Class of '77 kid here. Magical years with real musicians and lyricists writing and playing with passion flowing out over the AM airwaves. Kids laying out on their rooftops looking up at the stars while haunting saxophone's wailed in so many hit songs taking us to distant places in our dreams. At 65, I ask myself why wouldn't people want that again? 😞
Wonderful image. Something about this song at 57 yrs aged that never allows me to tire listening, sometimes several times per week. Al Stewart performed in Buffalo last year, and I regret not going to see him.
0 seconds ago For me it's a Gestalt situation. The whole package is greater than the sum of the parts, but that being said the music is Sublime. Among the many beautiful touches to the music is the way the solo instruments hand off the solo to the next instrument in such a masterful mellifluous way.
I was 19, a wine waitress in Renfrew..... The year of the heatwave, i went to Ireland......i was young and invinsible.........i am now 67 and disabled......this song brings back happy memories 😊 x
Hello from Los Angeles. My name is Gordon and I was born in Greenock, Renfrewshire. I came across your comments regarding year of the cat, I couldn't help but say hello, and tell yae yer taste in music is brilliant. Cheers, Gordon Lever. Hope I'm not coming off weird. All the best 😊😊
This is " one of them songs , like , I'm not inlove by 10cc , " just captures a time , and I'm a Rusted on Zappa fanatic, music , what a gift Music is the best , love on - yah
My friend, don't say so! I'm 61 and I love the music of my generation, but there's a lot of good music even now. Of course, nothing compares to Year of the Cat😁
I'm 81 and a has been musician...the memories that come with this song are precious and priceless...love this and so many more from a time when music was and is not now...days on the road with a lot of side trips...these days what they call music is plastic...just plastic...
@@glendaamour1840 I think the difference between music back then and today transcends mere "taste". It's like comparing real food to synthetic or genetically altered "food". It really does have a tangible difference IMO
But we had the best young years we weren’t on the internet and anything was possible . The best music and we were free not tied to our phones or ( influencers) 🤢 just treasure it I do much love ❤ to you
What do you mean old people?. I'm 54 and sometimes I forget that, feel like I'm 30. But yea, music of the 70s and thru the 80s was the best. I mis them days so bad. Along with family and friends that have passed on.
i’m 17 years old, my dad played this for me a couple of months ago and i’ve been listening to it off and on, but jeez what a master piece. Al Stewart and Jeff Lynne are the most underrated musicians of all time.
Stewart, Lynne, Gerry Rafferty, Kate Bush, Heart, Redbone, James Gang, Billy Preston, Lol Creme, Stevie Nicks, Gene Pitney, Journey, Bessie Smith, Carole King, music is a web and you just landed on one of the millions of intersections. Never stop exploring.
@platinumpete5160. I'm 69 yrs young and I remember this song, it sounds like if it just hit the airwaves, not much teenager's appreciate song's like this. Search Al Stewart for more of his songs.
I'm right here with you. He didn't love much popular music if it was recorded after about '74 or so, but didn't we all have a time? Never imagining that we would get old and die. I especially never dreamed he would go before me bc both his parents are still living, in great health, and self-sufficient. I miss EVERYTHING about him not being here. Well, I don't miss him fussing at the newspaper every morning. Life is just too short.
My mom really loved this song...i never really paid much attention to it ...i was about 13.. ..my mom has long passed away.. this song holds special place for me..love ya mom..
Minha filha está morando fora do Brasil. Ela me disse que se emociona quando ouve essa música pois se lembra de nossos momentos aqui em casa, porque eu vivia ouvindo essa música. Principalmente aos finais de semana. Tempo bom. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
My Dad showed me all the classics as I grew up. He was born in 62. Everyone always says I have an old soul. We haven't spoken in sometime over a diapute. For now, I have him with me in the music.
Don't know the dispute and it's none of my business. But I hope you will be the bigger person and reach out to him and seek restoration. Life is too short to be separated from family.
I love this song...that baseline! My dad was a big, burly man with a soft heart and a love for 60s and 70s rock. I have him to thank for my love for diverse music.
Everything from the graceful piano intro, to the lovely sax and guitar breaks, to the lyrics of this very song. This creation is the epitome of an amazing record. I'm only a 27 year old born in the 90s, but you gotta respect the classics and masterpieces like this! EDIT: Thank you for the love! Another year older, but the music keeps us together 🙏🏾 EDIT: Now I’m 29 years old and this song as still as magical as ever. Keep on rockin’ and much love ❤️ EDIT: Just turned 30 a few days ago, but this record will never age! Keep pressing on and keep the music rockin! EDIT: Now I'm 31, another year older, but wiser! Continue to let the power of music drive you further into bliss! Peace and love everyone! ❤️ EDIT: As promised guys, I'm back with after another year around the sun! Today makes 32 years of wisdom for me, and the music's still rockin! Peace and love to everyone! 👋🏾✌🏾😊
And there is so much more from this decade equally as awesome, it was a time when mainstream musicians actually knew how to play their instruments and there wasn't any stupid auto-tune.
@@FrancisMaxino Yes! Everything with music back then was 1000% authentic and from the heart, unlike this music we have nowadays where everyone seems to be brainwashed by the media. We need peace back in this world.
Incredible, I can breath my sixteens... My sister loved this song, so my mother went to the record shop trying to get it and surprise her. But mother, she was always confused about names, so kept asking the guy at the shop the song "The day of the dog". Fortunately the man could meet the dots and my sister got the record. I dont have my sister nor my mother anymore, but from time to time I can "visit" them playing this beatifull song
This takes me back to high-school, class of '78. My friend used to sing and play this for me, we married 21 years later, had a beautiful son. I loved this then and love it even more now, absolutely Brilliant ❤❤❤
I think it might be the dress that is running like a watercolor in the rain--you know, like colors run. (The image of the girl running doesn't seem to fit, for me.)
