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Rating: 1967-1976: Almost a decade has passed since Al Stewart's recording debut, and he finally sees his constant and meticulous search rewarded with great commercial success, which coincides with one of his artistic peaks. An album that represents a perfect synthesis of what the songwriter expressed in his previous releases, particularly combining the best features of his two previous albums, "Past, Present And Future" and "Modern Times". "Year Of The Cat" is a perfect album, practically devoid of any formal defects; a refined, cultured, and captivating product from the very graphic design with which it is presented, where high-class singer-songwriter pop, sometimes with almost crooner-like tones, blends with folk with various more or less rock nuances already well established in previous years. This is the most evident stylistic novelty of "Year Of The Cat", and it's just the beginning of a gradual modernization in Al Stewart's sound, destined to further develop in the two releases immediately following.
The compositional freshness, enthusiasm, inspiration, and melodic momentum of "Year Of The Cat" are immediately evident even in the less ambitious episodes of the album, "Sand In Your Shoes" and "If It Doesn't Come Naturally Leave It", exquisite and lively American-style country-rock enriched with straightforward and philosophical lyrics, which represent a clear discontinuity from the suffering and reflective atmospheres that permeated the previous album "Modern Times". After the splendor of "Past, Present And Future", the historical component is revisited in the airy and dreamy Beatles-flavored ballad "Lord Greenville", characterized by a wonderful alchemy between Alan Parsons' orchestral arrangement and the guitar phrases of loyal Tim Renwick and the lighter and softer touch of the almost ethereal melody of "Flying Sorcery". These two songs are respectively dedicated to the 16th-century explorer Richard Greenville and aviator Amy Johnson, tributes to pioneers of the sea and sky quite recurrent in Al Stewart's songwriting, in addition to the emotional tension of the dramatic folk rock with flamenco nuances of "On The Border", which sounds like a tribute to all popular liberation movements, to those who chose to fight regimes and abuses, to fight for their rights, citing the rebels who ended the apartheid regime in Rhodesia and the Basque separatists.
"Year Of The Cat" certainly does not forget the more melancholic component that was typical of "Modern Times", but presents it in a renewed musical guise; the use of a more varied stylistic range and instrumentation, including synthesizers, strings, and winds, proves crucial for the perfect outcome of bittersweet melodic singer-songwriter gems like "Midas Shadow", so light and elusive in its subtle hypnotic charm, a "Broadway Hotel", which embodies a subtle malaise framed by a plaintive violin, and "One Stage Before", a descendant of some folk ballads from "Orange" like "I'm Falling" and "Songs Out Of Clay", just restyled in the arrangement. And then there's that unmistakable piano riff introducing a cinematic and captivating melody, halfway between dawn and sunset, a musical journey that in just over six minutes transports the listener into a daydream; what more can be said about "Year Of The Cat"? An inimitable masterpiece of arrangement? One of the most beautiful pop songs ever written? In these cases, there's little to express in words and much to listen to, preferably with a dreamer's spirit.
After "Bedsitter Images", after "Zero She Flies" and "Past, Present And Future", "Year Of The Cat" is yet another demonstration of the artistic depth of this unique artist: deeper than Donovan, more captivating and versatile than Bob Dylan, more enduring and visionary than Jackson Browne, endowed with a sensitivity and exquisite melodic taste that Bruce Springsteen can only dream of, always cultured but never pretentious for the mere sake of being so: Al Stewart is all of this, and "Year Of The Cat", with its typically feline grace and elegance, is a record that perfectly represents him; beware of making the gross mistake of identifying the artist with this single work, but YOTC is a must-pass, fundamental not only for the admirers of this artist but for all lovers of high-class singer-songwriter pop.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Lord Grenville (05:02)
Go and tell Lord Grenville that the tide is on the turn
It's time to haul the anchor up and leave the land astern
We'll be gone before the dawn returns
Like voices on the wind.
Go and tell Lord Grenville that our dreams have run aground
There's nothing here to keep us in this shanty town
None of us are caring where we're bound
Like voices on the wind
And come the day you'll hear them saying
"They're throwing it all away"
Nothing more to say
Just throwing it all away
Go and fetch the captain's log and tear the pages out
We're on our way to nowhere now, can't bring the helm about
None of us are left in any doubt
We won't be back again
Send a message to the fleet, they'll search for us in vain
We won't be there among the reaches of the Spanish Main
Tell the ones we left home not to wait
We won't be back again.
(Won't be back again...)
And come the day you'll hear them saying
"They're throwing it all away"
Nothing more to say
Just throwing it all away
Our time is just a point along a line
That runs forever with no end
I never thought that we would come to find
Ourselves upon these rocks again
Oh no...
