re: Lyrics to Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat"

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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.

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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.