Al Stewart - Year Of The Cat

Year of the Cat is a song by Scottish singer-songwriter Al Stewart, released as a single in July 1976 in the UK (October 1976 in the US). The song is the title track of his 1976 album Year of the Cat, and was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, in January 1976 by engineer Alan Parsons. The song peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the consecutive weeks of March 5 and 12, 1977. Although Stewart's highest placed single on that chart was 1978's "Time Passages", Year of the Cat has remained Stewart's signature recording, receiving regular airplay on both classic rock and folk rock stations.

Lyrics:
[Instrumental Intro]

[Verse 1]
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 watercolour in the rain
Don't bother asking for explanations
She'll just tell you that she came

[Refrain]
In the year of the cat

[Verse 2]
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

[Refrain]
The year of the cat

[Verse 3]
Well, 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

[Refrain]
The year of the cat

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 4]
Well, morning comes and you're still with her
And the bus and the tourists are gone
And you've thrown away your choice and 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

[Refrain]
In the year of the cat
Mm, year of the cat

[Instrumental Outro]