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Year of the Cat

by
Al Stewart

Words & Music by Al Stewart and Peter Wood

INTRO: Cmaj7 D Em (three times)

VERSE 1:
On a morning from a Bogart movie
in a country where they turned 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 water color in the rain.
Don’t bother asking for explanations.
She’ll just tell you that she came

in the Year of the Cat.

INSTRUMENTAL: (repeat INTRO chords)

VERSE 2:
She doesn’t give you time for questions
as she locks up you arm in hers.
And you follow ‘til 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.”

INSTRUMENTAL: (repeat INTRO chords)

BRIDGE: (lead-in: D instead of D7)
Well she looks at you so cooly
and her eyes shine like the moon

in the sea.
She comes in incense and pathchouli
so you take her to find what’s
[C/E]waiting inside

the Year of the Cat.

INSTRUMENTAL: (repeat INTRO chords a few times)
acoustic/electric guitar solos, piano, sax, etc. (sweet stuff!)

VERSE 3:
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 drumbeat strains of the night
remain in the rhythm of the newborn day.
You know sometime you’re bound to leave her
but for now you’re gonna stay

in the Year of the Cat.

INSTRUMENTAL: (repeat INTRO chords and fade)
piano riffs, sax, etc.

CHORD DIAGRAMS:

Cmaj7 x32000
D xx2320
Em 022000
Am7 x02010
D7 xx0212
Bm xx4432
B xx4442
C x32010
G 320003
F xx3211
C/E xx2010

Copyright 1976 by Unichappel Music, Inc.

What makes this song sound so great is the piano riffs, the sax, the
solos, and, of course, Al Stewart’s voice. But you can still have fun
with this tune singing solo with a sweet soundin’ acoustic in hand.