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Lyrics to Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat"
Posted on 6/12/15 at 12:24 am
Posted on 6/12/15 at 12:24 am
Background: Love the song. The album cover has always given me a weird vibe - can't explain it. The person in the cat suit is surreal.
Anyway, just discovered there has been quite a bit of debate about the meaning of the lyrics. A lot of people seem to think it's a song about heroin addiction.
A line in the song: "she comes in incense and patchouli" is intriguing. Supposedly has something to do with heroin.
"Year of the Cat" is used to describe a "stress free" period in some Asian cultures from what I've read.
Feel free to chime in. I honestly have no idea if it's about heroin use or a guy who meets a woman in an exotic location. Doesn't matter in the long run I suppose but it's interesting to think about.
songmeanings
year of the cat - youtube
Anyway, just discovered there has been quite a bit of debate about the meaning of the lyrics. A lot of people seem to think it's a song about heroin addiction.
A line in the song: "she comes in incense and patchouli" is intriguing. Supposedly has something to do with heroin.
"Year of the Cat" is used to describe a "stress free" period in some Asian cultures from what I've read.
Feel free to chime in. I honestly have no idea if it's about heroin use or a guy who meets a woman in an exotic location. Doesn't matter in the long run I suppose but it's interesting to think about.
songmeanings
year of the cat - youtube
8
Posted on 6/12/15 at 12:39 am to LSU1NSEC
Great song. I never really understood what the lyrics meant but didn't really care. It's just one of those great seventies songs I grew up with that didn't really need to have an explanation. I just chalked all of those tunes up to drug usage of some type back then and enjoyed the hell out of them. 
Posted on 6/12/15 at 12:44 am to LSU1NSEC
And assuming all that's true. How does it change your life? Do you think you would run out and do heroin? It's a nice song with a good melody and passable bass line. But it also has a horrible 70's sax solo. Why are you obsessing on a song older than you are?
Posted on 6/12/15 at 1:57 am to LSU1NSEC
doesn't it have a Peter Lorre reference?
Posted on 6/12/15 at 3:24 am to LSU1NSEC
Great song and my favorite of his by far.
Posted on 6/12/15 at 6:39 am to LSU1NSEC
Without having specifically asked Al about the song, I'm quite confident that the heroin theory is nonsense. Stewart never hung around those kinds of people, would know nothing about it, and had far more interesting things to write about.
I've been a huge AS fan for many years and can tell you that his style was more that of a storyteller, often writing songs with historical fact imbedded within (kind of a troubadour James Michener, if you will). In songs like YOTC I think his goal was to write lyrics that didn't mean a lot in and of themselves but were designed to create a mood, a feeling, or just to paint some neat pictures in your head. He's one of the most evocative lyricists I've ever run across.
I've often called YOTC his "Spanish album" because there are references to Spain all over it. It was also the first record he did with Peter White, who introduced some awesome Spanish guitar to Stewart's overall sound. The song itself totally makes me think of Barcelona (which I didn't visit until '90 or so).
He did a lot of great stuff after YOTC that you might want to look into.
I've been a huge AS fan for many years and can tell you that his style was more that of a storyteller, often writing songs with historical fact imbedded within (kind of a troubadour James Michener, if you will). In songs like YOTC I think his goal was to write lyrics that didn't mean a lot in and of themselves but were designed to create a mood, a feeling, or just to paint some neat pictures in your head. He's one of the most evocative lyricists I've ever run across.
I've often called YOTC his "Spanish album" because there are references to Spain all over it. It was also the first record he did with Peter White, who introduced some awesome Spanish guitar to Stewart's overall sound. The song itself totally makes me think of Barcelona (which I didn't visit until '90 or so).
He did a lot of great stuff after YOTC that you might want to look into.
This post was edited on 6/12/15 at 6:56 am
Posted on 6/12/15 at 8:30 am to LSU1NSEC
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
Why she looks at you so coolly?
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 drumbeat 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
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
Why she looks at you so coolly?
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 drumbeat 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
Posted on 6/12/15 at 8:53 am to Mountainhead
quote:He does this well. Especially here for me:
I think his goal was to write lyrics that didn't mean a lot in and of themselves but were designed to create a mood, a feeling, or just to paint some neat pictures in your head. He's one of the most evocative lyricists I've ever run across.
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.
