Bumper Song "Year of the cat"

[7Critter]

Song: The Year of the cat
Album: The Year of the cat
Year: 1976
Writers: Al Stewart, Peter Wood
Album Producer: Alan Parsons
Intro: Many of us have heard this favorite bumper song of the Art Bell radio program Midnight in the Desert. Al Stewart's "year of the Cat" is one of my favorite songs. Its a hypnotic melody, sung by the pleasant voice of Al Stewart. The mix of lyrics and lengthy instrumental sections of piano, bass guitar, acoustic guitar followed by electric guitar, and finally sax envelops the listener. After listening to this song hundreds of times, I asked myself, "what does the song mean ?" I like it, I sing along with it. I have no clue what it means. Thus my quest to determine what Al Stewart was writing about.

Listen to the song, read the lyrics. What does the song mean to you or what was happening in your life when you first heard it ?

LYRICS
On a morning from a Bogart movie
In a country where they turn back time
You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre
Contemplating a crime
She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running
Like a watercolor in the rain
Don't bother asking for explanations
She'll just tell you that she came
In the year of the cat

She doesn't give you time for questions
As she locks up your arm in hers
And you follow 'till your sense of which direction
Completely disappears
By the blue tiled walls near the market stalls
There's a hidden door she leads you to
These days, she says, I feel my life
Just like a river running through
The year of the cat

While she looks at you so cooly
And her eyes shine like the moon in the sea
She comes in incense and patchouli
So you take her, to find what's waiting inside
The year of the cat

Well morning comes and you're still with her
And the bus and the tourists are gone
And you've thrown away your choice you've lost your ticket
So you have to stay on
But the drum-beat strains of the night remain
In the rhythm of the new-born day
You know sometime you're bound to leave her
But for now you're going to stay
In the year of the cat

Year of the cat


Background: Al tells a story on one of his live recordings about how the song came about. He was touring the United States. While in Cincinnati, Ohio, he had this melody running through his head. He wrote the cords down with the help of his co-writer Peter Wood so that he could later play while writing the words. The words would not come. Finally a year later while with his girl friend, he saw a book that she had on Vietnamese astrology and it was turned to the chapter called The Year of the cat. This was the inspiration / title for the words of the song. So, sometimes words are written followed by the creation of the melody, sometimes as in this case words followed the melody.
In Vietnamese astrology.
The Year of the Cat is also called the Year of the Rabbit... It comes every 12 Years and it is supposed to be a stress free year. The twelve months between February 1975 and January 1976 was such a period of the year of the cat, during which the song was written and recorded.

Some say that the Many of the lyrics were inspired by the 1942 Humphrey Bogart movie Casablanca

There are many interpretations for what the song means as can be found in the bibliography.
[cut the interpretations. I initially included posts from other sites]

Biblio:
Year Of The Cat by Al Stewart - Songfacts
Year of the Cat (song) - Wikipedia
Al Stewart – Year of the Cat Lyrics | Genius Lyrics
http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/17850/?&specific_com=73015942199#comments
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I have read interpretations from many internet posters. Some one liners, some a detailed line by line analysis of the song lyrics. Some one-dimensional; some many dimensional interpretations. It's like many songs. Listeners interpret songs in a way that best suits themselves or reinforces a memory.

So what do I think ? I want to believe that the story is a fantasy of a man meeting an exotic woman in an exotic place. A bored tourist in North Africa who by chance meets a woman; they lock eyes and arms and have an enjoyable afternoon/evening/morning. This can be as casual or as sensual as your imagination wants. Initially inspired by a book of astrology and the movie Casa Blanca, perhaps Al dreamed this or imagined this for himself as he played the cords.

What say you ?

 

[Mokey]

Oh good one, love this song, will add more in a bit. Having a mom crisis aaaaaaaaah

 

[Mokey]

I've always taken it to mean he's in a strange place and comes upon a free spirited stranger. No words needed, just an instant connection and she leads while he follows not questioning. They spend the night together and he never does go home from this strange place, he stays on with her and lives a free spirited life himself. No questions, just doing, acting. No future plans, live for the moment.

Anybody who can get patchouli in a song and make it fit is perfection in my book.

 

[Firek]

From wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt:
--
Co-written by Peter Wood, "Year of the Cat" is a narrative song written in the second person whose protagonist, a tourist, is visiting an exotic market when a mysterious silk-clad woman appears and takes him away for a gauzy romantic adventure. On wakening the next day beside her, the tourist realizes, with equanimity, that his tour bus has left without him and he has lost his ticket.

The Cat is one of the twelve signs of the Vietnamese zodiac. It corresponds to that of the Rabbit in the Chinese zodiac. At the time of the song's release, the most recent Year of the Rabbit had been 11 February 1975 to 30 January 1976. Thus, the song was recorded in the Vietnamese Year of the Cat.

The song "Year of the Cat" began as "Foot of the Stage", a song written by Stewart in 1966 after seeing a performance by comedian Tony Hancock whose patter about "being a complete loser" who might as well "end it all right here" drew laughs from the audience: Stewart's intuitive response that Hancock was in genuine despair led to the writing of "Foot of the Stage".[4] It was the melody for this never-recorded song which Stewart set the lyrics of "Year of the Cat" to in 1975: pianist Peter Wood was given a co-writing credit on the song in recognition of his piano riff on the recorded track.
--

This is a good jam, and it's a shame I missed it for so long. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I owe this tune some love.


I edit, like, every post I make. I just noticed that you posted the wiki article already, so nevermind I guess! But still, great song.

 

[7Critter]

From wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt:
--
Co-written by Peter Wood, "Year of the Cat" is a narrative song written in the second person whose protagonist, a tourist, is visiting an exotic market when a mysterious silk-clad woman appears and takes him away for a gauzy romantic adventure. On wakening the next day beside her, the tourist realizes, with equanimity, that his tour bus has left without him and he has lost his ticket.

The Cat is one of the twelve signs of the Vietnamese zodiac. It corresponds to that of the Rabbit in the Chinese zodiac. At the time of the song's release, the most recent Year of the Rabbit had been 11 February 1975 to 30 January 1976. Thus, the song was recorded in the Vietnamese Year of the Cat.

The song "Year of the Cat" began as "Foot of the Stage", a song written by Stewart in 1966 after seeing a performance by comedian Tony Hancock whose patter about "being a complete loser" who might as well "end it all right here" drew laughs from the audience: Stewart's intuitive response that Hancock was in genuine despair led to the writing of "Foot of the Stage".[4] It was the melody for this never-recorded song which Stewart set the lyrics of "Year of the Cat" to in 1975: pianist Peter Wood was given a co-writing credit on the song in recognition of his piano riff on the recorded track.
--

This is a good jam, and it's a shame I missed it for so long. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I owe this tune some love.


I edit, like, every post I make. I just noticed that you posted the wiki article already, so nevermind I guess! But still, great song.

Glad that you liked the song. I just listed the internet sources that I looked at while researching. I notice that wiki mentions Tony Handcock. I am not convinced that Al initially wrote YOTC about him. He did write a song about Tony during that timeframe.

 

[surge]

What was happening in my life when I first heard this? I was ten in the summer of '76, so I'm going to guess I was on summer vacation at the time. I used to listen to the radio in bed at night (used to, he says), so it's entirely possible that I might have first heard "Year of the Cat" while in bed trying to find a baseball game on the radio.