“For The Cat” is one of the more personal songs written by our frontman Bruce Lee Mani. It speaks of the influence of Cat Stevens on his thoughts, his music and his life. We’ll let Bruce do what he does best – take up the mic – and talk about “For The Cat”
“If I ever lose my eyes
If my colours all run dry…
(Moonshadow)
Will you keep on building higher
Till there’s no more room up there…
(Where Do The Children Play)
If I had to list all the words and all the songs of Cat Stevens that changed the way I looked at things, changed the way I listened to and wrote music, I’d need to spend a month or so on Twitter. And most of a life still finding layers of meaning and shades of wonder.
‘For The Cat’ is perhaps the best way, for me, to acknowledge a debt; a debt to a maternal cousin (a total cat in his own right) who introduced me to The Cat (among other great music), and to The Cat himself, for writing the words and music that stay true, stay relevant, stay special.
I also have to thank Mr. Jaideep Sen for the gift of the poster that started the words to ‘For The Cat’. Pulled from a Cat Stevens LP, the poster has the Cat captured live, eyes closed, fingers poised, bare torso strung with flowers. Under the picture are boxes with the 12 months of the year as titles – but within the boxes are the lyrics to his songs, not mundane Mondays and too-short weekends (that’s the ‘words go around the sun’ reference).
So, there you have it. For The Cat. From the album 3 Wheels 9 Lives.”
Here’s a small music video of “For the Cat” that we put together!
Click here for lyrics.
Personnel, Gear and Trivia
All Guitars/Vocals
Bruce Lee Mani
Bass
Prakash K N
Drums
Rajeev Rajagopal
Equipment Used
Erisa Custom Strat
Epiphone Sheraton (fills)
Yamaha TRB 6-String Bass
Laney 160W Bass Amp
Vox AC30 Guitar Amp
Line6 POD X3 Live Guitar processor
Pearl, Mapex and Tama Drums with Sabian, Paiste and Zildjian Cymbals
Monster, Mogami and Planet Waves Cable
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