Hi, everyone. And welcome back to The Sound of Musicals.欢迎回来曲外之音， And this is the second episode for the musical Cats. Hi, Oliver.

Hello again.

So last time we were talking about Cats, and we have summarized or you summarized the plot or the none plot for cats, basically a bunch of cats trying to go to kitty heaven.

Yeah, cats go to kitty heaven and start their new life.

So are there any themes?

Well there are. They're a little bit harder to find than in most musicals, but one of the more obvious ones is the idea of rebirth. They go to the heavy side layer, their version of heaven, and they are reborn using their cats nine lives. That's quite an interesting idea there because you only get one cat a year to go, so they have to choose who deserves it.

So it is seen as an honor or as at least a good thing, it’s a rare opportunity.

It’s seen as like a prize or a benefit or something they get to go, they get to start again.

And then they can come back and have everything again that they've lost in their life this time through age or injury or illness.

Speaking of age, I think one of the reasons that number Memory is so popular is because it's so sad. It's not just about cats, it’s not just about an individual. It speaks to all of us because all of us will age, will all die, will all lose our useful energy.

Yes, it is one of the few songs which you can really connect within this musical. A lot of them are introduction songs. There's some very strange songs and some very good songs, but this one it stands out because everyone can connect to it.

She sings about the happiness of the past and what she used to be like and what she is like now and it's another strong theme of this musical is the idea of losing things.

Another character, Gus, I think his name Asparagus, but they call him Gus, he used to be an actor, but he became ill and his hands his paws shake. And He can't act and that through injury and through illness now he can't do what he used to do. And his song is looking back at his time as an actor and his crowning moment of playing this part. But of course now he can't do that and they're all looking backwards and remembering what it was rather than doing it now.

So a lot of reminiscing about the good days that are past tense that are gone.

There it is. It's a lot of looking back and thinking this is what I used to be like, but now not... I can't do it anymore.

And I think everyone in their lives will reach that point. Things you used to be able to do so easily and simply now it's a challenge and then you can't do it at all. I'm reminded of athletes and dancers and sports players to use a phrase they age out, they can't do it anymore, they are too old. Their bodies can't do what they used to do, and the character Grizabella who sings memories, she can't dance anymore and that's something she used to enjoy and used to be very good at.

Yeah it is really sad because it reminds us of our own mortality, our own aging process.

Yeah, the limits we have on our time. It's very it's a little bit sad when we think about it too much.

Exactly. Exactly. But I mean before we get more into that and then get both of us and our audience depressed, let's move on to the music numbers because that's a lot cheerier apart from the song Memory.

I think let's save Memory for later and move first into a bit more of a happier number.

Can I propose in the prologue, the Jellicle songs for Jellicle cats .

Yeah. It's a nice introduction number.

Especially that after you told us or told me last time, Jellicle is just another corrupted version of “dear little” and This song makes a lot more sense.

Dear little cats, delicate cats.

I love Jellicle cats because obviously the chorus keeps singing because Jellicles can and Jellicles do. Jellicles do and Jellicles can. If you ever had a cat, I don't know if you ever had a cat before.

Aha ,Yes I used to have two cats.

If you look at the lyrics, if you really examine the lyrics, you will see this is so apt how they are describing the cats.

For example, there's bits that says we can obviously referring to the cats themselves. We can dive through the air like a flying trapeze. We can turn double somersaults, bounce on the tire, we can run up the wall, we can swing through the trees, we can balance on bars, we can walk on a wire.

Yeah, I think I saw my cats do at least two of those things.

It's very good, there's a lot of say word plays and questions and things cats can do which is quite fun. Things like Dare you look at a king? Would you sit on his throne? I just remember my cat sitting in the chair, my dad's chair. My dad came in from work, looked at the cat, the cat stared back and then went back to sleep and did not move and would not move from my dad's chair. So Yeah.

My cat always gives me the look when she does that she gives me the looks like what's your problem then?

It’s the looks it's like what do you want? You’re bothering me. It's that kind of look.

Yeah, and the lyrics also has a fair bit of cultural reference. I thought we can perhaps go a little bit into it and then maybe walk through for our audience. For example, in this song it says, can you ride on a broomstick to places far distant? This is obviously talking about the witch and they're familiar. They're cats, right?

It is, yes. So it was the idea that witches in the 15, 16, 17 centuries when they became a witch, they could summon a familiar which was like a demon animal or something, a connection with the devil who that gave them their witch powers.

And quite often it was a cat, more often than not, it was a black cat, which is why for some people, black cats are unlucky nowadays.

Yeah, because they're basically... had a pact with demons. Then it says familiar with candle, with book and with bell. This one I don't really get.