19 years old living in Scarborough in 1985 and introduced to this by Marie, the most incredible woman I have ever met. Said goodbye later that year and never saw her again. Hope life was good to her.
Bittersweet to hear this. One of my all time favorite songs, great lyrics but makes me very sad thinking of good times gone by and how fast we grow old.
Cynthia Earl this song reminds me of something that I don’t even known on t describe. I left school lady year but I wasn’t really a fan back then, so I don’t know. But I know that this song makes me feel sad but in a good way which doesn’t make sense. It’s also my all time favourite song
70 year old here. I remember hearing this on CHOM-FM in Montreal back in the 70s. I was so blessed to be a young man living in the greatest city on Earth.
I'd be honored if some late 70s fans would take a listen to my acoustic piano & vocal performances of WHAT A FOOL BELIEVES by the Doobie Brothers and TIME PASSAGES by Al Stewart on my YT channel in tribute to 2 great songs from the winter of '78-'79. Live acoustic with no digital enhancements. Thanks and RESPECT to the legends.
Agreed..and I love the stuff by Stewart's roommate, Paul Simon, and of course Dylan, Neil Young, and Gordon Lightfoot...but this...this is majestic and lovely...brilliant.
Tenho 54 anos e sei que nasci na geração errada ! Não e possível eu me identificar com uma época que nunca vivi!! E só mesmo tempo ter né sentido pertencente a ela !!!
@@gejo1008 I forgot about this song for years and years, and just today it popped right into my head, so I looked it up, and it's so good to see recent comments on it!! Makes me happy! Xoxox
I went through a terrible divorce, this album got me past a very dark time. Just keep the faith and hang on things will get better. The pain and tears make you stronger then you really know. Dont give up, you are loved.
I think we all get a few extra chances to be happy after the first disappointment , but the trauma eventually gets the better of you and it becomes hard to believe that good things happen
I don't think I'll ever fall out of love with this song. It always takes me to another time. That's the best thing about music, it's like taking a vacation without leaving home. 🌴🥳🔆✌️
As a piano teacher, I always place a quote at the bottom of the program of our annual recital. This is a fantastic quote and will be the quote for our June 2022 recital. Thank you Melanie!
I first heard it one year ago at The Strokes concert, Barclays Center, Brooklyn. I Shazammed it and been listening to it non stop since then. It’s a perfect song.
I was born in Iran, I heard these beautiful songs when I was little in my father's car back there over and over, but I didn't know who is the singer. I remember our American friends in our neighbourhood. What beautiful days...
It's funny, I could never exactly place the accent I detected on this and moreover, "Time Passages". Reminds me of the man I married. He was born in Iran.
Ahhhhhh, the year was 1976, I turned 20 and had my whole life ahead of me. I loved the 1970's, best bands, best music, great friends great times. I want to go back and do it all again. I wouldn't change a thing. Well, maybe one little thing, make more of an effort to go see all our talented bands in person. We didn't appreciate what we had back then, we were young and into ourselves, you know how teenagers & the twenties are, never changes from generation to the next.
i am a bicenntenial baby and i love the 1970s. thanks for your comment. all i want to do is go back to the 1970s when times were more interesting than now. i believe in parallel universes and ultimately we can go back to the 1970s
This song makes me sad now. I had a wonderful childhood and remember all my loved ones were still here with me. Now there gone. It tears me up. What a song.
Im of the class of '74 and all that has changed here in America seems like the best is GONE ! Will the new generation grab the reigns and pick up where generations before walked and left magical beauty.
Oh heck, I know what you mean. The sax is an alto sax and the range of notes from that particular sax sound so much like the sweet vocalizations of cats, and I love cats. That's Phil Kenzie on the alto transposed to the Key of C.
@@pl443 I love and appreciate your comment here. 💯 Also completely adore all felines... my three darlings are precious, wise souls who continually humble me with their graceful presence. annd.. finally, there's nothing like good sax in the morning, afternoon and after dark. 🎷🎶🐈🐾 ... aannd finally, any opinion on Raphael Ravenscoft's sax in Gerry Rafferty's 1978 hit Baker Street? Raph pretty much hated it bc he said it was out of tune and too flat.. It's in the top five of my favorite sax riffs to this day. Thanks, just curious - from a mountain girl pondering somewhere in the Colorado Rockies
I remember watching my 21-year-old son, Zak, sitting with his head on my office table between two speakers listening to the beautiful instrumental of Spanish guitar, electric guitar and sax, drinking in every part as he was a budding singer songwriter in his band in South Africa. Only three months later, he was killed in a car accident in Johannesburg but I'll never forget those two minutes of beauty and perfection.
I hope I never know the pain you went through...my son is now 26 in January...and it still terrifies me that this could happen to him...always a father's worry...:(
Probably had sad thoughts, I know that I did, but minor compared with adulthood. The sad stoic. I've never really felt like I really fit in where I am living again. Just whatever there was, still is to not feel sad. Online junkie now, because I really don't belong now as an older adult, God damned proven to me all the time, with all my worldly intellectual and cultural understanding knowledge experiences. It's still US laws to own favor, Zombies high school mentality around here. Zombie mothers with visible tattoos on the upper back, taking daughters to cheerleader practice nearby. Totally Zombies, that can't even be nice at all at the dollar store pay out, bitchy, but especially the young male employees always are very nice and helpful. This is a place where everyone used to be nice and friendly to each other, including helpful empathy, but as time goes by, more and more Zombified.
Illuminated, I just can't be Zombified. That's what makes everything so painful, depressing, but thank God I'm not a clinical depressive. Totally underestimated what kind of people God illuminates. Completely mentally strong against it all prepared for illumination, and physically healthy, out of this extremely ill environment, and I'm totally depending on the strength of my physical health. Not my fault what God decides to do about judged as Zombies. It's all about the destruction of WICKEDNESS upon Earth, and all that allows it all to continue. That's why I said dead zones, wherever majorities of Zombies exists. .
