Year of the Cat Chords

KeyEm CapoNone TuningStandard Difficulty Plays581

Year of the Cat by Al Stewart is a more advanced guitar song played in the key of Em. It uses the chords Cmaj7, D, Em, Am7, D7, Bm, B, C, G, F and C/E. Use the transpose and diagram tools on this page to change the key, see each shape, or simplify the chords.

Transpose
Em
Text
16
Speed
  			INTRO:  Cmaj7  D  Em  (three times) 
         Am7   D7 
          
VERSE 1: 
     Cmaj7          Bm       Em 
On a morning from a Bogart movie 
     Cmaj7              Bm             Em 
in a country where they turned back time 
       Cmaj7                  Bm        Em 
you go strolling through the crowd like 
                    Am7            D7 
Peter Lorre contemplating a crime. 
          Cmaj7       Bm          Em 
She comes out of the sun in a silk dress 
               B                  Em     
running like a water color in the rain. 
C             B         Em 
Don't bother asking for explanations. 
            Am7                    D 
She'll just tell you that she came 
 
in the Year of the Cat. 
 
INSTRUMENTAL: (repeat INTRO chords) 
 
VERSE 2: 
    Cmaj7            Bm           Em 
She doesn't give you time for questions 
       Cmaj7        Bm          Em 
as she locks up you arm in hers. 
        Cmaj7            Bm         Em 
And you follow 'til your sense of 
                   Am7                 D7 
which direction completely disappears. 
       Cmaj7       Bm            Em 
By the blue-tiled walls near the market stalls 
          B                         Em
there's a hidden door she leads you to. 
  C                B          Em          
"These days," she says, "I feel my life just 
       Am7                   D 
like a river running through 
 
the Year of the Cat." 
 
INSTRUMENTAL: (repeat INTRO chords) 
 
BRIDGE: (lead-in: D instead of D7) 
         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 D7
waiting inside 
 
the Year of the Cat. 
 
INSTRUMENTAL: (repeat INTRO chords a few times)  
  acoustic/electric guitar solos, piano, sax, etc. (sweet stuff!) 
 
VERSE 3: 
     Cmaj7            Bm                Em 
Well morning comes and you're still with her 
        Cmaj7          Bm        Em 
and the bus and the tourists are gone. 
            Cmaj7             Bm        Em 
And you've thrown away your choice and 
                        Am7              D7 
lost your ticket so you have to stay on. 
         Cmaj7         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. 
 
INSTRUMENTAL: (repeat INTRO chords and fade) 
 piano riffs, sax, etc 
    	

Chord diagrams

Guitar tuner

--
Start the tuner and play a string

Reference tones

Standard tuning, lowest to highest. Click a string to play it; the string the mic hears is highlighted.

Click Start tuner and allow microphone access. The needle centers and turns green when a string is in tune (within 5 cents).
No microphone? You can still tap any string above to hear its exact reference pitch.

Metronome

100 BPM Andante