Steve Cotler

In a previous post, I spoke about “Little Songs on Big Subjects,” tunes of tolerance written by Hy Zaret & Lou Singer and performed by The Jesters.

The album, recalled with great nostalgia by many, was recorded in the late-40s. It is long out of print and almost completely unavailable. The album was widely played on radio and was used in cartoons shown on early regional television. Here are the lyrics to one of the “little songs, “Ol’ Commodore Gray, and below, a link to its musical cartoon produced by the Anti-Defamation League in 1953:

Ol’ Commodore Gray had a dog and a cat
With a big bow-wow and a little meow.
They all lived together with never a spat.
How in the world did they ever do that?
With a big bow-wow and a little meow-meow
Bow-wow, meow, bow-wow, meow.

The cat and the dog had a barrel of fun
With a big bow-wow and a little meow.
Although they were different, they fooled everyone.
Commodore Gray proved a lot can be done
With a big bow-wow and a little meow-meow
Bow-wow, meow, bow-wow, meow.

Ol’ Commodore Gray often said to the crew,
With a big bow-wow and a little meow-meow,
Though each man among us is different it’s true
My cat and dog get along. So can you
With a big bow-wow and a little meow-meow
Bow-wow, meow, bow-wow, meow.

A big bow-wow and a little meow-meow.

Words: Hy Zaret
Music : Lou Singer
© 1947 Oliver Music & Argosy Music (ASCAP)

The YouTube video, by request, will not embed in this post. Here is the Anti-Defamation League’s link to their cartoon.

Similar or related posts:

1. Little Songs on Big Subjects–Download
2. Little Songs on Big Subjects
3. Little Songs on Big Subjects–Cover Records
4. Little Songs on Big Subjects–Sung by Bibb & Gilbert