This song has many magical moments in it, almost like short stories, that come together to create a movie. I remember this song as a small child. My mom would put on the album, I would grab the album cover and just stare into the cover. 45 years later when I hear it it’s as though those stories are each part of my life somehow. I love the song and the music but when I listen to it, it takes me way back to that time when I was young and life was so simple, seeing it thru the eyes of a child. I realize how fast my life has gone. It stirs up both good and bad memories that it’s often difficult to listen too. My love of music has been the one constant in my life. This song is a masterpiece as it does what I believe music is supposed to do. Thank you Al Stewart.
well said. the lyrics and the melody create for me a complete other reality that resembles parts of my own story. its a gift as akey that opens up memories within.
How many songs have 3 instruments for the solo--first an acoustic guitar, then electric guitar, then sax?! Just incredible instrumentation and production!
I’m up here in northern Arkansas with a lot of retirees do you know what music they’re playing? Oh no not the 40s and 50s they’re playing the 70s it’s amazing it’s like Time stood still catering to their audience.
Yes this song was a great song it was like going back in time as you listened to the words so much feeling was put into this one the whole album is good timeless you could hear this song and it would take you back 2 or 300 years to a time when the castles of Spain were built literally put you there awesum
Great comments and I agree. I still can recall the lyrics having used this song as a basic and primitive music video for television class in high school. That was 1977, before MTV. As mentioned, very primitive but an A for the assignment!
Who wants some 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 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 Year of the cat
I have both the record album and the cassette for this. When I heard that recordings were being converted to CDs, and I didn't own CD player (at the time), I managed to find the cassette. The LP has the lyrics printed on the inside of the jacket, but there wasn't a separate sheet included with the cassette. I'm glad I didn't dispose of the record. I have never found a CD of this, in the Stores.
@@deirdrejohnson3468 - Record's were always cooler I had a Bob Marley record with all the words in and just the little extras you get like pictures as well. Oh the good old days. 🏴🇬🇧👍
The incredible thing about this beautiful masterpiece is that it pulls you into another world, and when it ends you fell like you've been on a long mysterious journey,
@@SimonTimoney-74 Folklore, pop, ballads, disco, rock, doesn't matter which. Fifty years later still keep sounding good and we still sing and dance to those marvelous tunes cause is make us happy to remember and era (with no many technology as today) when music was simple but mighty. I'm not saying today's music is bad, I like it too, but music from the eighties, the seventies and back, were the golden era of music. The best of the best. Can't be denied.
Masterfully written, tenderly sung, heartfelt playing, and masterful production by Alan Parsons. It's just magical. 45 years ago, and it's still fresh and stunningly beautiful.
This song makes me understand how short/unique relationships can be. As I get older and the more people come and go in my life, I understand this song much more.
![Stromae, Pomme - “Ma Meilleure Ennemie” (from Arcane Season 2) [Official Visualizer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1F3OGIFnW1k/mqdefault.jpg)
Class of '77 kid here. Magical years with real musicians and lyricists writing and playing with passion flowing out over the AM airwaves. Kids laying out on their rooftops looking up at the stars while haunting saxophone's wailed in so many hit songs taking us to distant places in our dreams. At 65, I ask myself why wouldn't people want that again? 😞
Are you reading my mind?
@@eleonoradini2371 😉
Wonderful image.
Something about this song at 57 yrs aged that never allows me to tire listening, sometimes several times per week.
Al Stewart performed in Buffalo last year, and I regret not going to see him.
I was 14 in 77. We really did have the best music didn’t we?
In
@@Gramsgirl-ie8fb
There is absolutely nothing not to love about this song.
This song is perfect.
There is one thing I don't like about this song............ It ends.
Yes. The whole album and every song Al Stewart does is magic.
True, but perhaps a tad bit too excessive, and redundant.
😐
❤
While the singing is great, to me what makes it beautiful is the music.
You got it!
Agree 💯 the guitar the piano and to top it all the sax it's my favorite song of all time up there with the Logical Song by Super Tramp
0 seconds ago
For me it's a Gestalt situation. The whole package is greater than the sum of the parts, but that being said the music is Sublime. Among the many beautiful touches to the music is the way the solo instruments hand off the solo to the next instrument in such a masterful mellifluous way.
78 years young. Still listening August 2024. Never grows old..
100% with you I am 64
@@abyios I'm 71 in 3 months and love this song in college days. Still a wonderful song to this day. :)
😊😅@@abyiosoy😊😊iii😊😊😊😊
Al Stewart is performing locally on Aug 31. I think I'm gonna go.
Wish I could crawl inside this song!
This was my father's favourite song. He passed 4 months ago at 65. Dad, I will listen to this song until my last days to remember you.
@@adriancornejo1398 Sorry for your loss. You dad had great taste in music.
Beautiful.
Sorry for your loss.... he had great taste in music 😢
So sorry......remember the time!
God Bless ya man...
I was 19, a wine waitress in Renfrew..... The year of the heatwave, i went to Ireland......i was young and invinsible.........i am now 67 and disabled......this song brings back happy memories 😊 x
Bless you
❤
I hope you’re doing good 😊
Hello from Los Angeles. My name is Gordon and I was born in Greenock, Renfrewshire. I came across your comments regarding year of the cat, I couldn't help but say hello, and tell yae yer taste in music is brilliant. Cheers, Gordon Lever. Hope I'm not coming off weird. All the best 😊😊
May God bless you
The acoustic guitar solo that leads into the electric guitar solo followed by the sax is BRILLIANT
And real strings in the background. Amazing.
It's awesome. Love your perception and critique.
MASTERPIECE
and the amazing piano intro, the whole song culminating in a ridiculous saxophone dazzler! It truly is a master work...
It was furry
I'M 71 Year old and still listening this performance of Al Stewart
I’m 20 years old. Al Stewart will live on!
