Words & Music by Al Stewart and Peter Wood

INTRO:  Cmaj7  D  Em  (three times)      Am7   D7

     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                  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.

INSTRUMENTAL: (repeat INTRO chords)

    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                         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."

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
waiting inside...    the Year of the Cat.

INSTRUMENTAL: (repeat INTRO chords a few times)

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)