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Halloween Night Song

Poem by Dahlov Ipcar © 2001

Adapted and musically arranged by: Charlie Ipcar © 2018

Tune after traditional: "Leather Wing Bat"

Printable Version ~ PDF ~ MP3 Version ~ Original Poem

Halloween Night
collage illustration created by Charlie Ipcar
photo of harvest moon by Judy Barrows
Graphic ©2022, Ipbar Productions, all rights reserved.

Late last night my black cat cried,
I wondered why, I wondered why--
For it was a cold October night,
And the wind blew high, the wind blew high.

A great orange moon rose high above,
The tossing trees, the tossing trees--
And through that sky dead leaves swirled by,
Borne on the breeze, borne on the breeze.

My black cat clawed and scratched the door,
Mewed and cried, mewed and cried--
I scarce believed she wished to leave,
The warm fireside, the warm fireside.

But when I opened wide the door,
She dashed outside, she dashed outside--
And on a broomstick she leapt astride,
As it sailed by, as it sailed by.

So now I know that my black cat,
Who loves to chase the mice and rats--
Wants to chase the little black bats,
And owls that fly, owls that fly.

If I was a witch on Halloween,
I'd like to fly, I’d like to fly--
And ride my broomstick way up high,
Across the sky, across the sky.

With my black cat I'd take to flight
And chase the bats and owls all night--
And ne’er return until daylight,
When the sun rose high, the sun rose high.

Tag Line:
When the sun rose high, the sun rose high.

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Halloween Night Song

By Dahlov Ipcar © 2001

My black cat cried to go out last night
And I wondered why, I wondered why
For it was a cold October night
And the wind was high, the wind was high.

A great orange moon hung there above
The tossing trees, the tossing trees
And through the wild and windy sky
Dark clouds raced across the moon
Swirling by, swirling by.

My black cat clawed and scratched the door
And mewed and cried, mewed and cried
I could not believe he wished to leave
The fireside, the fireside.

But when I opened the door he ran
Swiftly out in the bitter night
And in a flash he jumped astride
A broomstick that came sailing by
And away did ride, away did ride.

So now I know that my black cat
Grows tired of chasing mice and rats
And wants to chase the little black bats
And owls that fly in the midnight sky.

If I were a witch on Halloween
I'd like to fly, I'd like to fly
Riding a broomstick way up high
Across the sky, across the sky.

With my black cat I'd take my flight
And chase the bats and owls of night
And never come back until day light
When the sun was high, when the sun was high.

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