Me too. I was born a Cat Girl 70 years ago. Al Stewart really put depth into his song 🎵 and I love it ❤ Makes me teary eyed with Joy.
What a great song we remember x
I can't believe as a 47 year old classic rock enthusiast that I've only just clocked this masterpiece in the last month...beautiful
I bet you’re loving it now!😃🩷
Where'd you hear it? Yacht Rock radio has been playing it and I've been lucky enough to catch multiple times in the past few days!
Better late than never
This is " one of them songs , like , I'm not inlove by 10cc , " just captures a time , and I'm a Rusted on Zappa fanatic, music , what a gift Music is the best , love on - yah
I’m 44 and I concur.
I am 86 close to 87 and am listening at 2:09am in Wichita
Lost in the 70s.😊
❤️❤️❤️
Você têm bom gosto!!! 💗💗💗🎵🎵🎶🎶🎶🎶
Enjoy! It’s pure heavenly nostalgia. 🫶♥
Love your comment❤
The best times of my life
Memories never fade.. they don't make music like this anymore. Beautiful lyrics
I have no idea what he is talking about.
I second that emotion ❤️
????@@acornsucks2111
Music like his will never be replicated
I am 65. This is my favourite song ever.
Indeed. I play it over and over
you are special.
I'm 57 and love this song so much and Jackson Brown🤎
It is a very good song. I love it too very unique, very different
Definitely one of my favorites.
Im 28. Love this kind of music. Just another soul wandering. Born in the wrong generation.
These songs by timeless, people will still be listening to them 100 years from now.
My friend, don't say so! I'm 61 and I love the music of my generation, but there's a lot of good music even now. Of course, nothing compares to Year of the Cat😁
Cat lover
Egyptians liked cats
Ah, but if you had been born in that generation you'd be 67 now, just like me (not that that's a bad thing).
I'm 81 and a has been musician...the memories that come with this song are precious and priceless...love this and so many more from a time when music was and is not now...days on the road with a lot of side trips...these days what they call music is plastic...just plastic...
@@glendaamour1840 I think the difference between music back then and today transcends mere "taste". It's like comparing real food to synthetic or genetically altered "food". It really does have a tangible difference IMO
@@joepoppy3264 it hits different-had 2 be there
Ms.Glenda... NEVER put yourself down!!! NO musician is EVER A HAS-BEEN!!!!
In 2024, many old people listen to this beautiful old song, even me, remembering my young years. ❤
But we had the best young years we weren’t on the internet and anything was possible . The best music and we were free not tied to our phones or ( influencers) 🤢 just treasure it I do much love ❤ to you
long, long time ago -
What do you mean old people?. I'm 54 and sometimes I forget that, feel like I'm 30. But yea, music of the 70s and thru the 80s was the best. I mis them days so bad. Along with family and friends that have passed on.
I can't remember whether I was 17 or 18 when I bought this (this is the album version here and is much better).
I'm 65 now :)
I am 22. This song will be my young years someday too
Politics and wars rip us apart, but music brings us together, which is the more powerful?
The creator of music.
That's easy..music! But only those that are aware
Amen to that, things are escalating all over, pray for Peace, WTF man!!!
Still loving this song in 2024, along with Time Passages. Both are great driving songs and take me back to my younger years. Anyone else?
i love it too. a masterpiece. and don't forget "on the border". greetings from germany.
Me too
I have the album
Makes me think of my mom and dad. Momma passed away 2 years ago. But this song always brings her back.
Great opening piano arrangement with Peter Wood.
i’m 17 years old, my dad played this for me a couple of months ago and i’ve been listening to it off and on, but jeez what a master piece. Al Stewart and Jeff Lynne are the most underrated musicians of all time.
Stewart, Lynne, Gerry Rafferty, Kate Bush, Heart, Redbone, James Gang, Billy Preston, Lol Creme, Stevie Nicks, Gene Pitney, Journey, Bessie Smith, Carole King, music is a web and you just landed on one of the millions of intersections. Never stop exploring.
@@carlcrossgrove9009 Wow, someone else that has heard of Bessie Smith and appreciates her talent.
I don’t think they are underrated. Many people rate them very highly indeed. Pleased you are enjoying it mind. 🙂
@platinumpete5160. I'm 69 yrs young and I remember this song, it sounds like if it just hit the airwaves, not much teenager's appreciate song's like this.
Search Al Stewart for more of his songs.
You, like many other RUclips commentators, are confusing underrated with underexposed.
1:39 There'll never be a time like the late 70s and early 80s ever in this life.Or in this world
How many Old-Timers are listening to this song and realizing we did not know or appreciate what we had back then.....
Perhaps, but there are still good souls listening To good music
A lot
I loved it back in the day, I was 13. Takes me back
No we didn’t
yep.
Right now, 2023, it is The Year of the Cat again.
What a great line "She comes out of the sun in a silk dress, running, like a watercolour in the rain". Absolute genius!!
When I hear this song I'm transported back to Siagon 1967...the Vietnam experience wasn't all bad.
So glad I wasn't there with you Leon!@@leonwhittington1773
@@leonwhittington1773 Saïgon. If you were REALLY there, at least try to spell it correctly, you American.
Yes I have always thought what a beautiful simile and up there with TS Eliot
The imagery in the lyrics of this song is what makes me love it so; specifically the lines you quoted. Absolute genius, indeed.
Im 70 now… hubbys gone to heaven and i still have this classic to serranade me each day💕💕💕💕🙏🏻
I'm right here with you. He didn't love much popular music if it was recorded after about '74 or so, but didn't we all have a time? Never imagining that we would get old and die. I especially never dreamed he would go before me bc both his parents are still living, in great health, and self-sufficient. I miss EVERYTHING about him not being here. Well, I don't miss him fussing at the newspaper every morning. Life is just too short.
