The bloggy music featured today is brought to you by the 'You're A Nerd And Nobody Likes You' cool feeling number #188.
Who can resist the melodic strains and subtle nuances of Al Stewart's cherished oldie, "The Year Of The Cat?" Apparently, the kitchen staff and hostess of a Louisiana Mexican restaurant, that's who. My boyfriend at the time worked there and as I waited for him to lock up the place at night I noticed this little gem on the restaurant jukebox. One quarter later and I was enveloped in the nirvana that is Al Stewart. He's my second favorite Al in the whole entire world, losing only to Weird Al, and just narrowly beating Big Al from Happy Days. Al Gore did not even break into my list of the Top 1,000 Al's. So, I happily hummed along and entertained incense and patchouli thoughts while perched at the corner table covered in glittery turquoise Formica. Honestly, I only played the song three times, but that was enough to incite rancorous mutiny from the kitchen. I heard a loud call from there bellowing out, "For the love of all that is holy, will somebody puhleeeeeeze make that crappy music stop before I kick the mess out of the frickin jukebox." That lovely sentiment was echoed by laughs, cheers, and a chorus of "Right On!" I slunk further into the corner and pretended it wasn't me that made the song selection and let them assume that the jukebox was malfunctioning and that's why it kept repeating the same track over and over.
So, here it is, "The Year Of The Cat" in all its uninterrupted glory playing non-stop all day for your listening pleasure. I can now unleash myself from the oppressive burden of shame to admit my undying love for this song. I'm also saving a butt load of quarters at the same time.
16 comments:
Only Weird Al matters to me.
So, Lady Elastic, do I creep you out, hmm?
"You can call me Al".
I love your Infidel behind the music, it makes me appreciate the songs in a very infidel way.
There was a AL Corley who sang "Square Rooms" back in '84, a song that was HUGE is Mexico, it playes at all the parties I ever went to "square rooms
They don't listen
they don't care
if a man is in despair".
Every year is the year of the cat here... and the not wife likes incense and patchouli... and Year of the Cat is a guilty pleasure...
Oh no, we're hippies and we never knew it!
Oh, and I wouldn't call Al Gore "Al", I'd call him "Father".
This is one of those rare times when I amn glad I dumped a gallon of water on my laptop, thereby rendering my speakers inoperable...
:-)
Talk about a long intro... I actually don't think it's too bad. Kind of old-timey! ;)
Somewhere in the deep, dark, dusty recesses of the my gray matter, The Day of Cat resides and conjures up memories of cold weekends in the back of the station wagon on the way to my brothers soccer games.
Ahh...at long last a place where I can be educated in Al-ness and all things infidel-y.
I've led such a sheltered life.
I kind of like it...and my Emma is groovin' to it doing funky ballerina moves.
I never knew the name of this song. Never. Now it bugs me that I never realized it was called The year of the cat." This will bother me all week. What is wrong with me?
I loved this song when I was 7 yrs. old. Because at that time I loved cats. I got over that I'm a dog person now. I've always enjoyed songs with a string section in them. The song really takes off during the guitar solo.
Al Gore is my favorite Al. I didn't vote for him because I have yet to find a politician that makes me want to go out of my way to vote. Not that it would've mattered anyway since I live in Texas, my vote would have been swallowed in the mass of Republican majority.
Do you know, the cat was supposed to be part of the Chinese Zodiac? Every year is represented by an animal right ? (I was born in the year of the dragon) The story behind it is, the Buddha was dying or bored or something, so he called the animals to come meet him at his crib. The cat and the rat made a pact to go together, but the rat woke up while the cat was sleeping and left without him. (The rat also sneakily climbed upon the ox who was at the Buddha's cave first, and beat him to the punch which is why the first year was named after the rat) And that is why the cat and the rat are such great enemies, cause the rat screwed the cat over.
You know, in case you were wondering.
