Chords
Year of the Cat

Year of the Cat was inspired by a trip Al Stewart took to Morocco, and it is a blend of various stories and characters he met or imagined. Stewart was inspired for the songs title after reading about the Vietnamese superstition that being born in the Year of the Cat was considered a sign of good fortune.

Key: C

Introduction:

      C7M           Bm        Em 
On a morning from a Bogart movie
      C7M               Bm              Em 
in a country where they turned back time
        C7M                   Bm         Em 
you go strolling through the crowd like
                     Am7             D7 
Peter Lorre contemplating a crime.
           C7M        Bm           Em 
She comes out of the sun in a silk dress
                B                   C 
running like a water color in the rain.
              B          Em 
Don' t bother asking for explanations.
             Am7                     D 
She' ll just tell you that she came
in the Year of the Cat.

     C7M             Bm            Em 
She doesn' t give you time for questions
        C7M         Bm           Em 
as she locks up you arm in hers.
         C7M             Bm        Em 
And you follow ' til your sense of
                    Am7                  D7 
which direction completely disappears.
        C7M        Bm             Em 
By the blue-tiled walls near the market stalls
           B                          C 
there' s a hidden door she leads you to.
                   B        Em 
"These days," she says, "I feel my life just
        Am7                    D 
like a river running through
the Year of the Cat."

          B                  C 
Well she looks at you so cooly
         G                    D 
and her eyes shine like the moon
in the sea.
              B                  C 
She comes in incense and pathchouli
        G            F 
so you take her to find what' s
 C/E             D 
waiting inside
the Year of the Cat.

      C7M             Bm                 Em 
Well morning comes and you' re still with her
         C7M           Bm         Em 
and the bus and the tourists are gone.
             C7M              Bm         Em 
And you' ve thrown away your choice and
                         Am7               D7 
lost your ticket so you have to stay on.
          C7M          Bm              Em 
But the drumbeat strains of the night
               B                      C 
remain in the rhythm of the newborn day.
               B          Em 
You know sometime you' re bound to leave her
         Am7                    D 
but for now you' re gonna stay
in the Year of the Cat.

 C/E 
Copyright 1976 by Unichappel Music, Inc.
  What makes this song sound so great is the piano riffs, the sax, the