How sweet ❤
I’m so sorry you lost your husband your love and the music that reminds you of the time you were together hopefully comforts you ♥
Masterpiece....
I yearn for a kind of love like you had with your husband. May he rest in heaven in peace❤
Im 67 and this song still gives me a chilling rush....omg i love it
Me too
I am 60. Believe me, I listen to this song almost every day. And I think there's no need to explain why...
Idem para mim muito matcante
Eu digo o mesmo, deve ser a mesma idade as mesmas emoções
I am 67, this came out in 76 like it was Yesterday. love it. Take care. D
Me too !!!!
You don't have to explain it's just a complete classic the sax is immense.
Greetings from El Paso Tx. I'm 68yrs old still listening to this beautiful music ❤loved it then love it still 🌹class of '73
Hello from a fellow 35 yr old el pasoan who loves great music! Thanks for being part of such a great generation!
Yep. Back in the 70s. Cassette playing. Driving my 5 speed manual, Toyota Celica with my girlfriend. On the highway. Free Spirits. Blessed times.
Weren’t they ♥
Definitely
Ouah !!! 5 vitesses dans les années 70, c'était rare...😮
Masterpiece.
There are songs that define the moment of times that we have lived through and this my friends is one of them......
My mom really loved this song...i never really paid much attention to it ...i was about 13.. ..my mom has long passed away.. this song holds special place for me..love ya mom..
Met this masterpiece, thanks my mom too❤
This came out in the early disco period. .70s
Same thing.. but with my dad. I feel you, brother.
Minha filha está morando fora do Brasil. Ela me disse que se emociona quando ouve essa música pois se lembra de nossos momentos aqui em casa, porque eu vivia ouvindo essa música. Principalmente aos finais de semana.
Tempo bom.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Clearly your mom had GREAT taste❤
They actually sing and play instruments
imagine that!
This song is a masterpiece. Nothing like this is made today. Not even close.
Masterpieces have long gone, sadly.
No one has sense enough to write a song like this now days, sing or play.. those days are long gone. ✌🏼
not even close to close
No, look hard enough and there are plenty of masterpieces coming out all the time
@@bobbygilbert2706 example
This is timeless. It has aged wonderfully. Music from my teenage years. The memories.
Agree Wyatt,, You and me both , still lovin it in my future years .... classic ... cheers mate ...
This song has more hooks in it than a fishing boat. Unforgettable, timeless, classic.
What a beautiful way to put it.
So it does…gets me every time!
I love this song
thats not what that word means
i'm Hooked 😁
My Dad showed me all the classics as I grew up. He was born in 62. Everyone always says I have an old soul. We haven't spoken in sometime over a diapute. For now, I have him with me in the music.
Have a good dad.. Wise. Such a great song!
Speak to him, we all make mistakes.
Don't know the dispute and it's none of my business. But I hope you will be the bigger person and reach out to him and seek restoration. Life is too short to be separated from family.
I lost my dad April of last year and I missing him much
Make peace with your dady before its to late.
Háblale pronto, debe estar esperando eso
I always did like this song.
I love this song...that baseline! My dad was a big, burly man with a soft heart and a love for 60s and 70s rock. I have him to thank for my love for diverse music.
Your dad's a legend
@anthonyhoey6394 thank you. I lost him almost 3 decades ago.
bassline is classic as piano and guitar
Everything from the graceful piano intro, to the lovely sax and guitar breaks, to the lyrics of this very song. This creation is the epitome of an amazing record. I'm only a 27 year old born in the 90s, but you gotta respect the classics and masterpieces like this!
EDIT: Thank you for the love! Another year older, but the music keeps us together 🙏🏾
EDIT: Now I’m 29 years old and this song as still as magical as ever. Keep on rockin’ and much love ❤️
EDIT: Just turned 30 a few days ago, but this record will never age! Keep pressing on and keep the music rockin!
EDIT: Now I'm 31, another year older, but wiser! Continue to let the power of music drive you further into bliss! Peace and love everyone! ❤️
EDIT: As promised guys, I'm back with after another year around the sun! Today makes 32 years of wisdom for me, and the music's still rockin! Peace and love to everyone! 👋🏾✌🏾😊
Hear hear!
And there is so much more from this decade equally as awesome, it was a time when mainstream musicians actually knew how to play their instruments and there wasn't any stupid auto-tune.
@@brianb1846 Hey not a problem, music is the key to awakening the soul. And I agree wholeheartedly with your statement
@@FrancisMaxino Yes! Everything with music back then was 1000% authentic and from the heart, unlike this music we have nowadays where everyone seems to be brainwashed by the media. We need peace back in this world.
@@emeraldstardust10 Just spreading the good word!
Soon to be 63 on June 30th and so do I , along with Time Passages and others from my youth, great music is a balm!
old and happy. Remember Belichick.
Happy Birthday!
Incredible, I can breath my sixteens... My sister loved this song, so my mother went to the record shop trying to get it and surprise her. But mother, she was always confused about names, so kept asking the guy at the shop the song "The day of the dog". Fortunately the man could meet the dots and my sister got the record. I dont have my sister nor my mother anymore, but from time to time I can "visit" them playing this beatifull song
Hold on today's memories, it's okay, bless you
Hold on to those memories. It's okay may you be blessed
Stories that didn't happen for 200 Alex.
That story is so precious. God bless.
@@tracywebber145 shame it's fabricated.
This takes me back to high-school, class of '78. My friend used to sing and play this for me, we married 21 years later, had a beautiful son. I loved this then and love it even more now, absolutely Brilliant ❤❤❤
Also class of '78. And still coming back to this tune . . .
" She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running like a watercolor in the rain" What could ever pique your imagination better?
indeed
I think it might be the dress that is running like a watercolor in the rain--you know, like colors run. (The image of the girl running doesn't seem to fit, for me.)