Posted on 6/12/15 at 9:00 am to LSU1NSEC
quote:
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 drumbeat 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
I think that would cover the addiction part. Coming to you in the incense and patchouli is supposed to signify the light hearted aspect of getting started. Not that I would know.
Horse With No Name is also supposed to be a heroin tune.
People are dumbasses getting mixed up in bs like that.
Posted on 6/12/15 at 9:04 am to Mountainhead
quote:
Without having specifically asked Al about the song, I'm quite confident that the heroin theory is nonsense. Stewart never hung around those kinds of people, would know nothing about it, and had far more interesting things to write about.
I've read a few posts on other sites that claim Stewart has mentioned the story behind the lyrics but they are conflicting.
I've seen claims that Stewart talks about a drummer leaving the band unexpectedly while in North Africa to stay with a woman.
Others claims YOTC is a song about a movie that Stewart viewed with an actress "Karen Black" in it.
Personally, I can see how this might be a song about heroin use. Maybe Stewart knew someone addicted to heroin. Also, it could be about a romance that was almost as addictive as heroine.
YOTC lyrics are so rich in metaphors. I can see how people have so many different theories about it.
Posted on 6/12/15 at 10:06 am to Zappas Stache
quote:
And assuming all that's true. How does it change your life? Do you think you would run out and do heroin? It's a nice song with a good melody and passable bass line. But it also has a horrible 70's sax solo. Why are you obsessing on a song older than you are?
He likes the song!...Why are you shitting on him....
Posted on 6/12/15 at 10:33 am to 14&Counting
Glad someone said it. 
Posted on 6/12/15 at 10:40 am to 14&Counting
quote:
And assuming all that's true. How does it change your life? Do you think you would run out and do heroin? It's a nice song with a good melody and passable bass line. But it also has a horrible 70's sax solo. Why are you obsessing on a song older than you are?
He likes the song!...Why are you shitting on him....
LOL. I don't even drink alcohol much less do heroin.
Posted on 6/12/15 at 10:48 am to AlxTgr
quote:
Great song and my favorite of his by far.
Did Al Stewart do anything else (not trying to diminish this song, which is fantastic, by the way)?
This post was edited on 6/12/15 at 10:49 am
Posted on 6/12/15 at 11:07 am to Dandy Lion
Time Passages, Song on the Radio and On The Border.
Posted on 6/12/15 at 11:15 am to LSU1NSEC
My favorite song lyrics always have very ambiguous meanings. R.E.M. always used to say about their early lyrics that they had purposely coded wording so as to create an obtuse vibe and also to inspire the listener to come up with his own interpretation. That opens up all kinds of possibilities as opposed to very linear, obvious lines which are limited to only one meaning.
No offense to the OP but it has always annoyed me when somebody tries to force some kind of narrow interpretation upon lyrics that can only suffer from that kind of unnecessary scrutiny.
No offense to the OP but it has always annoyed me when somebody tries to force some kind of narrow interpretation upon lyrics that can only suffer from that kind of unnecessary scrutiny.
Posted on 6/12/15 at 11:21 am to RockAndRollDetective
quote:
My favorite song lyrics always have very ambiguous meanings. R.E.M. always used to say about their early lyrics that they had purposely coded wording so as to create an obtuse vibe and also to inspire the listener to come up with his own interpretation. That opens up all kinds of possibilities as opposed to very linear, obvious lines which are limited to only one meaning.
No offense to the OP but it has always annoyed me when somebody tries to force some kind of narrow interpretation upon lyrics that can only suffer from that kind of unnecessary scrutiny.
I agree that good lyrics are about projection. Back in the day everyone used to talk about their own interpretation of certain lyrics. Beatles' lyrics usually caused tons of speculation.
Posted on 6/12/15 at 11:26 am to RockAndRollDetective
quote:
obtuse vibe
I'm not a dictionary nazi, but I'm pretty sure the word you want here is "abstruse", not "obtuse."
Posted on 6/12/15 at 11:40 am to RockAndRollDetective
They crowded up to Lenin with the noses worn off.
A handshake is worthy - it's all that you've got.
Metal shivs on wood pushed through our back.
A handshake is worthy - it's all that you've got.
Metal shivs on wood pushed through our back.
Posted on 6/12/15 at 12:01 pm to TigerPanzer
quote:
I'm not a dictionary nazi, but I'm pretty sure the word you want here is "abstruse", not "obtuse."
You're right. That's what I meant.
This post was edited on 6/12/15 at 12:04 pm
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