Grizabella the Glamour Cat (song)

The song "Grizabella the Glamour Cat" introduces Grizabella, and shows how the tribe do not welcome her.

Context
As Rum Tum Tugger is finishing his wild, fun song, Grizabella appears onstage. Immediately the mood changes - she is not welcomed by the tribe.

The younger kittens don't understand, but the adults make it clear that she is not to be touched or accepted. To explain, Demeter and Bombalurina tell us who she is.

This poem is open to interpretation, one theory involving allusions to the second world war in mentioning "The Rising Sun", No man's land, and "The Friend At Hand". However the more literal interpretation is that these mentions are refering to pub names, often used as geographic markers in London. Tottenham Court Road is well known as a location, "The Rising Sun" and "The Friend At Hand" both being pubs in the area.

The poem was discovered among TS Eliot's papers, he did not include it in the "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" as he considered it to be too sad. However the inclusion of the character of Grizabella inspired the narrative framework that surrounds "Cats", that of Grizabella's acceptance and redemption.

The opening four lines, which are sung by Grizabella herself, are lifted from "Rhapsody on a Windy Night" by TS Eliot, and refer to a prostitute walking the streets in the early hours of the morning.

Lyrics
Grizabella: Remark the cat who hesitates toward you In the light of the door which opens on her like a grin. You see the border of her coat is torn and stained with sand, And you see the corner of her eye twist like a crooked pin.

Demeter: She haunted many a low resort Near the grimy road of Tottenham Court; She flitted about the No Man's Land From "The Rising Sun" to "The Friend at Hand." And the postman sighed, as he scratched his head: "You'd really had thought she ought to be dead And who would ever suppose that That was Grizabella, the glamour cat?"

Bombalurina: Grizabella, the glamour cat. Grizabella, the glamour cat. And who would ever suppose that That was Grizabella, the glamour cat?