@@rodneyrawlings7100 its both at the same time, thats how art works
@@rodneyrawlings7100 I always likened the girl to the watercolour. The colours running in the rain.
Tru dat!
...unforgettable...
19 years old living in Scarborough in 1985 and introduced to this by Marie, the most incredible woman I have ever met. Said goodbye later that year and never saw her again. Hope life was good to her.
2024 The year of VintageAppreciation😼
Well said😊
Bittersweet to hear this. One of my all time favorite songs, great lyrics but makes me very sad thinking of good times gone by and how fast we grow old.
Yes, the times went by but we are still here. Celebrate!
@@chrisper94 What else are we gonna do??!
Cynthia Earl this song reminds me of something that I don’t even known on t describe. I left school lady year but I wasn’t really a fan back then, so I don’t know. But I know that this song makes me feel sad but in a good way which doesn’t make sense. It’s also my all time favourite song
Sad but true Cynthia, and how fortunate we are to have lived it!
Our bodies and skin grow old but we find bygone youth and passion in songs like this. Boston's More than a feeling is another one that does it for me.
70 year old here. I remember hearing this on CHOM-FM in Montreal back in the 70s. I was so blessed to be a young man living in the greatest city on Earth.
what utter garbage. go and live in yank land. They will luv your grossly overstated crap
This song is the definition of bittersweet nostalgia.
great song never get tired of it ive got a old cat so never will god bless u
The "Year of The Cat" True Artistry in Every Aspect...
I'd be honored if some late 70s fans would take a listen to my acoustic piano & vocal performances of WHAT A FOOL BELIEVES by the Doobie Brothers and TIME PASSAGES by Al Stewart on my YT channel in tribute to 2 great songs from the winter of '78-'79. Live acoustic with no digital enhancements. Thanks and RESPECT to the legends.
Yes!
Take heart! This was our time! This was our music! We LIVED!
Perhaps the most elegant and esoteric pop song ever written. Bravo Al!
PERHAPS 🔥
I normally find superlatives in yt comment sections really annoying but this time it's the truth
Agreed..and I love the stuff by Stewart's roommate, Paul Simon, and of course Dylan, Neil Young, and Gordon Lightfoot...but this...this is majestic and lovely...brilliant.
+2
@@bennyhath1789 Excellent way with words.
To me this song never gets old. I liked it back then, I like it even more now. Best music.
Tenho 54 anos e sei que nasci na geração errada ! Não e possível eu me identificar com uma época que nunca vivi!! E só mesmo tempo ter né sentido pertencente a ela !!!
This song is great example of the mysterious and magical art of songwriting
Very magical indeed!
@@CGS325 Yes, i feel the same... but i cant explain
You must be a song writer to put it like that. I'm a lyrics and if you're not maybe you should be.
Cat's are magic! Their year too.
@@gejo1008 I forgot about this song for years and years, and just today it popped right into my head, so I looked it up, and it's so good to see recent comments on it!! Makes me happy! Xoxox
Big Lenny is doing quarter reps in heaven to this right now.
18 forever
I went through a terrible divorce, this album got me past a very dark time. Just keep the faith and hang on things will get better. The pain and tears make you stronger then you really know. Dont give up, you are loved.
I think we all get a few extra chances to be happy after the first disappointment , but the trauma eventually gets the better of you and it becomes hard to believe that good things happen
@Dana Davison Thank you darling , you give me hope
Amen, Amen and Amen. God is faithful. Very glad you got thru it. All the best. 😊😊
@kirk mitchell . You are welcome
Thanks. Needed to hear that today. Going through a similar situation but with a long time girlfriend
A timeless classic that never ever gets old!!! I listen to this about 10times a wk or more!!!❤🇺🇸🇬🇧💪
I miss this era of pop music
Solf Rock? I guess?
Somewhere in 1976?
I don't think I'll ever fall out of love with this song. It always takes me to another time.
That's the best thing about music, it's like taking a vacation without leaving home. 🌴🥳🔆✌️
I think the same. I don't think I'll ever get tired of listening to it. It seems "deep" to me. It ain't no pop bubblegum song.
@@phillipsprague8409 Right.. from the first notes of the piano, it takes you away.
This is a good thing.
As a piano teacher, I always place a quote at the bottom of the program of our annual recital. This is a fantastic quote and will be the quote for our June 2022 recital. Thank you Melanie!
@@Classic.Hits-335.artists Aaawe.. that's very cool! ♡
1976 was "The Year of the Cat" by Al Stewart! An absolute masterpiece that takes you back to the time and place where you first heard it.
For me, it was Hong Kong in the 1980s
No it doesn't
What are you doing putting that kind of thing out?
A nother place in my life
@@backfru Yes it does shut up
I first heard it one year ago at The Strokes concert, Barclays Center, Brooklyn. I Shazammed it and been listening to it non stop since then. It’s a perfect song.
We aged but this song didn’t.
Exactly my bro/ sis
You did aged, not me !
Not all of us
I was born in Iran, I heard these beautiful songs when I was little in my father's car back there over and over, but I didn't know who is the singer. I remember our American friends in our neighbourhood. What beautiful days...
It's funny, I could never exactly place the accent I detected on this and moreover, "Time Passages". Reminds me of the man I married. He was born in Iran.
I’m happy to have read that, thank you
Universal melody
This song is nothing but layers of instrumental perfection
The fade-ins and fade-outs are brilliant as well. They are all tapered and weighted so perfectly!
Purrrrrfection
Forgot just how good and hypnotic this song was.
Beautiful piano and melody.
I've had this song stuck in my head all day!
Best. Day. Ever.
Been stuck in my head for about 48 years!
Haha. Might listen again later.
Ahhhhhh, the year was 1976, I turned 20 and had my whole life ahead of me. I loved the 1970's, best bands, best music, great friends great times. I want to go back and do it all again. I wouldn't change a thing. Well, maybe one little thing, make more of an effort to go see all our talented bands in person. We didn't appreciate what we had back then, we were young and into ourselves, you know how teenagers & the twenties are, never changes from generation to the next.
