Rum Tum Tugger Lyrics – Cats

Song Overview

“The Rum Tum Tugger (1982 Original Broadway Cast)” by the Original Broadway Cast of Cats is a swaggering character piece that sells contrariness as charisma. The lyrics sketch a cat who always wants the other thing, while the band punches a funk-rock pulse and the crowd joins a call-and-response built to rattle the mezzanine.

Personal Review

“The Rum Tum Tugger (1982 Original Broadway Cast)” might be the purest flex on the Cats album: a strutting groove, a frontman who winks, and lyrics that turn indecision into a lifestyle. Key takeaways: it’s a rock-star entrance in a show-tune frame, a bite-size portrait of desire as mischief, and a built-for-theater hook that the company fires back until the rafters hum. One-line snapshot: a cat who refuses every option somehow becomes the option.

Song Meaning and Annotations

The message is baked into the opening couplet: “If you offer me pheasant I’d rather have grouse.” That contrarian engine never stops. The lyrics read like a comic manifesto for freedom of choice, recited by a cat who thrives on the wrong side of every door. The music matches the swagger - brassy stabs, a heavy pop beat, and a show-chorus that answers the lead like a friendly heckler.

On stage, Tugger is often played like a rock idol, and Andrew Lloyd Webber has long nodded to a Mick Jagger vibe in the role’s slinky strut. Decades later, the 2014 West End revival briefly reimagined Tugger as a street-rap showman, folding hip hop into Eliot’s verse to update the swagger for new ears. It sparked debate, but it also underlined how elastic this number can be without losing its core: attention-magnet attitude.

The character traces back to T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum poems, where the Rum Tum Tugger appears as a comically unappeasable creature. Webber’s adaptation keeps that spine but sets it to a groove that invites the audience to chant along, doubling the lyrics as crowd fuel and character study.

There are two widely heard studio snapshots of this song’s DNA: Paul Nicholas on the 1981 Original London Cast album and Terrence Mann on the 1983 Original Broadway Cast recording. Nicholas leans London rock polish; Mann plants the flag on Broadway with a broader, brasher swagger at 3:42, right in the album’s early stretch. Different accents, same irresistible flip of expectations.

Screen translations sharpen those choices. John Partridge flirts with the camera in the 1998 filmed stage version; Jason Derulo ups the pop-star quotient in the 2019 film, carrying the number like a club feature inside a show-tune frame. Each keeps the lyric’s hook - hard to please, impossible to ignore.

Musically, the Broadway album track pops like funk rock: bright brass, a rhythm section that struts, and a motif that returns with fresh angles so the repetition feels like momentum, not wheel-spinning. That’s why the chant lands - it’s built like a terrace song, but dressed for the theater.

“When you let me in, then I want to go out / I’m always on the wrong side of every door.”

I’ve always heard that couplet as showtime philosophy. Keep the options open, keep the spotlight moving, and never let comfort settle in. In one night, Tugger models the performer’s paradox: aloof and needy, casual and precise.

Verse Highlights

Verse 1

The first run lists preferences that flip as fast as they’re offered. The lyric pattern turns indecision into rhythm. You can almost see the shoulder roll that goes with every reversal.

If you put me in a house, I would much prefer a flat…
If you set me on a mouse then I only want a rat

Refrain

The company’s tag - “The Rum Tum Tugger is a curious cat” - acts as Tugger’s brand stamp. Each repeat resets the riff and cues the crowd. On record, it’s placed for maximum swing.

Middle stretch

Domestic jokes (“lap in the middle of your sewing”) keep the stakes small and the grin wide. It’s vaudeville timing set to a pop beat: a personality sketch you can dance to.

Cats, Original Broadway Cast of Cats, The Rum Tum Tugger, Rum Tum Tugger lyrics, stage rock, Andrew Lloyd Webber, T. S. Eliot, Broadway, show tunes

Key Facts

• Featured: Terrence Mann as Rum Tum Tugger on the Original Broadway Cast recording; Paul Nicholas originated the role in London.
• Producer: Andrew Lloyd Webber.
• Composer: Andrew Lloyd Webber.
• Lyric source: T. S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats”.
• Release Date: January 26, 1983 (OBC album).
• Genre: Show tune with funk-rock accent.
• Instruments: orchestra with brass, woodwinds, strings, keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, percussion.
• Label: Geffen Records (OBC). Polydor for OLC issues.
• Mood: cheeky, flirtatious, big-crowd playful.
• Length: 3:42 (OBC track). About 3:05 on the 1981 London cast.
• Track #: 6 on “Cats: Complete Original Broadway Cast Recording”.
• Language: English.
• Album: Cats: Complete Original Broadway Cast Recording (1982 Original Broadway Cast).
• Music style: riff-driven chorus, call-and-response, spotlight vamp.
• Notable variants: 2014 West End revival rap rework; 2019 film version performed by Jason Derulo.
• ©/?: © 1983 The Really Useful Group Ltd.; ? 1983 The Really Useful Group Ltd. (Geffen release).

Songs Exploring Themes of Contrariness and Charisma

“Master of the House” - Les Misérables. The swagger here is predatory rather than playful. Thénardier’s verse lists schemes and shortcuts with a barroom lurch, while Tugger’s lyrics list whims. Both numbers break the fourth wall with a grin, but Les Mis tilts cynical where Tugger keeps it flirty.

“Popular” - Wicked. Glinda sells confidence as a makeover, line by line. Tugger sells it as instinct. The tempos bounce, the crowds laugh, and both tracks ride bright orchestration; still, “Popular” teaches rules while Tugger delights in breaking them.

“King Herod’s Song” - Jesus Christ Superstar. Another spotlight hog, another taunting chorus. Herod’s vaudeville sneer feels mean; Tugger’s cocked-hip tease feels communal. Both use show-biz language to test a room’s appetite for spectacle.

Questions and Answers

Who leads the vocals on the Original Broadway track?

Terrence Mann sings Rum Tum Tugger on the 1983 Geffen release, featured as track 6.

How long is the album cut, and where does it sit?

3:42 on the Complete Original Broadway Cast Recording, placed early in Act One material.

Was there an earlier studio version before Broadway?

Yes. Paul Nicholas recorded it for the 1981 Original London Cast album on Polydor, around 3:05.

Did the song ever change style in later revivals?

In 2014, the West End revival briefly reworked the number as a hip hop piece for a “street cat” Tugger.

Who performs it in the most recent film adaptation?

Jason Derulo sings “The Rum Tum Tugger” in the 2019 Cats movie and on its soundtrack.

Awards and Chart Positions

The album that houses “The Rum Tum Tugger (1982 Original Broadway Cast)” won the Grammy for Best Cast Show Album, earned RIAA Platinum certification, and reached no. 131 on the Billboard 200, with higher peaks in Austria and New Zealand. Dates matter: the recording dropped January 26, 1983, after sessions in October 1982.

How to Sing?

Tugger is usually cast as a rock tenor with a strong falsetto. Think bite on the consonants, loose hips in the phrasing. Keep verses speech-rhythmic and playful; let the vowels bloom in the refrain so the company can lock around you. Breath plan: reset between each “curious cat” tag, then ride the band’s downbeats to keep the swagger forward. Touch of rasp is welcome; over-scoop the pitch and you lose the strut.