Year Of The Cat - Al Stewart (1976) Remaster 1080p HD video free download


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Duration: 07:05
Uploaded: 2013/08/04

This video has been updated! You may enjoy it more, less or about the same?! Thanks for watching one...or the other....or both!? :-) http://youtu.be/ACAK1Ck2ZM0

Year Of The Cat - Al Stewart

[Lyrics]

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 thru

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 the 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

In the year of the cat

Year Of The Cat was the title track from Al Stewart's seventh studio album which was released in the summer of 1976. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London and engineered by Alan Parsons.

This song is very special to me....in my top 5 of all time. The songwriting, Al's vocals, the guitar work is outstanding (Peter White plays the acoustic solo and Tim Renwick follows with the electric solo), Peter Wood's piano was so important that he received a co-writing credit.....yeah it's all top-notch work, but I think the thing that really made the song shine and made it such a stand-out classic was that gorgeous, melodic Phil Kenzie sax solo.

The cover design, by Hipgnosis and illustrator Colin Elgie, depicts a woman who has an apparent obsession with cats. She can be seen in the mirror dressing up as a cat for a costume party, and all of the items on her dresser have feline motifs. It's always a treat to work on videos that feature some of that iconic Hipgnosis artwork.....I couldn't begin to count the hours I spent scrutinizing some of the incredible Hipgnosis artwork as the record was spinning away on my turntable. I have some very interesting things in the pipe for you other Hipgnosis aficionados out there! Stay tuned.

This video represented a milestone for my....the 200th one I've created! Maybe 10 or so videos back I realized that I would be hitting 200 soon and started thinking about which song to give the spot. I had been working on a video of this song for over a year, and it was going nowhere slowly....then out of the blue, I stumbled across the amazing watercolor face and I knew I had my YOTC since my concept always focused on the line "like a watercolor in the rain" so I jumped in deep with that image and built the video up around it. It was a much simpler video earlier on, but it got wilder and wilder and I couldn't resist adding more and more color and effects.

Special thanks to:

Annika Ritter Photography for her amazing watercolor that was the basis of my concept for the video

http://arfotografie.wordpress.com/2013/01/07/watercolor-portrait/

Comments

8 years ago

Arshad Haroon

Awesome song that never fades, listening since 1974 and everytime I hear it takes me through the time tunnel. Job nicely done, thanks for the sharing. Greetings from St.John's, Newfoundland Canada.

8 years ago

Gianni Rocky

gorgeroussssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss song and singerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr this is musiccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc from heavennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn justttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt beautifulllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

8 years ago

Bob Gudbranson

A beautiful song deserves beautiful imagery. You nailed it!

8 years ago

William Prieto

Ten viewers have NO musical taste whatsoever.

8 years ago

David Fell

Hey, what are you doing these in? After Effects? Motion? Something else?

8 years ago

PeteTheGrouch

Yup..they sure don't make em' like this anymore. Great song & great vid!

8 years ago

James Lumpkin

THIS video is BRILLIANT!!!! Damn Good Job.....one of my favorite songs, you can hear Alan Parsons hand all over it....A MASTERPIECE.....I pray that some day we will hear music like THIS again.....TODAY'S MUSIC SUCKS!!!! God Bless GREAT JOB, LOVE IT MetalGuruMessiah did you do this ? BRILLIANT

8 years ago

Mariela Perez

Esta es para mi, la versión original...! 

8 years ago

john mcalindon

This is one of my all time favourite songs and this is definately the best video I have seen to date. Superb work. Would love to see your treatment of Al's Time Passages.

8 years ago

Marianne Teulieres

Un titre que la jeune ado que j'étais a longtemps adoré... AL STEWART - " The Year Of The Cat " ...

9 years ago

Brent Wright

The new video is tops!

9 years ago

Fernando Darias Yanes

Al Stewart - Year Of The Cat (1976) Remaster 1080p HD

9 years ago

Jeannie E. Hess

Gorgeous tune and the video is surreal... Two thumbs up!

9 years ago

Francois Pancher

Al Stewart " Year Of The Cat " * * * 70'S * * * 1976

9 years ago

Daniel Mutispaugh

Great in all respects!!

9 years ago

MsFranko64

fantastico !

9 years ago

G Dogg

Respite from the world. Just... easy now. 

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