So this is a reference to the catholic church. So when you were found to be doing something against the church or when you would upset the church a lot, such as the ladies who were accused of being witches, it's called excommunication. Basically they kick you out of the church. You're not allowed to be part of the church. And that's in for Christians, that means they couldn't go to heaven, they were stuck. They could not go to heaven. There was no coming back from it. And What they did is they blew out a candle said like the light is gone. They closed a book because the bible was not open to them, and then they rang about to let everybody know that this person is no longer part of the church.

I suppose because cats are... black cats like you said are associated with witchcraft and with demons. That's why they've probably been kicked out of the church.

Oh Definitely so, they would not have been allowed anywhere near the church and I in the famous witch trials in the US, there were a lot of women lost their lives after being accused of witchcraft.

Yeah, and there are lots of cultural references about different things in sort of English speaking history and just general sort of western history. If you're interested you can always go more into it.

And do you know also really like the nonsensical just wordplay or sort of like a linguistic experiment towards the end.

You know the part I am talking about when they are singing practical cats, grammatical cats, pragmatical cats, fanatical cats, or rhetorical cat, stealthy oracle cat. And it's like a long thing, let me see how many... 22 words, 22 adjectives, long adjectives to describe cats.

Yeah, it's a really strange verse, but the more I think about it, the more I kind of see why it's there. These are all adjectives which have described people's opinions towards cats at some point in history and in some culture around the world.

For example, cats in ancient Egypt used to be seen as being special to best the cat goddess, so mystical cats, clerical cats maybe is also connected to that religious thing.

I see, like cynical cats. Cats are generally seen as pretty skeptical, cynical, critical. They're not like the warmest animals at least they don't warm up to you like dogs do that sort of immediately.

Yeah, definitely, as you said, they are practical cats. They don't do things unless they think there's a benefit for them.

So it is very interested, you can always check out all of these words, but now let's listen to that bit and see how many of these adjectives can you recognize?

Jellicle songs for Jellicle cats

Okay, anything else you like in terms of music?

There is another good song which I quite enjoy, which was Bustopher Jones

Oh I love that one, that is also very rich in cultural references.

It is, yes, it is definitely so and some of them I missed until I was looking into it, but it's about a big cat. Like this is the rich cat, this is the high life cat, he is the huge...

You know what, he is the fat cat.

He is the fat cat. That's it.

If you guys don't know the meaning of fat cat, it basically has a metaphorical meaning. So fat cat can be a cat which is very fat, but a fat cat can also be a very rich and in like a very wealthy and influential person. Right ?

Yeah, so anyone who is like successful in business influential rich, often very well dressed, they can be described as a fat cat.

And it says that he obviously is impeccably dressed. It's like, for example, the lyric says no commonplace mousers have such well-cut trousers.

Yeah, so it's this... the cat here he does look very nice. For his size is described as being a large 25 pounder. So he's a big cat

And he is also talking about cultural references. It says in the whole of Saint James, St. James, is it the St. James I'm thinking about, like st. James Park.

It's in London St. James Park and it also connects with the name of Brummell in the next the name of this Brummell of cats, which are

Beau Brummell, the original dandy.

That's it.

I didn't know, this is new for me, but Beau Brummell was a... he was the original dandy, he was a fashion icon it's described as when I was looking online, nice clothes and a shop selling nice clothes to people in London in St. James.

And he says “we're all of us proud to be nodded or bowed to by Bustopher Jones.”

Yeah, he is very posh cat, very posh, very nice, very fat cat.

Ok, let's listen to that a bit.

Bustopher Jones (Original London Cast Recording）

Ok, I think we have a little bit of time left, I guess Oliver walk us through maybe Memory, which is the most famous number in this.

It is. Memory is the one that everybody knows. You say the musical Cats, they think of this song. It's not just from this musical. A lot of famous singers have made their own version of this song outside of the musical just on albums and singles.

And I think it's fantastic. I really enjoy this song. It's sad. It's Grizabella remembering her past and it's all about her memories and how things used to be. I remember the time I knew what happiness was is one of the lines she says, life was beautiful then and she's looking backwards and it's very sad.

It is very sad and it's very difficult to sing. It's got a lot of high notes.

It does. It is very difficult and the original actress who played the part of Grizabella Elaine Paige. Many people think she did it the best and it is very very good. Yeah.

Yeah I guess it also gives a little bit of hope towards the end because we also know in the story Grizabella did or was chosen in the end to go to Heaviside layer to be reborn. So she ends the song. She was saying a new day has begun and like another day's dawning that sort of thing.

Yeah, so it does it's all at night time it begins by saying midnight and then halfway through its daylight and then its dawn coming and the light of a new day. So just have a little bit of a positive ending there.

Okay. So we're gonna end today's program with that song and it is sad, but it's also beautiful. And thank you, Oliver for coming to the show.

Thank you for having me back again. It's been great to be back.

Ok, Can't wait for our next musical talk. And if you guys have any requests, leave us a comment in the comment section. We'll see you next time.

Good bye.