I've had to perfect my "I didn't do it" face just in the past few years..
chris- You creep me out about as much as that lovable cuddly fluff, Winnie The Pooh. You're the same age as my brother. I'll always think of holding the tyrranically imposing older sister role to younguns like you.
NCS- I didn't grow up in the cradle of coolness like you did, NCS. I used to watch a show called "Square Pegs" though. And Huey Lewis had a song called "It's Hip To Be Square." Mathematically speaking, shouldn't all square songs be of equal proportions and value? Maybe, I'm just being four-sided about it.
jams- There's nothing wrong with being a closeted hippie. I got my own stash of incense and patchouli and a pair of Birkenstocks. I say embrace the granola flower child within you!
NCS- He's an inspiration to us all. I'd like to have 5 environmentally unfriendly, resource sucking mansions and a toxic emission Gulf Stream jet too.
amber- I'll be playing The Year Of The Cat at the annual Blogger's Ball for the big audience sing-a-long finale. You're going to feel really left out. My heart weeps for you.
suzanne- The song is old-timey because I'm old-timey. Do you want to hear about my hemorrhoids and hip replacement surgery? What about bingo and shuffleboard at my place in Florida?
A Payne- The song reminds me of when I dated a hippie who thought it was cruel to milk a cow and wear silk or leather. He also didn't wear undergarments. Don't make me tell you how I found out that horrifying little piece of TMI.
kimberly- The song brings ouot the usually dormant sentimental side of me. Come see the softer side of Infidel!
carrot- It's hard to know the exact title of the song especially because he keeps saying "The Year Of The Cat" over and over and over again. I mean, the title could be anything. I would have called it 'Patchouli' myself just because I like saying that word.
carronin- This is where we can finally disagree on something. I prefer the piano part.
syar- Now that's something I didn't learn on the printed Chinese Zodiac placemat down at the Jaded Dragon Chinese buffet. Thanks!
burg- I've tried to perfect my "becoming invisible" superhuman powers just in the past few years. It really does come in handy during particularly awkward moments.
on the run- I'm a conservative first. Politics second. This is why I didn't vote for the uber scuzzy Rick Perry even though he's a Republican. I voted for Kinky Friedman because he seemed much less corrupt and big politics tainted. I have a real problem with the hypocritical oaf that is Al Gore. He took illegally raised campaign funds at a Buddhist Temple and had illicit dealings with Communist Chinese agents. He gives the high toxic pollution country of China an environmental pass while lambasting the more conscientious U.S.A. He chides the "little people" for their selfish contribution to global warming gases while he tools around in his Lexus SUV, Gulf Stream jet, and owns 5 mansions. None of which are environmentally friendly according to utility records. He's no scientist and global warming is a junk science. Even if its real, he certainly doesn't practice what he preaches. He flip flops on pro-life issues to suit his political agenda. Bush isn't the only maligned Big Oil guy, you know. Gore's family fortune is from their family owned Occidental Oil. The corruption of that company is legendary. Including the unholy Gore/Clinton alliance that passed the measure to deplete our Naval Oil Reserves in California which directly benefitted their company in the largest privatization of federal property in U.S. history while leaving America in a vulnerable, unprepared state. There's many good Democrats out there. Al Gore doesn't happen to be one of them, though.
How do I keep missing your posts? Oh yeah, because you never show up at Bloglines. Do you show up somewhere else?
I love this song, just because it reminds me of the old white guys running KURY, the AM station in Brookings, where I was a little girl. They played this stuff. I have the Pina Colada song memorized and every Olivia Newton-John, Barry Manilow and Lionel Richie song as well. To say that they warped me into a Muzak-loving weiner would not be going too far.
I did the repeat-on-the-jukebox thing when I was a very little kid, and replayed "Wedding Bell Blues" by the 5th Dimension; the workers were ready to strangle whoever did it.
I missed "Year of the Cat"?? I better show up on time from now on. Hey, I couldn't get that song outta my mind a few days ago. And I NEVER remember thinking of it for no apparent reason. You must have been sending me Al-woo.
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