Hey, guys, don't ignore the lyrics. He wrote some of the most vivid, picturesque lyrics in rock..."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..." Really amazing and poetic stuff.
The line about Peter Lorre is a reference to Fritz Lang's film "M," 1931. Very strong subject matter for 1931. There is a famous scene in "M," in which Lorre is escaping on a crowded street.
@@laurabrevitz3944 It's a good one for sure...! He has one of the most haunting lines in "Roads To Moscow" about the war, ww2... "The old men and children they send out to face us, can't slow us down...." Think about that for a minute, and imagine having to live with it....
Absolutely ... One of the greatest lines ever written. Mona Lisa Talking is another absolutely brilliant masterpiece. "Out of a patch of oil and water ... "
True story: I discovered by accident that this song has quasi-magical powers. When my son was just a few months old, I found that he could be crying hysterically, but if I put this song on, he would be completely entranced before we got 10 seconds in. It was incredible. It never failed. Any time he was crying, I’d put the song on and he would instantly get a beatific look on his face. I did it in front of friends and they’d laugh in disbelief. This lasted until he was almost four. He’s seven now and taking piano lessons. He still likes the song, but it no longer has quite the same effect.
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 While 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 you've lost your ticket So you have to stay on But the drum-beat 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 going to stay In the year of the cat
Maybe you haven't noticed because the instrumentation stands out so beautiful, but in time you realize just how important the lyrics are to the song. Absolutely brilliant writing.
@@Noelle0026 I don't know how many times/years I was lost in the instrumentation before I listened to the lyrics. BOOM! The song was on an entirely different level.
Phil Kenzie on alto sax, Tim Renwick on electric and acoustic guitars, Peter Wood on piano, George Ford on bass, Stuart Elliott on drums. Just classic, a masterpiece.
Producer Alan Parsons (engineer of Dark Side of the Moon) elevated this basic construct of a folk song to a more jazz inflected pop song. His decision to include the sax changed the whole tenor of the song. A masterful production.
For me personally, this song is Steely Dan level. Meaning every aspect of the song is perfect. Could listen to this all day long on repeat. Go back and check out the lyrics. Brilliant. 🔥👍
As an old soul (born in 90 but listen to 60s-90s) I showed this to my girl on one of our first dates in 2017. Still together here in 2023 and this song MUST be played at least once a week. We both love it and have adopted it into the soundtrack of our relationship.
"She comes out of the sun In a silk dress Running Like a water colour in the rain" Still remains as my favourite descriptively poetic lines in any song I've ever heard.
A perfectly constructed song. Lyrics, vocals, instrumentation, mixing, production. I have loved pop/rock/folk music my entire life, and I firmly believe this is one of the greatest songs ever recorded. Perfection.
The production of this song and Al's first album was done by the immortal Alan Parsons, who has an amazing catalogue of his own and also produced for Pink Floyd. Check out the Alan Parsons Project's "I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You" , "Time" or "Games People Play". Year of the Cat is one of my all time favorites. Al Stewart is an amazing storyteller, which you will discover if you go deeper into his music. Check out "Time Passages" next. Thanks for the great reviews!
For a fun time, they should check out the entire first side of Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Several diverse songs based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe
You can’t beat that warm analog 2” tape capturing the real instruments. Back then even the music that you didn’t really like as much was still well-crafted and mixed to perfection.
For all the young aspiring songwriters out there watching this reaction video , pay close attention to this song. It is a master class in arranging a song. This is one of the most well crafted songs ever recorded. The build up with the strings , acoustic guitar solo , electric guitar solo and then the cresendo of the sax solo is perfect. All the notes played at the right time wirhout anyone stepping on anyone else. Add the poetic , vivid lyrics and it becomes pop music perfection.
I noticed that the instrumental went along with the lyrics in that the last line he says before the instrumental begins is, "so you take her to find what's waiting inside. The year of the cat." Ok, they about to get busy...but he's speaking in the second person. The audience (us) are experiencing, this act through the ear (the ear candy). So first we get the strings, slow mellow Getting to know you, we dealing with something special...the foreplay. Next is the acoustic guitar. The foreplay intensifies to penetrate, your ears Then we get the electric guitar that speeds up the thrust of the beat. And then we have the sax, finally the climax. It brings the whole musical act to a head and then relaxes you...but you want more. It's "The Year of the Cat."