Agreed, I was born in 68 so the 80s was the best decade ever for me anyway, music and good times but I love this song from the 70s. 😊
Du hast ja so recht... 1976 i was 17
Everyone thinks his decade is the best !
i am a bicenntenial baby and i love the 1970s. thanks for your comment. all i want to do is go back to the 1970s when times were more interesting than now. i believe in parallel universes and ultimately we can go back to the 1970s
@@kel-in5gi I wish to go back all the time.
This song makes me sad now. I had a wonderful childhood and remember all my loved ones were still here with me. Now there gone. It tears me up. What a song.
Yes.
A beautiful melancholic song, full of nostalgia & longing. Better than any song made in the last 20 years.
Im of the class of '74 and all that has changed here in America seems like the best is GONE !
Will the new generation grab the reigns and pick up where generations before walked and left magical beauty.
The sax in this song hits so hard, it makes me cry... this song is so beautiful
Oh heck, I know what you mean. The sax is an alto sax and the range of notes from that particular sax sound so much like the sweet vocalizations of cats, and I love cats. That's Phil Kenzie on the alto transposed to the Key of C.
@@pl443
I love and appreciate your comment here. 💯
Also completely adore all felines... my three darlings are precious, wise souls who continually humble me with their graceful presence.
annd.. finally, there's nothing like good sax in the morning, afternoon and after dark. 🎷🎶🐈🐾
... aannd finally, any opinion on Raphael Ravenscoft's sax in Gerry Rafferty's 1978 hit Baker Street?
Raph pretty much hated it bc he said it was out of tune and too flat..
It's in the top five of my favorite sax riffs to this day.
Thanks, just curious
- from a mountain girl pondering somewhere in the Colorado Rockies
You too, eh
I remember watching my 21-year-old son, Zak, sitting with his head on my office table between two speakers listening to the beautiful instrumental of Spanish guitar, electric guitar and sax, drinking in every part as he was a budding singer songwriter in his band in South Africa. Only three months later, he was killed in a car accident in Johannesburg but I'll never forget those two minutes of beauty and perfection.
You...got...that...moment...as bittersweet as it is....and it will stick with you...he would want you to remember him that way. :(
@@richardallen9123 Thanks mate.
I hope I never know the pain you went through...my son is now 26 in January...and it still terrifies me that this could happen to him...always a father's worry...:(
So sad. Sorry !!
Ohhhh I'm so so sorry for you loss..... 💔
If you are listening to this in 2024 you are a Legend and indeed have top-notch taste ❤🎉🫡🥰🥰🥰
Thank you, I remember when this came out, I had a new car and I was having fun driving.
Just enjoy
found this going through some new wave music. Ahead of its time in terms of production.
How is it possible for a song to sound BETTER with each playing?
Songs like this make me weep
63 and love listening to the song each time like it’s new!!!
47 years later, and this song still sounds as great as it did in 1976. The sax solos are awesome! Great work, Al Stewart!
It was always the song cued when a customer at a local sound shop was selling hIgh quality speakers. All the ranges could be heard. Awesome...
No, it doesn't sound the same.... It sounds miilion times better now
I saw him live in Epcot. It was surreal it was so magnificent
Yes!
I was 12 years old and I still listen to it, best songs were made in the 70s and 80s
This song is a lush example of the treasure of great popular music that is the legacy of the 1970s. There will never be another era like it.
This song is just a small example how good the drugs were as well back than as well,
@@mikewarner5583 I love this song !
the 60's were a prelude the 80's an aftermath
HORRIBLE COMMENT@@mikewarner5583
It’s yacht rock. Radio gold
This song never ages it makes me smile and weep at the same time, an absolute masterpiece
Here’s looking at you, kid..
the perfect analogy for this song....
Tom Ackroyd, EXACTLY!! YOU NAILED IT! ❤
I echo your sentiments ❤
same here
Always had soft spot for this one love the lyrics plus very catchy tune ❤🎸👍
Man what a masterpiece of Music
I knew Al in London in the 70's. So very glad he made such a good career for himself. He was a good man
Music is the closest thing to a time machine
Yes sir.
Old cars and antiques are time travelers
Truth 🎶❤🎶
Très beau
That’s right 👍
She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running like a water color in the rain...
Oh my god the visuals he conjures with his words...
*That piano intro is just so... timeless.*
yes, the live version
"She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running
Like a watercolor in the rain"
Wow! that's one hell of a line.
That's really awesome
👍
My favourite line, too.
Yeah.. I always loved that line.. and 'incense and patchouli..' 🐾
Stunningly gorgeous and an aura of compassion and warmth to my soul. May god reward you in heaven. Big Lenny.
The power of this song is it's ability to send the listener to a place that was once happy, never a sad thought.
True it was all happy when I listen to this song all the happy comes back
Couldn't say it any better
Probably had sad thoughts, I know that I did, but minor compared with adulthood. The sad stoic. I've never really felt like I really fit in where I am living again. Just whatever there was, still is to not feel sad. Online junkie now, because I really don't belong now as an older adult, God damned proven to me all the time, with all my worldly intellectual and cultural understanding knowledge experiences. It's still US laws to own favor, Zombies high school mentality around here. Zombie mothers with visible tattoos on the upper back, taking daughters to cheerleader practice nearby. Totally Zombies, that can't even be nice at all at the dollar store pay out, bitchy, but especially the young male employees always are very nice and helpful. This is a place where everyone used to be nice and friendly to each other, including helpful empathy, but as time goes by, more and more Zombified.
