Felix Kept On Walking is a 1923 English comic novelty song. The song was written by Hubert W. David (music) and Ed E. Bryant (lyrics), and describes Felix The Cat having various fantastical escapades (being swallowed by a whale, skinned alive by cannibals, and so forth). The song was very popular during the 1920s.
History[]
"Felix Kept On Walking" was recorded in the 1920s by Clarkson Rose, the Jack Hylton Orchestra, the Savoy Havana Band, Ena Baga, Joe Loss and his Orchestra (as part of a medley), Reginald Dixon (also as part of a medley), Stanley Kirkby, and others, including the Original Capitol Orchestra, the Two Gilberts, the Pigmy Orchestra, Harry Fay, George Berry, and Eric Smart. A version by The Big Ben Banjo Band (with the Michael Sammes Singers) was recorded and released much later, in 1964. A revival band, Nicholas D. Ball's Savoy Havana Band, has included the song in its repertoire in the 21st century, playing an instrumental version at the Whitley Bay Jazz Festival in 2022.
Following on from the song's success in the United Kingdom, Bryant and David wrote another Felix song titled "Here He Is Again! (Being More Adventures Of Felix)" in 1924, also published by Worton David in London and relating the cat's further adventures, the same year in which Harry Tilsley released "Fido Followed Felix" in the United Kingdom, published in London by Cecil Lennox and giving Felix a companion dog that followed him on his globetrotting adventures.
Audio[]
Song Lyrics[]
Ding, dong, bell, pussy's in the well.
There's a funny little cat
With a tummy nice and fat.
He's won picture fame
Felix is his name.
Has a funny little walk
Whiskers on his chin;
And, no matter where he goes
Or what occurs to him.
Felix keeps on walking, keeps on walking still.
With his hands behind him, you will always find him.
Blew him up with dynamite, but him they couldn't kill.
Miles up in the air he flew,
He just murmured "Toodle-oo!"
Landed down in Timbuctoo, and kept on walking still.
Felix kept on walking, kept on walking still.
One day he was collar'd . . . by a whale, and swallowed.
In the tummy of that whale he found himself, but still,
All the same he never frown'd,
He just smiled and then look'd round,
Thought it was the "Underground" and kept on walking still.
Way out on a desert isl me e,
Felix met a crocodile.
It just gave a cough,
Blew his whiskers off.
Then he walk'd for miles and miles
Till his feet were raw,
Thought he'd have a rest, but then a lion there he saw!
Felix kept on walking, kept on walking still.
Cannibals then cought him, tasty bit they thought him.
Skinned him like a rabbit, he was so "cut up" until
A native's scalp he noticed there,
Stuck it on where he felt bare,
Raised his hat and said "There's hair" and kept on walking still.
Felix kept on walking, kept on walking still.
By a train at Dover, had his tail run over,
On the rail he left his tail, it gave the folks a thrill,
Still for that, he didn't care.
Though he had no rudder there,
Wagged his "nothing" in the air, and kept on walking still.
He's so full of funny tricks,
Fed some sawdust to the chicks,
Now instead of eggs . . .
They lay table legs.
On poor Auntie's powder puff
"Hair restorer" placed,
Then when he saw Auntie put that Tatcho on her face . . .
Felix kept on walking, kept on walking still.
Now poor Auntie Eva has a full grown "beaver"
On the tiles he went last night, those tabby cats to thrill,
Met a Frenchy cat named Lou,
She said "Do you parley vous?"
He said, "Yes, but not with you," and kept on walking still.
Felix kept on walking, kept on walking still.
Someone tried to drown him, with a brick tied round him.
Shoved him in the rain-tub there, but him they couldn't kill,
Started lapping with his tongue
Till that water all was done
Then he crept out through the "bung" and kept on walking still.
Kept on walking, kept on walking,
Kept on walking still. Mee-ow!
Trivia[]
- A similar title, "Felix the Cat Kept On Walking", was given to a 1925 Felix the Cat short.
- Worton David was Hubert David's father; Hubert being just 17 when wrote the music.