red Bank native William "Count" Basie. The theatre had been hosting Bruce Springsteen since the mid-seventies -- he played there during The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle Tour in 1974, the Born To Run Tour in 1975, and the Lawsuit Tour in 1976. He has since outgrown the small venue, but he kept making surprise appearances over the years.
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
List of available versions of KITTY'S BACK on this website:
KITTY'S BACK [Album version]