Illuminated, I just can't be Zombified. That's what makes everything so painful, depressing, but thank God I'm not a clinical depressive. Totally underestimated what kind of people God illuminates. Completely mentally strong against it all prepared for illumination, and physically healthy, out of this extremely ill environment, and I'm totally depending on the strength of my physical health. Not my fault what God decides to do about judged as Zombies. It's all about the destruction of WICKEDNESS upon Earth, and all that allows it all to continue. That's why I said dead zones, wherever majorities of Zombies exists. .
I'm already hearing thunder, on a perfectly sunny nice day.
LA VERDAD!.....ES HERMOSA ESTA CANCION LOS INSTRUMENTOS TE ATRAPAN....YES!!!!!!
'She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running like a watercolour in the rain".......SWOOOOON
This song has many magical moments in it, almost like short stories, that come together to create a movie. I remember this song as a small child. My mom would put on the album, I would grab the album cover and just stare into the cover. 45 years later when I hear it it’s as though those stories are each part of my life somehow. I love the song and the music but when I listen to it, it takes me way back to that time when I was young and life was so simple, seeing it thru the eyes of a child. I realize how fast my life has gone. It stirs up both good and bad memories that it’s often difficult to listen too. My love of music has been the one constant in my life. This song is a masterpiece as it does what I believe music is supposed to do. Thank you Al Stewart.
Bruce...that was some serious recollection. I can appreciate your memories...it's just as vivid as mine too. Be safe my brother.
well said. the lyrics and the melody create for me a complete other reality that resembles parts of my own story. its a gift as akey that opens up memories within.
Wow.....just wow! Very well said. Phenomenal music like this will never die. It's like blood flowing through your veins.
Great comment man.
Wonderful gift from god
Amen..Brother's and Sisters....'70's forever....the early ònes were the best .....then came the bad drugs...such a shame
How many songs have 3 instruments for the solo--first an acoustic guitar, then electric guitar, then sax?! Just incredible instrumentation and production!
Don't forget the cello!
It begins with violin.
And the piano intro!
These days? None.
@Richard Cray He produced & engineered "Dark Side of the Moon," as well!
I’m up here in northern Arkansas with a lot of retirees do you know what music they’re playing? Oh no not the 40s and 50s they’re playing the 70s it’s amazing it’s like Time stood still catering to their audience.
This song is just absolutely incredible. The prime example of the beauty of the 70's era music. Al Stewart is a genius.
Yes this song was a great song it was like going back in time as you listened to the words so much feeling was put into this one the whole album is good timeless you could hear this song and it would take you back 2 or 300 years to a time when the castles of Spain were built literally put you there awesum
are you all on heroin?.......... great song yes,,, but you twats all sound like you're on death row, or need a friend.............. lol
Wojtek
Great comments and I agree. I still can recall the lyrics having used this song as a basic and primitive music video for television class in high school. That was 1977, before MTV. As mentioned, very primitive but an A for the assignment!
This is not music it’s art.
Just great music. There is NOT one negative comment or thumbs down on this thread. That gives me hope. Thank you all.
and it gives me *JOY*
Who wants some 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 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
Year of the cat
Wonderful lyrics 😏
Thank you for taking the time! Perfectly done!
I have both the record album and the cassette for this. When I heard that recordings were being converted to CDs, and I didn't own CD player (at the time), I managed to find the cassette. The LP has the lyrics printed on the inside of the jacket, but there wasn't a separate sheet included with the cassette. I'm glad I didn't dispose of the record. I have never found a CD of this, in the Stores.
@@deirdrejohnson3468 - Record's were always cooler I had a Bob Marley record with all the words in and just the little extras you get like pictures as well. Oh the good old days. 🏴🇬🇧👍
Thank you Steelers fan!
The comments regarding this song are truly heartwarming. Some wonderful responses. Thank you for posting them, folks.
🥰
My ears brought me here, but my goosebumps made me comment... this tune pulls on every heart string I've ever had
There's always room for cello.
The incredible thing about this beautiful masterpiece is that it pulls you into another world, and when it ends you fell like you've been on a long mysterious journey,
That ended way too soon!
The whole album is like that, a massive journey you don't want to end!
An absolutely beautiful and mesmerizing masterpiece! Pop music of today doesn't even come close.
"Music" of today isn't music. It's pre-packaged junk to satisfy the masses.
Sadly just hasn't for over 5 decades. This is so beautiful.
You are very right. Nothing comes even close. Those seventies ballads still mesmerize us after all this time. That's what masterpiece are made of.
It's folk
@@SimonTimoney-74 Folklore, pop, ballads, disco, rock, doesn't matter which. Fifty years later still keep sounding good and we still sing and dance to those marvelous tunes cause is make us happy to remember and era (with no many technology as today) when music was simple but mighty. I'm not saying today's music is bad, I like it too, but music from the eighties, the seventies and back, were the golden era of music. The best of the best. Can't be denied.
RIP Big Lenny
This song brings tears to my eyes when I remember how simple life was.
Yes
I'd give ANYTHING to go back ❤
What happened?
Me too
Right on, it still gets me ❤️🤍💙👨🚒🎵🎶🎼🎵☝️✌️. 🤟
Masterfully written, tenderly sung, heartfelt playing, and masterful production by Alan Parsons. It's just magical. 45 years ago, and it's still fresh and stunningly beautiful.
Perfectly stated!!
Most excellent @@adamgrim3983
That's a wonderful description ❣️
Alan Parsons of "Eye in the Sky" fame, produced this?? Wow!
Yeah Al Stewart. I am and have been a Cat Girl for 70 years and was addicted to this gorgeous song 🎵 🐈 😻 🐈 🐈 🐅 🦁
This song makes me understand how short/unique relationships can be. As I get older and the more people come and go in my life, I understand this song much more.
WHERE ARE THESE MAGICAL SONGS TODAY??
Right here!
Parabéns.pelo.bom.gosto.👍👍👍👍
best word yet "magical" ...you called it
They are in our hearts. Those were the good ol days
Todays songs are in the 30 days impact round file because after 30 days you can't remember the singer.