Siamese cat song

Siamese cat song? You'll see the connection (tenuous) when you read the post. Photo copyright ChrissieWiz.

My competitor (on the Internet), Moggies.com, has a small article about the Siamese cat song, so I'll do the same! Anyway this song was co-authored by Peggie Lee and I have always liked her work and her voice. Her famous song, "Fever" comes to mind right away.

I didn't know, though, that she was a talented song writer as well as a talented singer. There are other well known women who are associated with cats. They are Bardot, Day and Hammond and all three are concerned with animal welfare.

I didn't have much of a clue as to what the Siamese cat song was. The Siamese cat song was written for the Walt Disney animated feature (cartoon film), "The Lady and the Tramp". It was released in the summer of 1955. The film is about 2 dogs, one a posh girl dog called "Lady" and the other a poor boy dog called "Tramp". It's a fine and successful film. Two Siamese cats are introduced into the story when the human "owners" of Lady go away for a few days and an aunt comes to baby sit. She brings with her two Siamese cats called Si and Am. {technical point - these would have been Traditional Siamese Cats!}.

As cats do, they explored their new environment, driven by their inquisitive natures and they predictably caused some problems. Si and Am took a fancy to the goldfish, the canary and the baby's milk! Lady intervened and barked and the aunt didn't like this. Peggy Lee sings the Siamese cat song during these scenes.

The song is called, "We Are Siamese (If You Please)". Here are the lyrics:

We are Siamese if you please
We are Siamese if you don't please
We are from a residence of Siam
There is no finer cat than I am

Do you see that thing swimming round and round
Maybe we can reach on in and make it drown
If we sneaking up upon it carefully
There will be head for you and a tail for me

We are Siamese if you please
We are Siamese if you please
Now we're looking over our new domicile
If we like we stay for maybe quite a while

We are Siamese if you please
We are Siamese if you don't please
We are from a residence of Siam
There is no finer cat than I am

Do you hear what I hear a baby cry
Where we finding baby there's milk near by
And if we look in baby buggy there could be
Plenty of milk for you and also some for me

We are Siamese if you please
We are Siamese if you please
Now we're looking over our new domicile
If we like we stay for maybe quite a while

We are Siamese if you please
We are Siamese if you don't please
We are from a residence of Siam
There is no finer cat than I am

We are Siamese if you please
We are Siamese if you don't please
We are from a residence of Siam
There is no finer cat than I am

We are Siamese if you please
We are Siamese if you don't please
We are from a residence of Siam
There is no finer cat than I am

The lyrics are as far as I am aware, Copyright 1997 Disney Corporation. The Lyrics are the property of the respective authors, artists and labels.

The Siamese cats obviously thought themselves as rather superior. This is completely in keeping with the thoughts about Siamese cats in the 1950s and earlier. They were rare cats in the earlier part of the 1900s and Peggy Lee would know that. That rarity translates into being special which carries a certain self importance. Click on the link to read about Siamese cat history. Siamese cats are now quite commonplace and their appearance transformed by the breeders. Well, at the least the appearance of Siamese pedigree show cats has been transformed. There is still a large population of Traditional Siamese cats (many non-purebred or half Siamese) in the world.

The song was written by Peggy Lee and Sonny Burke. Peggy also contributed to the films score. Most of us know Peggy Lee as a famous vocalist of the 1950s. Sonny Burke is less well known. Sonny Burke was a big band leader (big bands were the "in thing" in those days) in the 1930s and 1940s and a band arranger at the time the Siamese cat song was composed. He did a bit of composing as well, hence his collaboration with Peggy Lee. His full name is Joseph Francis Burke. He died in 1980 aged 66.

Peggy Lee (left towards the end of her life -this is published under a creative commons license but the photographer is unkown).

Her real name was Norma Deloris Egstrom. She was born 26 May 1920, in Jamestown, North Dakota, USA. She died aged 81 in 2002.

She remained popular to the end and was singing in the UK as late as 1994 in a wheel chair to a sell out audience.


Siamese cat song - Lyrics source: MetroLyrics. Siamese cat song - Information sources: Wikipedia and various others

Siamese cat song to British Shorthair cat