Brings back memories of the Spring/Summer I lived at PCB, one block from the beach. I paid $80 a mo for my little kitchenette. Right out of high school. I was in heaven. Good times.
I recently dove into Al Stewart's catalog and have a new appreciation for him. This and "Time Passages" were his biggest hits, but his albums are beautifully written and performed. He's part of the British hippie folk sound of the late '60s and had his greatest success in the 70's. You would probably also like Donovan, who has a lot of hits and some magic albums.
I saw Al Stewart in the spring of 1975, he was the opening act for Linda Ronstadt. I’d never heard of him before, but he and his band were fantastic! As good as she was, I barely recall anything about Ronstadt’s performance that night, but I vividly remember Stewart’s. He was great!
Outstanding piano, and Al’s soft engaging voice, smooth chorus, bass guitar, and saxophone solo; everything about this song just screams amazing, Another absolutely fantastic choice from Big Soul Airplay Beats. Keep up the hard work guys, you're the best at what you do, making people forget the bad and feel the warmth of the music.
This song has some of the best instrumentation and production ever. Yes, this was what was playing on top-40 radio in the '70s. There will never again be as much diversity and quality in popular commercial music.
Alan Parsons was the sound engineer on this song like he was on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and it shows. The engineering of the song was masterful.
Agreed. A lot of pop songs get written off as just being shallow, simple, sappy or whatever. But sometimes, under the right circumstances and executed by the right musician, pop music can really be elevated to timeless and beautiful music. "Year of the Cat" and "Baker Street" are two good examples. Elton John and Paul Simon did it often. My point is: don't dismiss always dismiss pop. Just saying.
Same dude. First half is so fluffy like a damn dream. Then they start hitting you with the instrumentals and it’s like…where we goin 😂. Great job guys y’all are getting really sharp 👂
Another song produced by the brilliant Alan Parsons...Stewart didn't think it needed the sax..Not so fast.. Parsons pulled the sax player Phil Kenzie out of a pub during halftime of a soccer match to record it
This song sneaks up on you. It grows on you. A few days from now, you'll have some part of it in your head, and you just have to hear the song again. That has gone on for 40 years for me.
This is my absolute favourite song as it came along with some massive changes in my young life. It is tied to the birth of my first son & I never get tired of it even after 47 years. He is a good story teller and I miss good music like this. We can’t forget that Alan Parson produced it and David Pack, lead singer of Ambrosia, sings back up vocals on this as well. All three artists are amazing.
I actually like this track..took me back to ‘76 and my college days following my stint in the USAF….a timeless song that gets in my head…as always, your reactions are the first things I look for bc they are so damn good!
Aah Al Stewart .a forgotten gem of a song..what a songwriter. orchestration,production and general vibe is very unique .still sounds relevant today ..like a time capsule .
It's a real masterpiece, written and performed by Al Stewart (and his band) and produced by the equally talented Alan Parker. An absolute clasic from way back in the '70's, well ahead of its time. 🙋♂
It's cool to hear you guys reacting to this song. It's one of those songs that will always have a place in your heart and soul. No matter how much time passes it never leaves you
i've been a fan since '69. he was originally a folk singer. this album was produced by Alan Parsons, who also produced the Dark Side Of The Moon, by Pink Floyd. you should seriously pay more attention to the lyrics. he's a master story teller, often telling stories from history. he researches them vey deeply. he's definitely a poet. i suggest 'the Road to Moscow', or 'Time Passages', for your next reaction to him
Al Stewart is one of the best musical story tellers, ranking up there with Jackson Browne and Jimmy Buffett, and a lot of his songs have a historical component. You should checkout 'On the Border' which is about the Spanish Revolution in the 1930's and 40's. On another note, 'Time Passages' is a great song that I think is about remembering the past but not getting lost in it. You would not go wrong exploring all three of these artists.
I have just Subscribed and, bitterly, regret not seeing Al on the Folk Circuit in the early 1970's around London. Actually, besides the outstanding musicianship, Al is one of the greatest lyricists I have known and I bought my first records in 1960. He specializes in painting beautiful pictures in your mind and is a War Historian with thought-provoking songs like Roads To Mascow about The Eastern Front in World War 2 and Time Passages. On The Border is a lovely song. He is still performing though he doesn't look like a 1960s hippie anymore. lol
Al and yourselves have produced a unique situation with not ONE WORD of criticism in 358 comments,,thus far. A tribute to this genius and this masterpiece.