Go and tell Lord Grenville that the tide is on the turn
02 On the Border (03:20)
The fishing boats go out across the evening water
Smuggling guns and arms across the Spanish border
The wind whips up the waves so loud
The ghost moon sails among the clouds
Turns the rifles into silver on the border
On my wall the colours of the maps are running
From Africa the winds they talk of changes coming
The torches flare up in the night
The hand that sets the farms alight
Has spread the word to those who're waiting on the border
In the village where I grew up
Nothing seems the same
Still you never see the change from day to day
And no-one notices the customs slip away
Late last night the rain was knocking at my window
I moved across the darkened room and in the lampglow
I thought I saw down in the street
The spirit of the century
Telling us that we're all standing on the border
In the islands where I grew up
Nothing seems the same
It's just the patterns that remain
An empty shell
But there's a strangeness in the air you feel too well
The fishing boats go out across the evening water
Smuggling guns and arms across the Spanish border
The wind whips up the waves so loud
The ghost moon sails among the clouds
Turns the rifles into silver on the border
On the border
On the border
On the border
03 Midas Shadow (03:10)
You got your ticket and your hotel keys
And your overnight bag at your feet
You're looking down on the tropical trees
While the Spanish maids pick up the sheets
Conquistador in search of gold
For all the jackdaw reasons
The Midas shadow that's so hard to please
And follows wherever you go
Nothing ventured, nothing gained they said
So you played for the winner takes all
And tossed the dice high up and craned your head
To see how the numbers would fall
You stole the game so easily
Your luck ran with the seasons
But still the shadow that the night won't free
Just follows wherever you go
Another day, another boarding card
As you wait for your seat on the 'plane
The movie runs but you're still working hard
And you don't touch your food or champagne
I know that when your well runs dry
You'll want to know the reason
The empty night will bring you no reply
As it follows wherever you go
04 Sand in Your Shoes (03:03)
You always were a city kid
Though you were country raised
And back in some forgotten time
We shared the cold north days
But the simple life was not your style,
And you just had to escape
So it's goodbye to my lady of the islands
On Remembrance Day the bands all played,
The bells pealed through the park
And you lay there by the "Do Not" signs,
And shamed them with your spark
Now winter moans in old men's bones
As the day falls into dark
And it's goodbye to my lady of the islands
It was just like this
Behind the kisses you so soon swept away
Oh I always knew
That some day you'd
Be bound to just get pulled away
The summer sun beats on and on,
The shops swim in the heat
And you're standing by the traffic signs
With taxis at your feet
Oh I know that in your city skin
You're feeling more complete
So it's goodbye to my lady of the islands
No I never got the letters
That you said you'd send me
So it's goodbye to my lady of the islands
05 If It Doesn't Come Naturally, Leave It (04:29)
Nothing that's forced can ever be right
If it doesn't come naturally, leave it
That's what she said as she turned out the light
And we bent our backs as slaves of the night
Then she lowered her guard and showed me the scars
She got from trying to fight
Saying oh, you'd better believe it.
Well I'm up to my neck in the crumbling wreckage
Of all that I wanted from life
When I looked for respect all I got was neglect
Though I swallowed the line as a sign of the times
But dealing a jack from the back of the pack
They said-"You lose again"
Oh, I said, who needs it?
Well don't get me wrong now I tried to get on
With the jokers that got in my way
And I put on a smile and I tried all the while to be straight
But they just wanted more all the time and I'm sure
That you know what I mean when I say
That I'm sick of the touch and there's only so much you can take.
Well nothing that's real is ever for free
And you just have to pay for it sometime
She said it before, she said it to me
I suppose she believed there was nothing to see
But the same old four imaginary walls
She built for living inside
I said oh, you just can't mean it
Well there was never a doubt that she had to get out
she was just looking around for a way
In the pit of the night there was nowhere to hide any more
She was out on a limb, she was reaching for things
That she wanted, but just couldn't say
And she had to be sure that she wouldn't get caught like before.
Well nothing that's forced can ever be right
If it doesn't come naturally, leave it
That's what she said as she turned out the light
And she may have been wrong, and she may have been right
But I woke with the frost, and noticed she'd lost
The veil that covered her eyes
I said oh, you can leave it.
06 Flying Sorcery (04:22)
With your photographs of Kitty Hawk
And the biplanes on your wall
You were always Amy Johnson
From the time that you were small.
No schoolroom kept you grounded
While your thoughts could get away
You were taking off in Tiger Moths
Your wings against the brush-strokes of the day
Are you there?
On the tarmac with the winter in your hair
By the empty hangar doors you stop and stare
Leave the oil-drums behind you, they won't care
Oh, are you there?
Oh, you wrapped me up in a leather coat
And you took me for a ride
We were drifting with the tail-wind
When the runway came in sight
The clouds came up to gather us
And the cockpit turned to white
When I looked the sky was empty
I suppose you never saw the landing-lights
Are you there?
In your jacket with the grease-stain and the tear
Caught up in the slipstream of the dare
The compass rose will guide you anywhere,
Oh, are you there?
The sun comes up on Icarus as the night-birds sail away
And lights the maps and diagrams
That Leonardo makes
You can see Faith, Hope and Charity
As they bank above the fields
You can join the flying circus
You can touch the morning air against your wheels
Are you there?
Do you have a thought for me that you can share?
Oh I never thought you'd take me unawares
Just call me if you ever need repairs
Oh, are you there?
07 Broadway Hotel (03:56)
You told the man in the Broadway Hotel
Nothing was stranger than being yourself
And he replied, with a tear in his eye
Love was a rollaway
Just a cajole away
Mist on a summer's day
Nothing was clear
Love was a smile away
Just a defile away
I sought it every way
No-one came near
You asked the man for a room with a view
Nothing was said as he stared at his shoe
Then he replied as he gave you the key
Love was a rollaway
Just an unfold away
That's all there is to say
No-one came near
Alone in your room you hide
As the night rolls by
In the street outside
And you feel over the words he said
Till they turn to rain all around your head
You're seeking a hideaway
Where the light of day
Doesn't touch your face
And a door-sign keeps the world away
Behind the shades
Of your silent day.
You made your home in the Broadway Hotel
Room service came at the push of a bell
And the man said as he put down the tray
Love was a stealaway
Just a reveal away
I tried to find a way
Nothing was clear
Then as he turned away
You asked the man to stay
He was there all the day
No-one came near
09 Year of the Cat (06:37)
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
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
Well, 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 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 sometimes you're bound to leave her
But for now you're going to stay
In the year of the cat
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